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Council agrees to revise Garland Development Code definitions for 'smoke shop' and 'tobacco shop'
Summary
Staff proposed GDC amendments to define 'smoke shop' (including vape device sellers) and 'tobacco and cigar shop' (75%+ tobacco in publicly displayed inventory) and to require smoke shops be sited in industrial zones with Specific Use Permits; staff noted Texas Health & Safety Code §443.003 prevents a total ban on sales of consumable tobacco products.
Planning staff presented an amendment to the Garland Development Code to tighten and clarify definitions for smoke shops and tobacco/cigar shops. The proposed language defines a smoke shop to include businesses whose primary purpose is the sale or promotion of devices intended for smoking, inhaling or vaporizing substances, and creates a separate definition for tobacco and cigar shops in which more than 75% of publicly displayed inventory is tobacco in original manufacturer packaging.
Staff said the revision will permit smoke shops only in industrial zoning with a Specific Use Permit (SUP) and will add a rebuttable presumption to aid enforcement (shifting the burden to an owner to show a business is a tobacco shop rather than a smoke shop under certain conditions). Staff cautioned this approach preserves current businesses as legal nonconforming uses and highlighted Texas Health and Safety Code §443.003 as the reason the city cannot adopt a blanket ban on consumable tobacco product sales. Council gave unanimous consensus to the definitions change and asked staff to provide additional implementation details.
