Item 21 - Public Hearing - Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 2026-01 Related to Smoke Shop Inspection Fees

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Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 2026-01 and Fee Resolution (Smoke Shop Ordinance and Inspection Fee Resolution) March 3, 2026 Page 3 5 5 8 9 Background and Present Status There has been a significant rise in the number of licensed and unlicensed tobacco retail establishments within the City. The number of smoke shops has risen from 17 to 43 smoke shops (38 licensed, 5 unlicensed) since January 1, 2024. Approximately 96% of all documented smoke shops are located in neighborhood-serving retail centers in close proximity to sensitive uses, raising public health, safety, and enforcement concerns. Chapter 41 of the SAMC does not distinguish smoke shops from general retail uses. As a result, licensed retailers have been allowed to establish at locations throughout the City in commercial and other zoning districts where retail uses are allowed by-right. While smoke shops are distributed throughout the City, nearly 60% of them are located within 1,000 feet of youth-centered land uses such as schools, parks, and childcare facilities and all but two are located within 500 feet of residential uses. Public Health and Safety The proximity of tobacco retailers to youth is a public health concern. The U.S. Surgeon General determined in 2012 that a high density of tobacco retailers promotes youth smoking by both increasing access to products and creating more environmental cues that encourage smoking.1 Research indicates that such conditions are associated with an increased rate of tobacco use initiation in young people,2,3 higher overall tobacco consumption, and a lower likelihood of successfully quitting.4,5 While the impact of tobacco retailer density on minors is a primary concern, the presence of smoke shops also affects community character, public health, and public safety. Those effects are evidenced by increased loitering, smoking, littering, and crime linked to cash- based operations, factors that drive a consequential decline in nearby quality of life and with detrimental impacts on surrounding businesses. In 2025, Police Department personnel received 989 calls for service and complaints about the sale of tobacco products to minors, which prompted targeted enforcement. These 1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012. 2 Center for Public Health Systems Science. Point-of-Sale Strategies: A Tobacco Control Guide. Center for Public Health Systems Science; George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, 2014. 3 Henriksen L, Feighery EC, Schleicher NC, Cowling DW, Kline RS, Fortmann SP. Is adolescent smoking related to the density and proximity of tobacco outlets and retail advertising near schools? Prev Med Aug 2008;47(2):333–8. 4 Chuang YC, Cubbin C, Ahn D, Winkleby MA. Effects of neighborhood socioeconomic status and convenience store concentration on individual level smoking. J Epidemiol Community Health 2005;59(7):568–73. 5 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012.