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Newport News council adopts new vape-shop rules, lowers threshold and limits hours
Summary
The Newport News City Council on Sept. 23 adopted revisions to the zoning code that define and regulate vape shops, lowering a 50% threshold to 20% and limiting hours of operation to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the measures passed unanimously, 6-0.
The Newport News City Council on Sept. 23 approved zoning changes that define and regulate vape shops and limit their hours of operation, voting unanimously to adopt a revised ordinance that lowers a previously proposed 50% threshold to 20% and sets operating hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The action updates the zoning ordinance with a new definition for “vape shops” and adds general regulations intended to address youth exposure and public-safety concerns. Mayor Philip Jones moved the revised ordinance and the council approved it 6-0.
Planning staff and the planning commission reviewed the draft ordinance and recommended changes to the council. “I would like to seek a motion to adopt a revised ordinance incorporating the following changes,” Mayor Philip Jones said during the meeting. The revisions the council adopted included replacing a 50% figure with 20% wherever the vape-shop threshold appeared in the text and adding an hours-of-operation limitation to article 45-540.
Councilman Coleman, who leads the council’s public safety committee, framed the ordinance as a public-safety measure rather than a business-closure effort. “This is not about closing businesses. This is about public safety,” Coleman said during remarks that followed the vote.
The council also approved a separate but related amendment adding vape shops to the summary-of-uses table (section 45-402) and allowing vape shops in the C-2 General Commercial district by right; that motion likewise passed 6-0.
The ordinances were adopted on first reading as presented at the Sept. 23 meeting; the council thanked planning staff and the planning commission for their work. The record does not specify implementation details such as permit fees, inspection schedules or an effective date for enforcement.
Council votes on the ordinance and the related zoning-text amendments were unanimous. Questions about inspection, permitting procedures and enforcement were not addressed in the public record for this meeting.
