The Schenectady City Council is weighing a proposal that would restrict the location of smoke and vape shops in the city to four business and manufacturing zoning districts.
On March 11, the council adopted a three-month moratorium on the location of future smoke shops in the city in order to give itself time to craft zoning restrictions for smoke and vape shops that devote a significant portion of their business to selling tobacco, electronic cigarettes or vaping products.
The council held a public hearing during its Monday night meeting for a draft proposal of the zoning restrictions that would limit smoke shops to the C-4 downtown mixed-use district, the C-5 business district, the M-1 light manufacturing and warehousing district and the M-2 manufacturing and warehousing district.
The public hearing was closed during Monday’s meeting, with a potential vote at the council’s next full meeting on May 13.
“We want to keep them out of the more residential areas,” City Council President Marion Porterfield said following Monday’s meeting.
The zoning proposal also restricts from operating within 1,000 feet of any residential lot, 1,000 feet of another smoke shop and 2,000 feet of a school, park, library or church.
Porterfield said she was in favor of the restrictions that would keep vape shops away from city schools.
“Absolutely because we don’t want children exposed to that,” she said.
Under the current proposal, smoke shops currently operating in residential zoning areas and C-1, C-2 and C-3 business districts will be barred from operating one year after the zoning amendment passes. However, they will be eligible to petition the city zoning board for permission to continue operating beyond one year.
“So basically, they have one year from the effective date of the amendment to continue operating,” Corporation Counsel Maxine Barasch said on Tuesday. “If they want to continue operating beyond that time, they’ll have to go to the zoning board of appeals if they’re in a district where they’re non-conforming.”
A proposed six-month smoke shop moratorium was first discussed by the council last July and was ultimately shelved in August before being revisited in the spring, with the council adopting a three-month moratorium in March.
Councilwoman Doreen Ditoro, a persistent advocate for the smoke shop moratorium and zoning restrictions, said the council worked alongside the corporation counsel’s office to select the zoning districts where the shops will be allowed.
“I’m very pleased that my persistence held true,” she said.
During the public hearing for the proposed zoning changes during Monday night’s council meeting, resident Robert Sanders was the only member of the public to speak, noting that he believed the council was overreaching by restricting the location of smoke shops.
“The next thing you’re going to do is move all of the bars into one section that you think are good for you,” Sanders told the council.
The smoke shop zoning restrictions do not apply to cannabis dispensaries in the city. The Schenectady Planning Commission approved plans for the city’s second dispensary at its meeting on April 17. The proposed Grass & Goodness dispensary would be located at the Proforma retail complex at 1650 Crane St.
The City Council previously weighed separate zoning restrictions on cannabis dispensaries last summer.
Barasch said on Tuesday that the corporation counsel’s office is investigating the steps the City Council could take to implement cannabis zoning restrictions that will not conflict with state Office of Cannabis Management regulations.
“I believe we can do some zoning related to it,” she said. “We’re working on looking through the new state legislation to determine how we can effectuate zoning.”'