HomeMy WebLinkAboutSarnas Smoke Shop
August 27, 2009 Direct Dial Telephone No. 763.706.3673
Sarna’s Tobacco Shoppe
Attn: James Sarna
4329 Central Avenue NE
Columbia Heights, MN 55421
James Sarna
11853 Dunkirk Circle NE
Blaine, MN 55449
Re: Smoke Shop Moratorium
Dear Mr. Sarna:
As you may or may not know, the City of Columbia Heights imposed a 6-month
moratorium on new smoke shop businesses at the May 26, 2009 City Council meeting.
The moratorium was established to give City Staff ample time to study the effects of a
high concentration of smoke shops uses, as well as to decipher the intent of the State of
Minnesota’s Freedom to Breathe Act.
At this time, Staff has made a recommendation to amend the City’s Zoning and
Municipal Codes in relation to smoke shop uses. The recommended amendment contains
two key points of interest that may or may not affect the current operations of your
business.
The first is that the proposed ordinance would completely disallow the sampling of
tobacco or tobacco related products inside the store. The intent of the Freedom to
Breathe Act is to protect the general public from secondhand smoke, and banning the
sampling of tobacco would achieve this goal.
The second point of interest is that those smoke shop uses that currently allow the
sampling of tobacco products inside the store would be allowed to continue this practice
until December 31, 2010, giving a 1-year amortization period to comply with the new
ordinance.
The Planning Commission will be reviewing the proposed amendment at the September
1, 2009 Planning Commission meeting. The City Council will review the proposal at the
thth
September 14 and September 28 City Council meetings. These meetings are open to
the public.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your attention to
this matter.
Sincerely,
Jeff Sargent
City Planner