Westminster’s mayor and common council unanimously approved the introduction of an ordinance on Monday that will add definitions for “vape shops” and “tobacconist shops” to the city’s zoning code.
In addition to granting vape shops and tobacconist shops their own categories, these shops will be allowed in more city zones, and there will also be restrictions on how close these shops can be to one another, according to ordinance supporting documents.
“The goal here was, as this often happens in the zoning world, to establish clarity of what a vape shop is,” council member Dan Hoff said during Monday’s meeting. “Some people out there were interpreting a vape shop to fall under a specialty shop, and that really is not our intent when we discussed specialty shops with the [Economic and Community Development Committee], mayor and common council.”
A specialty shop is defined as a business that focuses on selling a specific product, such as a furniture store, florist, or sporting goods store, the documents say.
“This is just to provide clarity, so the rules are very clear that if another vape shop wants to open up, they understand where they fit specifically in what category and where is allowed or not allowed,” Hoff added.
The ordinance was created after two vape shop owners in Westminster’s downtown business zone received violation notices for operating without acquiring proper approval for their shop locations. The owners reached out to the Department of Community Planning and Development, documents say, to discuss whether or not they could remain at their properties.
Vape shops, not tobacconist shops, are set to be subjected to special provisions that will require a certain distance between them. However, that distance was not specified on Monday evening.
“The distance requirement we thought made sense because, you know, while vape shops are certainly allowed to exist, we don’t want them right on top of each other. It’s just not a very efficient use of our downtown space,” Hoff said.
The council voted to introduce the ordinance and will now refer it to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review.
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