Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson believes City Hall can rein in the smoke shops that have taken over commercial corridors in neighborhoods across Philadelphia.
Richardson plans to introduce legislation Thursday to implement new zoning restrictions that, she argues, will significantly reduce where businesses selling tobacco and vape products can open.
“They operate at all hours, attract crime, sell dangerous, unregulated, unadulterated substances, and push out our community businesses that our residents need and want,” Gilmore Richardson said Wednesday. “We also know that the more accessible tobacco products are to our young people, the more likely they are to smoke.”
Her bill creates a new zoning definition for tobacco sales; currently, most smoke shop operators file paperwork under a more general category that includes grocery stores, pharmacies and other stores, Gilmore Richardson said.
If the law is adopted, smoke shops would be prohibited in certain districts where retail is generally allowed. In a few other zoning categories, the operator would have to obtain a special exception, meaning they would have to meet with a registered neighborhood group and get a city approval.
In addition, a smoke shop could not open within 750 feet of a school, park, recreation center, library, playground, child care center or any other business selling tobacco or vape items, according to the text of the bill.
As it stands, tobacco retailers need to obtain a permit through the city’s Department of Public Health and cannot be located within 500 feet of a school. There are also certain areas where permits are capped based on population density.
“Despite the department's best efforts, we have seen over the last few years that these new businesses just keep finding ways to open, and we need more solutions to stop them,” Gilmore Richardson said.
Another provision in the bill would mandate that smoke shops cover no more than 10% of their street-facing windows and transparent doors with signage, posters, shading devices and other opaque materials.
The zoning legislation would only apply to new shops, according to Gilmore Richardson.
She noted that the state legislature eight years ago pre-empted Philadelphia from enacting its own tobacco regulations; however, she said her bill deals more with land use, which is under the city’s purview.
Several community leaders came out to support the proposed legislation during a launch event Wednesday outside City Hall. Darnetta Arce, president of the Lower North Philadelphia Community Development Corporation, said there are “over 10 smoke shops in a one-block radius” in the area of Cecil B. Moore and Ridge avenues.
“All of this will just be paper unless enforcement starts happening, and that's where my neighbors are deeply frustrated right now,” added Elaine Pertrossian, an organizer who lives in Spring Garden.
The bill pairs with a proposal Gilmore Richardson introduced last month to narrow the zoning definition of grocery stores and pharmacies.
She has ushered a series of bills to final passage in recent years — dealing with the sale of drug paraphernalia, kratom and more — as part of a crusade against “nuisance” businesses.
Pennsylvania is implementing statewide rules next week on the sale of vape and electronic cigarettes that will restrict legally available brands to those listed on a directory maintained by the Attorney General’s Office.
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