New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker signed two ordinances Thursday limiting locations and adding regulations for smoke shops in the city.
New Haven city leaders gathered Thursday as Mayor Justin Elicker signed new smoke shop regulations into law.
The ordinances follow both complaints from residents, and issues at some of the shops that were investigated by the health department.
“And found that there were other substances being sold other than tobacco products,” City Health Director Maritza Bond said.
It’s a problem Ward 27 Alder Richard Furlow said he hears a lot about.
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“There was a big drug bust in my ward where they had over a thousand ecstasy pills that were being sold out,” Furlow said.
He was a member of the working group that studied the issues and solutions for smoke shops. As a result, the new licensing ordinance mandates that smoke shops and stores selling tobacco get a license from the Health Department to sell the products.
The department will oversee regulation of the sales. The deadline to get a license is Oct. 1.
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In addition to a new license requirement, smoke shops will have to follow window advertisement rules that will help reduce sales to children.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of complaints from folks who are fed up with the spread of smoke shops all over town, the advertising that’s trying to get our kids addicted to these harmful products,” Ward 7 Alder Eli Sabin said.
The second ordinance signed covers zoning. It specifies that new smoke shops have to be 3,000 feet apart, and 1,000 feet from schools, parks or houses of worship.
“We have 212 tobacco and nicotine retailers in a city of 139,000, we don’t need any more of these shops,” Mayor Justin Elicker said of the smoke shops in the city.
It’s estimated that the total number of tobacco retailers will rise when convenience stores and gas stations acquire licenses.
With the current number of smoke shops in the city, there is only one small space of land available for a new smoke shop to open under the new zoning laws.
Existing smoke shops would have to close, and the new shop would need to be 3,000 feet from the next one.
Sabin said he’s looking forward to more regulation.
“The illegal activity and the quality of life issues that have come up at a lot of these smoke shops in our neighborhoods, it’s time to crack down and make sure that these businesses are operating according to the law," Sabin said.
