Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee amends smoke‑shop rules: defines shops by 10% floor area, moves use to special exception and sets hours to 8 a.m.–10 p.m.
Summary
The Zoning Subcommittee voted to refer a zoning amendment that tightens regulation of 'smoke shops' by adding a 10% retail‑area threshold, requiring sites to obtain a special exception in business and some industrial districts, and setting operating hours at 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily; staff said licensing by the health department would provide annual inspections for enforcement.
The subcommittee voted to amend and refer item 37,209, a zoning text change that redefines and restricts smoke shops, to the full City Council with a neutral recommendation.
City planner Jeff Cormier said the proposed ordinance adds a floor‑area threshold so an establishment that devotes 10% or more of its retail floor area to smoke/tobacco items would be defined as a smoke shop; such shops would be allowed only by special exception in B1, B2, B3, the CBD and I‑2 districts and subject to distance and buffer requirements (3,000 feet from another smoke shop/cannabis retailer; 100 feet from residential districts, schools or churches). "So anything where you are devoting 10% or more of your floor area to smoke items ... would be considered a smoke shop," Cormier said.
Staff showed that roughly 20 local businesses advertise themselves as smoke shops and that many additional convenience stores sell the same products but do not identify as smoke shops. Cormier cited New Haven as an example jurisdiction that paired zoning changes with a health‑department licensing regime and signage/hours restrictions. He said licensing would allow annual inspections and make it easier to enforce post‑opening changes to display or product mix.
Aldermen asked whether bodegas and gas stations would be captured; Cormier said only those whose floor plans allocate ≥10% to smoke items would be regulated as smoke shops, and that the 10% figure is measured on the retail floor area shown on submitted floor plans (and verifiable during inspections). Discussion also covered whether daycares should be treated as 'schools' for buffer calculations; staff said the ordinance language (public or private elementary or high school or religious institution) would not automatically include home‑based daycares unless explicitly named.
Alderman Francisco Santiago moved to amend the hours language to set smoke‑shop hours to match package stores (8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily); the amendment passed and the subcommittee referred the ordinance as amended to the council. The City Plan Commission recommended the special‑exception approach and matching hours, citing public‑health goals.
