PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria City councilman wants to put a cap on stand-alone tobacco vape shops in the city.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, District 2 Representative Chuck Grayeb proposed the city impose a temporary moratorium on issuing tobacco licenses.
“I would like staff to look at some recommendations and modifications to our code, that would prevent the oversaturation of these businesses in our city, going forward,” Grayeb said.
Grayeb cited very few rules for tobacco licenses, that only requires them to be at least 350 feet from a school. Applications don’t have to go through a special use process like a cannabis dispensary.
Peoria’s Community Development Director Joe Dulin said he’s seen a “visual uptick” in the number of vape shops or stand-alone tobacco stores, with two or three of them popping up on University Street the past six-to-nine months.
“I don’t believe it’s as easy as just bringing a quick ordinance back to council in two weeks. I think staff needs to work with our legal department and our police department to see what our best path forward to be able to ensure that neighborhoods are protected and that our commercial districts are protected from four, five, six of these stores going up in one stretch,” said Dulin.
No one else on the council commented on Grayeb’s proposal Tuesday night.
Dulin believes the staff can prepare an ordinance for the council’s review in August.
