On Monday, the City Council directed staff to write a new law that would prevent vape and smoke shops and lounges from locating within 1,000 feet from parks, schools and public places where children gather.
It also told staff to prepare a second ordinance establishing an annual tobacco retail licensing fee that would be enforced by the police department.
The council issued the directives in a special session focused on tobacco uses.
City Attorney Robert Kress directed staff to have a proposed ordinance by late September with an eye toward public hearings and approval in mid-December.
The timeline satisfies the council’s desire to do something about tobacco uses and sales in the city before its moratorium on tobacco-related uses expires on Jan. 20, 2017.
In January 2015, the council declared a 45-day moratorium on businesses with tobacco-related uses. That moratorium has been extended twice — first to one year ending Jan. 20, 2016 and then to the maximum, to Jan. 20, 2017.
“We’re getting to the tail end of the moratorium and must put something in place before January,” City Manager Bob Russi said. “Otherwise we can’t continue the moratorium.”
Councilwoman Donna Redman, the council liaison to the La Verne Youth and Family Action Committee, was especially troubled by a springtime analysis Los Angeles County health officials presented to the committee. Health officers analyze tobacco sales, conduct “kid health surveys” in cities within the county and grade cities, from excellent to failing, on the ability of minors buying cigarettes, cigars, vapor and e-cigarettes.
“La Verne got an F,” Redman said of the county survey that showed 59 percent of Bonita High School students found it “fairly easy to obtain tobacco products in La Verne.”
Community Development Director Hal Fredericksen and Associate Planner Collin Wahab identified four shops in town that devote more than 25 percent of floor space to the sale of pipes, tobacco, flavored tobacco, pipe tobacco, vapor cigarettes, e-cigarettes and related products. They also said there is one smoke lounge with on-site smoking and two restaurants with hookah smoking lounges as accessory use to dining.
The ordinance would not prohibit smoking in public and semi-public spaces such as parks, plazas and restaurant patios.
Police Capt. Elizabeth Garcia Garcia and Chief Scott Pickwith identified 27 businesses that sell tobacco products, including supermarkets, liquor stores and convenience stores. Garcia said other cities, including San Gabriel, West Covina, and Duarte , have tobacco-related licensing fees; and Pomona has a draft ordinance awaiting council approval.
Tobacco-related businesses would be required to pay a local tobacco-related license fee annually in addition to the state’s one-time cigarette and tobacco retailer license, Garcia said. Unlike the state license, the local license would discourage violations and limit access to youth, she added.
Local tobacco-related license fees range from $50 to $350 in most cities, but Glendale charges $370, she said. The fee covers police compliance inspections and enforcement costs.
Resource : http://www.dailybulletin.com/government-and-politics/20160719/how-la-verne-wants-to-discourage-children-from-smoking
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