By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Tobacco purveyors will be unable to open new storefronts in Orange for at least the next six months.
The Town Plan & Zoning Commission voted during its Jan. 21 meeting to enact a temporary moratorium on smoke and vape shops.
The move comes on the heels of a unanimous vote held by the Orange Board of Selectmen in November that recommended the TPZC limit the opening of additional smoke shops in town. The vote by the selectmen was not binding on the zoning commissioners, but sent a public signal about the direction they wanted the town to go.
Director of Community Services Stacey Johnson and Youth Services and Prevention Coordinator Chantelle Bunnell led the effort to limit the stores. They have argued that there has been an explosion of vaping among youth and of smoke shops that sell vaping products.
“We do have a national health crisis among our teens regarding vaping,” Bunnell had told the selectmen in November. “Prevention agencies like ours are trying to gage how to cope with this really fast-moving crisis.”
In a memo to the TPZC, First Selectman Jim Zeoli used similarly dire language to describe the situation.
“Vaping has become a national health crisis, and the addiction it creates is much worse than cigarette nicotine,” Zeoli wrote.
According to Bunnell, Orange currently has five smoke/vape shops, excluding old-fashioned cigar shops.
Milford changed its regulations in September to permanently prevent any further smoke shops from opening. The city already has 15 such stores.
Under Milford’s new rules, those stores can stay open where they are but would not be able to relocate elsewhere in the city. Orange would similarly not force existing stores to close.
Bunnell has said that Milford’s decision would likely drive potential retailers to open more in surrounding towns, including Orange.
Although the TPZC agreed to adopt the moratorium, Chair Oscar Parente expressed frustration that no one from the town had come to address the commission directly on the matter.
“I had hoped that there would be people here tonight to inform us,” Parente said, “but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
There was some confusion among the commissioners about what exactly they were aiming to accomplish.
“So basically we’re taking a legal, regulated activity, because people are using it illegally, because they’re youths…” commissioner Kevin Cornell wondered.
“I’m not even sure if that’s the issue,” Parente responded. “It may be something that’s not just bad for youth in the community, but bad for the community in general.”
Parente said he was looking forward to receiving some feedback from other town departments and the general public during the moratorium period.
Although standalone smoke shops will not be allowed to open, plenty of other establishments sell combustible, chewable and electronic tobacco products, including gas station marts and some pharmacies. Those stores would not be affected.