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Holly Springs council denies Conditional Use Permit for vape/THC sales and adopts zoning clarification on hemp/THC
Summary
The Holly Springs mayor and council voted July 7 to deny a Conditional Use Permit for a change-of-ownership CBD/tobacco specialty store that sought to add vapes, hemp and THC products, and approved a zoning ordinance amendment clarifying hemp/THC inclusion and limiting ancillary retail displays to 10% or 1,000 sq ft.
Holly Springs mayor and council on July 7 denied a Conditional Use Permit for a downtown CBD/tobacco specialty store seeking to add vapes, hemp and THC products, and separately approved an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance to clarify how hemp and THC are treated.
Staff told the council the CUP applicant at 2271 Holly Springs Parkway sought to expand a previously licensed tobacco/CBD business to include vapes and hemp/THC products; planning staff treated the request as an expansion of a nonconforming use and recommended denial. Planning Commission had recommended denial 3–1. The council voted to deny the CUP.
The council also approved ORD-04225, an amendment to the Holly Springs Zoning Ordinance (Article 2 and Article 5) that explicitly adds hemp and THC language where references to CBD and tobacco specialty stores appear. The change also creates an ancillary-use limit for convenience stores that sell these products: such an ancillary area may occupy no more than 10% of retail floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller, with any larger display requiring a conditional use permit.
City staff said the ordinance change primarily clarifies existing coverage under new state licensing terminology and gives the city a tool to require a conditional use permit when a retailer seeks to expand into hemp or THC products. Planning staff explained the CUP denial in part because the proposed location was approximately 2,000 feet by the most direct travel route from an existing grandfathered store in the Walmart shopping center.
Council members discussed how the rules apply to existing stores that began selling some products before the ordinance existed and whether approvals should be handled on a case‑by‑case basis for legacy operators. The ordinance approval included that approach: stores already selling limited hemp products will be considered under the existing nonconforming-use framework, while expansions that add THC/hemp beyond prior licenses will need review.
The denial and the ordinance amendment both passed on unanimous 5–0 votes. The immediate effect is that the applicant at 2271 Holly Springs Parkway may not add THC/hemp products without a successful conditional use permit application under the clarified ordinance; enforcement or grandfathering steps for other stores were discussed as an administrative follow-up.
