Goose Creek council adopts updated smoking rule to include vaping, advances zoning fixes and approves event-center contract

The Goose Creek City Council on Tuesday adopted a revised smoking ordinance that explicitly covers vaping and advanced a set of zoning-code amendments on their first reading while approving several contracts and appointments, city officials said.

The smoking ordinance, a second and final reading, was approved by the council after Mayor Gregory S. Abid said the city’s older rule “did not consider vaping because vaping wasn't a thing when they passed the smoking ordinance back then,” and the update adds vaping to the local definition of smoking.

The changes matter to public-health and business operators in Goose Creek because the revised definition extends the ordinance’s reach to electronic smoking devices and aligns local enforcement language with current products on the market.

Council members also held the introduction and first reading of broad zoning-code updates to Title 15, which city staff said correct implementation issues discovered while using the rewritten code. Council added an amendment requiring reliance on a traffic-impact analysis at the time of plan submittal so decisions on certain permits are informed by data rather than impressions, and that amendment carried.

In other land-use business the council introduced and approved on first reading an ordinance to move from a memorandum of understanding to a purchase-and-sale agreement with developer JJR for a corner parcel near the municipal complex at 52 and Old Mount Holly Road. The ordinance was discussed in executive session earlier; the purchase-and-sale agreement and related reciprocal access easement will later require a development agreement and additional approvals before any conveyance is final.

The council also approved a site-work contract with Trident Construction for the Assembly at Goose Creek event-center project in the amount of $2,049,743. City staff told the council the cost will be funded from the general fund balance using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue-replacement funds; the contract includes an escalation clause to address uncertain tariffs and pricing. City staff described the project as a combined council-chamber and event facility that will provide office space and community meeting capacity the city lacks.

Routine business that passed included approval of a police records-retention schedule extending criminal-case seizure records retention to 10 years, and appointments to the Accommodations Tax Advisory Commission (Destiny Ball — at-large; Vince Lehi — hospitality; Mike Meador — hospitality), with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2028.

Resident Alan McDowell used the public-comment period to describe his experience seeking help at City Hall, saying “I just wanna say I really appreciated how friendly everybody was in City Hall and down there and public works department.”

What’s next: the zoning changes and the developer purchase ordinance were introduced on first reading and will return for required subsequent readings or related agreements; the purchase-and-sale transaction also will require a development agreement and any site approvals the council or staff identify.

Votes at a glance: the smoking-ordinance adoption, the zoning amendment (first reading with traffic-analysis amendment), the purchase-agreement introduction (first reading), the Trident site-work contract, the records-retention schedule, and the three accommodations-tax appointments all carried by voice vote during the meeting.