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Tullahoma sets definition and municipal rules for ‘specialty shops’; council approves first readings
Summary
The council approved first readings of two ordinances defining and regulating "specialty shops" — retail stores that sell vape products and certain cannabis derivatives — and amended employee-age language to align with Tennessee law.
Tullahoma’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen on first reading adopted ordinances to define and regulate “specialty shops,” the term the city uses for retail businesses that sell vaping and similar products.
Ordinance 16-60 amends the zoning code to add a definition of specialty shops in commercial C-2 districts; ordinance 16-61 creates a new chapter in Title IX (business regulations) to set permitting and operational rules. Both measures passed their first of two required readings, 7-0.
City staff and the planning commission developed the definition to clarify which retail outlets will be subject to the new review and permitting rules. As read into the record by staff, the ordinance defines specialty shops as “any retail establishment that stocks and sells vape products or similar materials including, but not limited to, electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, e-liquids and cartridges, edibles, concentrates, or oil containing cannabis derivatives including, but not limited to, CBD, delta 8, delta 9, or similar compounds permitted by law. Kratom, glassware, pipes, vaporizers, and other smoking or inhalation accessories. Any other substances or paraphernalia that may reasonably be associated with vaping or alternative inhalation consumption.” The ordinance also specifies that an establishment is a specialty shop if 25% or more of its public customer sales floor area is dedicated to those products.
Council members said the municipal-code chapter borrows regulatory mechanics already used for liquor retailers — including distance buffers from schools and churches and a cap tied to population — and it will grandfather businesses holding existing licenses and locations.
During the meeting the board approved an amendment to the municipal-code draft on employee age and supervision. The amendment would align the city's employee-age provision with Tennessee Code Annotated 37-17-1505 (subsection (f)(1)), by clarifying that persons 18–20 may work in such establishments only under the direct supervision of an employee at least 21 years old; the board voted 7-0 on the amendment. The amended ordinances will return for second reading and final passage at a later meeting.
The ordinances were sent to the board after a planning-commission recommendation and staff review; zoning changes will require a public-notice period and the second reading before they take effect.
