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Council hears Pineapple Express variance request after business-license lapses; staff recommends denial
Summary
An applicant sought a variance to allow Pineapple Express tobacco shop at 4849 Buford Highway to operate within half a mile of another tobacco shop; staff recommended denial because an existing nearby shop placed within 0.19 miles violates the UDO distance requirement and prior business-license issues were noted.
City planning staff presented a variance request on Jan. 16 from THK Express Inc., doing business as Pineapple Express, asking to allow a tobacco product shop at 4849 Buford Highway within the UDO’s half-mile separation requirement.
John Maximuck, Chamblee planning and development director, outlined a timeline in which a prior business at 4849 operated under varying license descriptions and received multiple notices of violation for operating with an expired occupational tax certificate. Staff said a nearby tobacco retailer, Vibes Vape and Smoke at 4928 Buford Highway, received permitting in 2023 and that a staff-measured straight-line distance between the two parcels is 1,026.9 feet (0.19 miles) — short of the required half mile (2,640 feet).
Based on the UDO standards cited in staff analysis, planning staff recommended denial of the variance request because Pineapple Express does not meet the half-mile separation requirement. The transcript shows staff measured parcel-to-parcel straight-line distance per the ordinance’s measurement method.
A representative for the applicant, Faruk Mogul, said the owner, Mohsin Khan, has operated in the city for “seven to 10 years” and attributed the current licensing classification problem to an accounting or filing error that affected revenue; Mogul asked the council to reconsider or allow a path to reclassification. Council members and staff discussed the application chronology and noted multiple notices of violation were issued in 2019, 2021 and 2023; staff said packet records do not clearly show the license type held through 2019. The transcript records no formal vote by the council on the variance during the work session; staff said the department denied the zoning verification application in September 2023 because the other shop’s approval predated Pineapple Express’s application.
