Fayetteville City Council Says Proposed Tobacco Shop Rules Not Ready for Adoption

Source from:  The Fayetteville Observer 12/10/2014

Fayetteville City Council members said a proposed crackdown on new and existing tobacco shops is not ready for adoption.

After six people representing tobacco-oriented businesses opposed the rules Monday night at a public hearing, the council voted unanimously to delay action and discuss the matter at the Jan. 5 work session.

Council members said they want city planners, tobacco shop owners and community watch coordinators to have more input on an ordinance that seeks to reduce loitering, drug dealing and other disturbances that police say plague some of these businesses located near neighborhoods.

The proposed ordinance would require tobacco-themed businesses to meet 500-foot setback requirements, including from schools, parks, neighborhoods and other tobacco shops.

Some tobacco shops would be restricted to being open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and most new shops would require a special use permit by the city.
A more controversial proposal would close some shops downtown or on corridors zoned for neighborhood commercial, including stretches of Murchison, Cliffdale and Rosehill roads.

As of last week, 11 tobacco shops would have to close within three years, unless they change how they operate, under the draft ordinance.
On Monday, that number was reduced to 10, after city planners recommended they don't regulate electronic cigarettes sold at so-called vapor stores.
Chad Whitaker is owner of four Tobacco Road Outlet centers in the Fayetteville area, including one that has been open since 1999 on Rosehill Road and faces closure.

"We would like to keep the store open," he said. "We are not part of the problem."

David Courie, a lawyer representing some of the tobacco shops on the city's closure list, said his clients have financial incentives to deter crime, which is bad for business. One on the hit list, he said, has just installed 40 surveillance cameras.

Councilmen Mitch Colvin and Chalmers McDougald said some of the targeted shops are in their districts, but they didn't want to pass anything that was unfair or didn't solve the problems being reported by police.

In another matter, the council failed to adopt any restrictions on how many and where residents could store small utility trailers that are unattached to vehicles.

City planners had proposed a limit of one single-axle trailer in the front yard under certain conditions.

Voting for the proposal were Mayor Pro Tem Kady-Ann Davy, Bobby Hurst and McDougald.

Voting against adopting any changes were Mayor Nat Robertson, Jim Arp, Kathy Jensen, Bill Crisp, Larry Wright, Ted Mohn and Colvin.

Arp and Crisp questioned the city's ability to enforce such an ordinance. Hurst said the city does an adequate job of enforcing code violations on a complaint basis. Enditem