Kinston council to consider new zoning rules for tobacco, vape and CBD shops
Kinston City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on proposed zoning rules for tobacco, vape, hemp, CBD and similar retail establishments.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, in City Hall Council Chambers, 207 E. King St. The meeting will be held in person and streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
The proposed text amendment would add definitions for tobacco, vape, hemp, CBD and similar retail establishments, create separation requirements for those businesses and set standards for existing and future businesses. The proposal also includes changes related to convenience stores, gas stations and refueling stations.
According to the agenda, the issue follows earlier discussion by City Council about the number of tobacco and vape shops operating in the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Staff reported that more than 20 such shops were located in the city limits and ETJ.
The agenda also references a March 3 report that Kinston Police raided 26 tobacco and vape stores and searched eight homes. According to the staff report, those searches resulted in four arrests and the seizure of $2.3 million in cash, nearly 110 pounds of THC and nearly 8 pounds of Khat, which the report describes as an illegal stimulant.
Planning staff said the proposed regulations are intended to balance business needs with the city’s responsibility to protect health, safety and welfare, particularly for minors, while promoting orderly development.
Under the proposed rules, tobacco, vape, hemp, CBD and similar retail establishments would be allowed in B-1 General Business and I-B districts only with a special use permit.
The draft ordinance would prohibit those businesses from locating within 500 feet of any residential zoning district. It also would prohibit them within 2,000 feet of schools, day care facilities, youth facilities, community centers, city recreational facilities, public or private parks, religious institutions, libraries, dance halls, family care homes, group homes, halfway houses and residential rehabilitation support facilities.
The businesses also could not be located within 2,000 feet of another tobacco, vape, hemp, CBD or similar establishment.
The proposal includes exterior visibility standards, including a requirement that street-level windows not obstruct the view of the inside from the public right of way. It also would prohibit more than one use subject to those standards on the same property or in the same building.
Existing legal businesses would be allowed to continue operating under the city’s nonconformity rules. The proposed ordinance says existing tobacco, vape, hemp, CBD and similar establishments could continue to operate, expand or renovate in accordance with Article 8 of the city’s Unified Development Ordinance.
The Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the amendments with suggested changes at an April 28 special called meeting, according to the staff report. The board was scheduled to review the revised version for ratification at its May 12 meeting.
If approved, the ordinance would amend the city’s Unified Development Ordinance and take effect upon adoption.
