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Council discusses possible limits on smoke shops and storage facilities; staff to research regulatory options
Summary
Council members raised concerns about smoke shops near schools and the growth of storage-unit developments; staff said options include privileged business licenses and zoning limits and will research approaches for council.
Council members opened a policy discussion on regulating smoke shops and limiting new storage-unit facilities in the city, prompted by constituent concerns about a proposed smoke-shop near Chamblee High School and a steady increase in self-storage developments.
Councilmember Elmer Vai and others described constituent complaints about products commonly sold in smoke shops and observed that items similar to those sold in tobacco/heads shops also appear in convenience stores. The council asked whether existing code regulates distance from schools or churches for tobacco, CBD or hemp product sales.
Staff advised that current code prohibits hemp sales within 500 feet of a school and that the city uses privileged licenses for some business types (for example, alcohol and massage operations). Staff said licensing tobacco or similar businesses would require new code language and that zoning changes could also be used to restrict locations; grandfathering of existing businesses would likely occur until a sale or change of use.
On storage units, council members noted the city has many such facilities and described them as low-job, inefficient land uses that can occupy key corridors. Councilors asked staff to research approaches used by other cities, including moratoria, caps and zoning-based limits that phase down permitted counts through attrition (as was done previously with massage businesses).
Staff said the Unified Development Ordinance revision is an opportunity to add specific language and suggested staff would return with options for privileged-license approaches, zoning restrictions and potential legal considerations related to nonconforming uses. No immediate code changes were adopted at the meeting.
