Fresno City Council approved a smoke shop ordinance that limits the number of those businesses to only 49, shutting down dozens of small businesses. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)
- Fresno City Council approved a smoke shop ordinance that would force business owners to compete for 49 permits to operate.
- Proponents say it will reduce crime and blight often found in smoke shops.
- Councilmember Nick Richardson, an opponent to the bill, is away with the Marine Reserves. Council President Mike Karbassi tried to delay the vote until his return.
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After a more than a year of figuring out the legality of how to regulate smoke shops, the Fresno City Council voted to implement a plan to rein in the businesses on Thursday.
The council’s newest member, Brandon Vang, made what was essentially the tie-breaking vote, siding with Miguel Arias, Annalisa Perea, and Nelson Esparza, all of whom authored the ordinance.
The last time the ordinance came before the council it died in a split between those councilmembers and Council President Mike Karbassi and councilmembers Tyler Maxwell and Nick Richardson.
This time, Maxwell abstained from voting. Richardson was absent, called up to duty to serve in North Africa in his role as a Marine reservist. Karbassi wanted to table the item until Richardson returns, but the council majority decided to vote on the proposal.
Maxwell said that he didn’t approve of the vote procedure and thus would sit out the vote.
Related Story: How Many Smoke Shops Is Too Many? Fresno Plan Would Allow Only 49
Fresno Will Soon Only Have 49 Smoke Shops in the City
The city’s smoke shop ordinance forces the estimated 150-plus smoke shops in the city to apply for 49 conditional use permits. Those who don’t get those permits will have 18 months to clear out their inventory and either repurpose their business or shut down.
Attorney Todd Wynkoop, who represents smoke shop owners, wrote in a letter to the council that the ordinance would be a “taking” of their property and thus eminent domain. Suing the city is a possibility, Wynkoop previously told GV Wire.
In voting against the ordinance, Karbassi said at a previous meeting that he feared the city would be forced to defend the law in court.
Arias said that smoke shops present a public nuisance and regulating them has become “a full-time job.” Inspections from Fresno police and the City Attorney’s code enforcement division often uncover illegal cannabis, illegal gambling operations, weapons, and underage tobacco sales.
Related Story: Smoke Shop Ordinance Eludes Divided Fresno City Council
Opponents of the bill said while they support regulating smoke shops, the conditional use permit indiscriminately shuts down small businesses. The city has been able to successfully shut down smoke shops, according to Karbassi. A smoke shop in Pinedale was shut down after the city attorney’s actions, Karbassi said in a previous meeting.
Karbassi liked the idea of a tobacco license, similar to that in Clovis. Arias countered that the size of Fresno versus Clovis would make it hard to scale.
Vang, the newest member of the council, said he recognized that the ordinance would negatively impact small business but he also heard from constituents that underage tobacco sales negatively affect young people.
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