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Planning Commission recommends two zoning text amendments to define and locate 'vape shops'
Summary
The commission recommended two zoning text amendments to define 'vape shop' and clarify where they may operate; one amendment passed 5-3 and the companion use-matrix amendment passed 7-1. The rules include a 50% inventory/revenue threshold, limits on drive-throughs and signage, and a one-way 2,000-foot buffer with grandfathering rules.
The Newport News Planning Commission on Sept. 3 voted to forward two zoning text amendments addressing vape shops to City Council.
Planner Hall presented ZT20250004, a proposed definition of “vape shop” as a retail establishment where 50% or more of inventory, display space or sales revenue is derived from e-cigarettes, vape devices, e-liquids and related products. The amendment also adds standards (no drive-through service, signage and design limits) intended to manage clustering and youth access; staff and the regulations committee recommended approval.
Commissioners questioned enforcement of the 50 percent threshold, and Hall said city staff would assess inventory and revenue in determining principal use. Hall also explained that existing vape shops would be grandfathered but that a nonconforming use that closes for 24 months could lose its grandfathered status under Virginia code. The amendment does not include hours-of-operation limits; commissioners were told that hours can be added through local regulation or considered during a conditional-use process.
On a roll call the commission recorded a 5-3 recommendation in favor of ZT20250004 (the definition and standards). The companion amendment, ZT20250005, would add vape shops to the summary-of-uses matrix as a permitted use by right in C-1 and C-2 commercial districts to clarify where the use may operate; the commission recommended that amendment 7-1.
What’s next: Both text amendments will be considered by City Council on Sept. 23, 2025. If council adopts both ordinances, enforcement provisions (including how the city determines the 50% standard and the application of the 2,000-foot grandfathering buffer) will take effect according to the adopted ordinance language and applicable state laws cited by staff.
