ANSONIA – The city’s planning and zoning commission could revamp a discussion on regulating smoke and vape shops at its next meeting.

Commission chairman Jared Heon said at an Aug. 31 meeting that he’s seen vape shops pop up in town that violate existing regulations.

“I’m seeing them again, and I’m seeing them shut down again. I’m seeing them not take permits again. I’m seeing signs that blatantly violate our sign regulations, and we need to, in my opinion, get back on that,” Heon said.

The commission previously enacted a moratorium which banned new vape shops for six months in 2024. The intent of the moratorium was to give the commission time to write regulations for the shops going forward, according to comments made at the time.

However, those regulations fell off the radar afterwards, Heon said at the Aug. 31 meeting. He said it’s time to come back around and address the topic.

“I know we haven’t had a chance to breathe with the amount of applications that have been coming in,” Heon said. “I think we need to bring that back up.”

Zoning officials in Ansonia and Derby have said vape shops often cause problems by selling marijuana products without a license. Commission member Maureen McCormack said police shut down one vape shop in town about four months ago, and that it had since reopened.

Commissioners have discussed what potential smoke shop regulations could look like in past meetings.

Suggestions for regulations have included banning vape shops within 100 feet of schools and city parks and capping the total number of the shops. As of now, there are no specific regulations on the books for vape shops.

No action was taken on the discussion at the Aug. 31 meeting. Heon said a renewal of the moratorium could come up at the commission’s next meeting, currently scheduled for Sept. 28.

Derby banned new vape, smoke or tobacco shops from opening within the city in April 2025. See page 98 of this document.

Zaza, a smoke shop in Derby, was raided by law enforcement twice in one day last year, with authorities allegedly seizing 44 and then 59 pounds of illegal cannabis products. That store is now closed.

Ansonia police arrested a total of three people during two visits to vape shops in 2025, according to officials from the department.

Big Picture

Unlicensed marijuana sales in vape shops are a problem that has attracted the attention of law enforcement officials on the state and national level, too. 

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong’s office said in an Aug. 18 press release that illegal marijuana sales are “routine” in many vape shops, following the raid and closure of Anesthesia Smoke & Convenience in New Haven.

“Investigators from the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Consumer Protection continue to routinely find illegal cannabis products for sale, including blunts, marijuana flower, and edibles mimicking popular youth-oriented snack foods,” Tong’s office wrote.

A 2025 operation by the Drug Enforcement agency allegedly seized hundreds of pounds of illegal marijuana products from vape shops in Galveston, Tex., Little Rock, Ark., and Albany, N.Y.

“Many of these products feature bright packaging and imagery inspired by popular cereals, candies, and snacks, which appeal to young people,” according to a DEA press release about the operation.

The state House of Representatives this year voted to pass a bill which would have set new rules for vape shops by giving the Department of Consumer Protection more reasons to deny registration applications. However, the bill did not advance through the Senate, according to the Connecticut General Assembly’s legislation tracker.