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Council adopts ordinance restricting dedicated vape shops to industrial zones with conditional permits
Summary
The council approved ordinance 2024-4004 to separate tobacco/cigar retailers from dedicated e‑cigarette/vape stores and to permit vape stores only in heavy industrial districts by special conditional use permit; existing shops are grandfathered until abandonment rules apply.
The La Porte City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 2024‑4004, which creates separate use‑classification categories for tobacco/cigar stores and for dedicated e‑cigarette/vape stores and restricts the latter to heavy industrial zoning districts with a special conditional‑use permit.
Yvonne Briscoe of planning and development explained the ordinance’s intent: to leave current tobacco and cigar retail zoning unchanged while limiting new dedicated vape stores to HI (heavy industrial) districts and subjecting them to a conditional use permit process. She told council the Planning & Zoning Commission voted 8–0 to recommend approval and that no citizens spoke at the P&Z public hearing.
Council and staff clarified how the change interacts with existing businesses: currently operating vape and tobacco shops will be grandfathered as nonconforming uses. Under the city’s nonconforming‑use rules discussed at the hearing, if a grandfathered business ceases operations and remains closed for six months, the property would presumptively lose its preexisting nonconforming protection; staff said they would send a certified letter after six months of inactivity to create an official record prior to denying a permit. Council members asked whether convenience stores could continue to sell vape products; staff and council said the ordinance was designed to address dedicated vape stores and would not stop convenience stores and grocers from selling vape products under different NAICS classifications.
Council moved and the ordinance was approved; the ordinance includes misdemeanor penalties for violations (fine up to $2,000) and an effective date to be published per state law.
The action changes where future dedicated vape retailers can locate in La Porte and establishes a process for handling the status of existing nonconforming businesses that close for extended periods.
