Columbia looks to limit vape shops, hopes to prevent ‘going from one bad industry to another’
The city of Columbia is looking to limit where vape shops and stores selling CBD and delta-8 products can locate within the city, as well as how close they can be to existing similar businesses.
“If you look down in Five Points, just about every empty building that’s been filled up recently has been filled up with either a CDB oil or a smoke shop,” said City Councilman Howard Duvall.
Duvall proposed writing the would-be ordinance during a regular meeting Tuesday. The proposal has been referred to the council’s public safety committee. That committee has yet to meet to discuss the issue, but Duvall said they will look at replicating existing ordinances around South Carolina and the Southeast.
The idea seemed to receive support from others on council. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann asked that the final ordinance also include rules that stores must advertise the effects of their products, including that using delta-8 cannabis products could cause someone to fail a drug test. (Indeed, trade publications also say using delta-8 products can lead to a failed drug test, though delta-8 is not illegal in South Carolina.)
Duvall said the idea for the ordinance came from conversations with merchants in the Vista and Five Points entertainment districts who are frustrated with the number of such businesses.
The issue is particularly visible in Five Points, where at least half a dozen smoke shops are operational in a three-block radius. A new store called Smokers Town Tobacco and Vape Shop has recently opened at the former site of The Five Points Roost bar.
“We have spent several years trying to reduce the number of bars that were in the Five Points area, now we’re filling them up with CBD oil and vape shops,” Duvall said. “We’re going from one bad industry to another.”
He said the ordinance likely won’t impact existing businesses but will seek to limit new ventures.
Duvall said the city has worked for years to make Five Points more appealing to visitors. When asked what makes a business undesirable, Duvall said it is the combination of what they are selling and the clientele they attract.
“I think (those) are the two things that would make it not a desirable business in an area where we are trying to redevelop into a more visitor-friendly area,” he said.
The proposal is still in the research stage,and Duvall does not have a specific goal for when an ordinance would come before council, but he said he would like to move quickly.
This story may be updated with more details.
