Conway planning staff proposes limits on vape shops, payday and title‑loan businesses in Highway Commercial zone

Conway planning staff on Nov. 6 presented the Planning Commission with options to limit the locations and conditions under which vape/smoke shops, payday and title‑loan lenders and similar businesses can operate in the city's Highway Commercial (HC) zone.

Staff said the proposal would not ban those businesses outright but could remove them from HC, make them conditional uses subject to distance and operational controls, or require a special‑exception review by the Board of Zoning Appeals. "They could be defined separately in the unified development ordinance," staff said, adding that possible conditions include increased setbacks, spacing requirements and limits on proximity to schools, day cares, parks and churches.

Why it matters: commissioners said concentrations of such businesses have clustered along…