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Planning commission recommends zoning-based rules for vape shops to city council
Summary
The Lebanon Planning Commission voted to recommend new regulations that would treat stores with more than 25% of inventory dedicated to vaping products as a conditional use restricted to industrial areas; the measure will go to city council for two readings.
The Lebanon Planning Commission on an unspecified date recommended that the City Council adopt new rules to regulate vape shops by zoning rather than by numerical licensing limits.
The commission voted to forward a proposal that would define a vape shop as a retail business where more than 25% of stock is dedicated to the sale of vaping devices, tobacco or related accessories, and to designate that use as a conditional use in heavy industrial zones. Andy, the city attorney, told the commission the zoning approach is more likely to survive a legal challenge than attempts to limit the number of such businesses by ordinance.
"The reason this is necessary is because it provides an avenue to address the vape shop issue that would more than likely survive a legal challenge," Andy said, adding that city law does not include express authority to limit the number of vape shops the way state law allows for liquor stores.
Andy noted that another municipality, Gillesville, has tried similar limits but "they just haven't been sued on it," and advised the commission that zoning restrictions are a stronger legal pathway. He described the current proposal as different from a prior ordinance discussed at an earlier meeting that would have limited the number of vape shops and restricted floor space devoted to vaping products.
Commissioners moved and seconded a recommendation of approval; the motion passed by voice vote. The commission's recommendation sends the proposed rules to the City Council for a first reading and a subsequent second reading, where any final ordinance would be adopted or rejected.
The commission's action was a recommendation only; no final ordinance was adopted at the meeting. The proposal would reclassify certain retail uses and restrict locations to industrial areas rather than downtown or other commercial districts. The commission did not provide a vote roll call in the transcript; the motion was recorded as "passes" after the voice vote.
Next steps: the item will appear on the City Council agenda for consideration under the council's standard ordinance schedule; the commission did not set a specific effective date or indicate council meeting dates for first and second readings during the discussion recorded in the transcript.
