LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — The city of Lebanon is making it harder for smoke and vape shops to open up shop in their city altogether.
When you think of Lebanon, the historic downtown square often comes to mind. Now, city leaders said liquor stores and vape shops are becoming an eyesore.
“We have other people that want to open businesses here, but these seem to be the ones that take the empty spaces. We’d rather reserve those empty spaces for something that everyone wants to buy stuff from,” said Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell.
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Recently, Lebanon city leaders passed an ordinance regulating vape shops. One of those rules requires shops to be zoned for heavy industrial areas.
“They must be at least 500 feet from a church, a school or daycare and also have been a quarter a mile away from each other,” Mayor Bell said.
Bell said, currently, there are over 20 vape shops in the city, which causes several reasons for concern. “At the top of my list is public health. We know a lot of youth get caught up in vape and it’s something that is statistically becoming more widespread.”
The city isn’t only taking a hard stance on vaping and smoking. Recently, the city approved an ordinance to also limit liquor stores from opening. Currently, there is a liquor store every two square miles in the city, which also impacts business.
“It’s just hard to make it successful after too many liquor stores in the area,” Andrea Ross, the owner of Cheers Wine and Liquor, said.
Mayor Bell said both of these new ordinances are part of a larger goal, to beautify the city. The city also passed an ordinance on distracting neon and LED signs in business windows. Businesses will be asked to take them down if they are not essential to the business.
“When you ride down the road and see a bunch of bright lights in the window enough to blind you, that doesn’t lead to a beautiful city. So, all of this is really centered around that,” Mayor Bell said.
All of these ordinances are now in effect.
Currently, state lawmakers are working on a bill that aims to regulate the vape industry and protect children in Tennessee.
