Planning and Zoning Commission backs ordinance amendment to regulate smoke‑related shops, adds 1,000‑foot buffer from schools and churches

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend a zoning ordinance amendment that would add cigar lounges to the city’s land‑use table, consolidate hookah and vaping uses into a “cigar and smoke shop” classification, and require certain new smoke‑related businesses to obtain a specific‑use permit and meet a 1,000‑foot buffer from schools and churches.

The change, recommended by a 6‑1 vote, also renames “CBD stores” to “CBD shops” and specifies parking and use‑specific standards for the new categories. Existing businesses operating in compliance with the current ordinance would not be affected by the amendment, staff said.

The amendment was presented by Stephanie Scott Sims, director of development services, who described the specific changes to the zoning ordinance’s land use table (Table 19) and the new definitions. “We would be removing hookah lounge, and including that the definition of that hookah lounge within the cigar and smoke shops definition. We’d be adding cigar lounge to this table and just changing, CBD store … to shop,” Sims told the commission. She said cigar lounges would be allowed in C‑1, C‑2, MU (mixed‑use) and downtown core districts by specific‑use permit, with parking set at four spaces per 1,000 square feet for cigar lounges.

Sims said the draft ordinance includes a single, cross‑use distance restriction: none of the smoke‑related uses would be permitted within 1,000 feet of another smoke‑related use (for example, a cigar lounge could not open within 1,000 feet of a CBD shop or another cigar lounge). She presented aerial maps showing 1,000‑foot buffers around existing locations to illustrate the proposed radius and told the commission that the amendment would apply only to new businesses.

Commissioners questioned how vaping and “vape shops” would be treated under the draft. Sims said vaping is included in the cigar and smoke shop definition and that the city attorney recommended grouping those uses because of similar definitions and on‑premises smoking allowances. Commissioners also asked whether signage or LED window displays could be controlled by the same ordinance; staff replied those rules would be handled separately under the city’s sign code.

Several commissioners pressed staff on whether the 1,000‑foot figure was necessary and what other uses have similar separation distances. Staff and commissioners noted that adult entertainment uses and some bars in the existing ordinance have 1,000‑foot separations, and auto dealerships have a 50‑foot separation requirement. Commissioner Walden said limiting proximity is a way to shape future development patterns: “We’re just giving them some guidelines of what they need to be as far as distance from each other.” Commissioner Longmire asked whether the Council directed the change; staff said the ordinance amendment was brought at the direction of council, which was concerned about proximity of such stores.

A resident, John McGraw, asked for clarification that existing stores would not be forced to close; staff confirmed existing, compliant businesses would not be affected.

Commissioner Walden moved to recommend the ordinance to council with the inclusion of specific‑use standards that add a 1,000‑foot buffer around schools and churches; Commissioner Longmire seconded. The motion carried 6‑1 after an electronic roll call.

The commission’s action is a recommendation to City Council; the ordinance must be adopted by council to take effect and could be amended by council during its review.

Votes at a glance: motion to recommend the zoning ordinance amendment with use‑specific standards including a 1,000‑foot buffer around schools and churches — mover: Commissioner Walden; second: Commissioner Longmire; outcome: approved (6 yes, 1 no).