Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Tobacco Vape topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs referral of zoning text amendment to planning commission to restrict tobacco and vaping retailer locations
Summary
The Community Affairs Committee voted unanimously to send a zoning text amendment to the Planning Commission that would tighten definitions and location rules for tobacco, vape and similar retailers, including distance buffers from schools and parks; the item will proceed through the standard zoning amendment process.
The Community Affairs Committee voted to send a proposed zoning text amendment to the Planning Commission that would revise Wauwatosa’s code to regulate locations where cigarettes, tobacco products, electronic vaping devices and similar retailers may operate.
Alder Brannon presented the proposal, saying staff, the health department and the city attorney had been involved in drafting the language. The draft changes described in committee would: expand definitions to cover vape and e-cigarette products and THC/cannabis smoking products; lower the threshold for retail classification from 25 percent of sales to 10 percent of sales or 10 percent of floor space; prohibit such retailers in C-1 and C-2 commercial districts while allowing them in M-1 and M-2 industrial zones only with a conditional-use permit; and add distance requirements — 1,000 feet from daycares and schools and public parks and a one-mile separation from another similar establishment.
Brannon said the amendment was intended to address public-health concerns and youth initiation linked in research to the density and placement of these retailers. He cited neighboring-city precedents, noting City of Milwaukee rules that restrict such establishments near schools and City of Madison restrictions that apply to schools, parks, libraries and youth centers.
A motion from Alder Champagne to send the text amendment to the Planning Commission, seconded by Alder Franzen, carried on a voice vote, 6-0. Staff said the item will proceed through the normal zoning-text-amendment process and return to the council after Planning Commission review.
