Newark City Council passes an ordinance making any approval of retail tobacco and vape stores require a “Special Use Permit.”
The new ordinance comes after the city observed trends showing an increase in the number and concentration of tobacco/vape stores in certain commercial areas.
One area where the stores are popping up is near the University of Delaware and adjacent residential neighborhoods.
Newark’s Planning and Development Department recommended retail tobacco/vape stores be a distinct land use because of the public health concerns associated with the products.
The department also notes the stores warrant a separate classification and regulation from general retail and specialty retail uses because of the primary focus on the sale of tobacco and vapor products.
Some council members also wanted additional restrictions like vape shops be at least 300 feet from churches and schools.
Councilwoman Corinth Ford wants vape stores further apart from each other.
"This case, I think that 300-foot restriction is good because they are building these things on top of each other,” said Ford. “There's one on South Main Street. They're all over. Every time I turn around, I see another one popping up."
Mayor Travis McDermott notes he would support any limitation on the vape stores because as father of two teenage kids he worries about the health effects of vaping.
And he wouldn’t stop there.
"I'd go one step further, (from) 300 feet. I just say we can't have them at all. If that's the will of council to say, we have the ability to say that they're not to be in the city no matter what, right? If that's the goal right to make it so hard to get one we could just say, we don't want them in the city at all," said McDermott.
Those restrictions couldn’t be added onto the ordinance at this time, but they are expected to come up again in the near future.
