City leaders are expected to extend a temporary ban on new smoke and vape shops in Avondale Estates.
The DeKalb County city, which features four businesses that sell vape, tobacco and CBD products, previously enacted a six-month moratorium to prevent more from applying for business licenses. The resolution, passed in late November, said more vape and smoke shops would “detract” from the balance of business types in the city’s business district.
City Manager Patrick Bryant said city staff were already working on a zoning code rewrite, so the moratorium would give them time to finish that rewrite before more smoke and vape shops open.
“One of the major goals of the zoning rewrite is the diversity of use type,” he said. “Anytime you get a saturation of any one use, you might as a body consider putting a moratorium on that use.”
Puff Smoke Shop off East College Avenue was the last smoke shop to get approved in the city before the November moratorium began. The City Council voted 3-2 to approve the business, and they enacted the moratorium the following week.
It’s located between a liquor store, which sells similar products, and a clothing alterations shop. The owner of Puff Smoke Shop declined to comment, and the other business owners could not be reached before publication.
“Our central business district is very small,” Bryant said. “The city itself is only 1.25 miles and only a portion of that 1.25 miles is even zoned for commercial development. So saturations in Avondale Estates can happen real quickly because of the size of the city.”
The zoning code rewrite began in 2017 with a third-party audit, which determined the whole code section should be rewritten. City leaders expected it to be done by the end of May, but it’s taking longer, Bryant said.
During Wednesday’s work session, the mayor and council quickly agreed they wanted to extend the moratorium. Bryant said the length of the extension hasn’t been finalized, but it’ll likely be through the end of July.
No details were provided on what code changes the council is considering or how those changes would affect smoke and vape shops. Bryant said smoke and vape shops were the only business type the council thought was saturated in Avondale Estates.
Moratoriums are nothing new to DeKalb County. The county has a moratorium on dollar stores and Stonecrest has a temporary ban on gas stations. Stockbridge has a moratorium to stop construction of single-family home rental subdivisions, and Peachtree Corners recently enacted a moratorium on lake benches.
A vote for the moratorium extension will take place May 26.
