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Council hearing on smoke-shop zoning advances to April after major enforcement and mapping questions
Summary
Baltimore City's Land Use & Transportation Committee held an extensive hearing on a bill to define and restrict smoke shops, including a proposed 10-linear-feet test and a buffer increase from 500 to 1,000 feet from schools/parks; agencies flagged enforcement, state preemption, and grandfathering challenges and the sponsor recessed the matter to April 16 for amendments.
Councilman Blanchard told the Land Use & Transportation Committee on March 26 that a package of zoning changes aimed at halting the rapid spread of smoke shops in Baltimore would be heard and further refined, but that the panel needed more time to resolve enforcement and legal questions.
Blanchard, the sponsor, said the proposal would create a new land-use definition for "smoke shop," set minimum distances from schools, parks and recreation centers, and change zoning tables so that smoke shops would generally be a conditional use in commercial districts and disallowed in residential and open-space zones. "Smoke shops and vape shops are at the heart of the vaping crisis with our youth," he said, describing storefronts that "crowd out the types of businesses we want in our main streets." He urged committee members to consider amendments drafted after feedback from agencies and the planning commission.
Why it matters: Sponsors and public-health advocates said high neighborhood density of these outlets normalizes nicotine and unregulated products near children and damages commercial corridors.…
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