Ansonia Planning & Zoning consultant David Elder addresses the commission on Aug. 26.
ANSONIA – The Ansonia Planning & Zoning Commission proposed a temporary moratorium on smoke shops during their regular monthly meeting on Aug. 26.
“The purpose of the moratorium would be to give the commission time required to draft and consider regulations that would regulate smoke shops and tobacco stores,” consultant David Elder told the commission.
Members of the commission said that smoke shops in town have had issues with police as well as labor violations. The commission wants a moratorium on new shops while they draft regulations.
The commission scheduled a public hearing on the moratorium for Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. It will be conducted via Zoom.
Members went back and forth over whether the ban should be for three or six months, and the language was not finalized during the meeting.
During the meeting, members discussed the regulations they’d like to implement for smoke shops in the future. Suggestions included banning smoke shops within 1,000 feet of schools and city parks, and capping the total number in the city.
Smoke shops that already exist will be allowed to continue operating under the moratorium, and any new regulations would not apply to them, according to Elder. However, he said that the commission could deny permits for expansion.
Commission chair Jared Heon compared the ban to a 2021 moratorium the city had placed on marijuana dispensaries, and said he was concerned that minors were able to buy from smoke shops.
“If we have twenty of these stores throughout the town, it’s gonna be very hard to try and police that and keep the kids away from it,” Heon said. “So just like we talked about with the marijuana sales, and kind of limiting the areas that we’re in and being able to control the number that we have – first things first, let’s stop any more from coming in.”
Critics of the marijuana moratorium argued in a public hearing that it would discourage marijuana retailers from coming to Ansonia even after the moratorium expired. As of now, there are no dispensaries in Ansonia.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini estimated that there are currently about three or four smoke shops in town.
In 2022, Ansonia police served search warrants and made arrests at two smoke shops – Moe’s Smoke Shop on 213 Pershing Dr. and Smoke Vibe on 50 Bridge St. – for selling marijuana without a permit, according to Ansonia Police Chief Wayne Williams.
Both stores were ordered to close temporarily. Soon after, Moe’s Smoke Shop was slapped with $5,100 in fines for labor violations.
The Valley Indy filed a freedom of information request to learn more about the labor violations on Aug. 16. That request is still pending.
On Sept. 10, police served two search warrants at smoke shops in town connected to possible marijuana sales, according to Williams. Those shops were In And Out Smoke Shop at 360 E Main St., as well as the smoke shop in River Plaza on Maple Street.
Check the city website “Meetings” tab for a link to the Sept. 16 public hearing.
