Anderson plan commission approves stricter rules for vape shops, limits on residential parking; forwards measures to city council

The Anderson City Plan Commission voted 8-0 Sept. 23 to adopt two proposals that would tighten rules for smoke-and-vape retailers and limit residential parking and driveway surfacing, sending both to the City Council for final consideration Oct. 9.

Commissioners approved Resolution 1-25, which adds definitions and new restrictions for convenience stores, smoke-and-vape shops and certain gas-station uses, and Resolution 2-25, which caps the number of vehicles allowed per household and requires most driveways to be hard-surfaced. The commission is advisory; both measures now go to the council for final approval.

Planning staff said the vape-shop language establishes a clear threshold separating a general convenience store from a smoke-and-vape retail operation and confines where new vape shops can locate. "For it to still qualify as a convenience store, everything has to be behind the sales counter," Michael Mitchell, senior zoning administrator, told the commission, describing the ordinance text that limits tobacco-related product display to no more than 25% of floor area and caps display at 50 square feet. When a business exceeds that limit, the draft ordinance would require it to be treated as a smoke-and-vape shop and apply for a special exception.

Mitchell said the draft also narrows the zoning districts where vape shops could be considered, and introduces new restrictions on temporary signage, window coverage and feather flags. The ordinance includes a spacing requirement intended to prevent new shops from clustering: outside a handful of arterial corridors, proposed spacing between the same use would be about a mile, with a shorter spacing allowance along Scatterfield Road.

Public health advocates urged the change. "We received a grantto look into the situation," said Vita Morris May of the Minority Health Coalition of Madison County. "Indiana is one of the top 10 (states) with the smoking rate ... our kids are getting this stuff. Our schools have been bombarded with kids who have vaping. They're addicted." Morris May told the commission she supported the stricter ordinance and said local enforcement and retailer compliance checks will be necessary to curb youth access.

On parking and driveways, staff proposed a cap of one vehicle per licensed driver in a household plus two additional vehicles, to curb properties storing large numbers of vehicles. The draft requires new driveways and most expanded residential parking areas to be a solid surface (asphalt, concrete or approved alternative). Existing gravel driveways could be resurfaced but not expanded without Board of Zoning Appeals approval; the draft also allows asphalt millings as a potential alternative subject to review.

Enforcement would be complaint-driven. "If it's causing a safety hazard, the police could be called," Mitchell said when commissioners asked how the city would enforce driveway and sidewalk violations. Staff emphasized the amendments are intended to address safety, neighborhood character and long-running complaints about operations that resemble commercial lots in residential areas.

Commission discussion noted the Plan Commission's advisory role: members and staff emphasized that the council may further revise the language. Both resolutions passed on unanimous roll calls.

Looking ahead, planning staff and several commissioners said additional, related reforms (for example, rules for used-car lots) will be handled in follow-up ordinances. The City Council is scheduled to review the two measures at its Oct. 9 meeting.