ROANOKE, Va. — The City of Roanoke is weighing zoning changes aimed at curbing the rapid growth of vape shops across the city. Planning staff are evaluating an ordinance that would sharply limit where new vape retailers can open.

“They’re everywhere, I feel like they’re invading. Any time you see a vacant storefront, a vacant building, think about Williamson Road, you drive by there a week or two weeks later, and you see a vape store, or you see the windows are covered up, and all you see is a flashing orange sign,” said Roanoke City Council Member Phazhon Nash.

Since his election in November, Nash has pushed to stop more vape shops from arriving, citing stories he heard on the campaign trail from parents, teachers and addiction-prevention groups about how easily young people obtain these products.

“Teachers who have desk drawers filled to the brim with vapes, Juuls, with all types of crazy things. Parents who are finding Kratom pills in their kids’ backpacks and all these substances are super super addictive and dangerous,” Nash said.

Nash also says many local vape shops fail to properly ID customers and some hemp and vape stores do not follow state rules about what they may sell. “They’re selling products that are 100% addictive, dangerous, and most of the time they’re not properly regulated or FDA authorized,” he said.

In August, Nash proposed charging vape shops a $20,000 annual operational fee, but the city has since shifted toward using zoning restrictions instead. The draft ordinance would bar new vape shops from opening within 1,000 feet of a school, church or park and within 2,000 feet of another vape shop. Roanoke County adopted a similar policy last year.

“It’s just a way to really crack down on, in my opinion, a pretty predatory business that sets its sights on particular areas of our city where there are particular people or groups of people,” Nash said.

The proposal would also prohibit new vape shops in the city’s enterprise and opportunity zones, areas designated for business development. “We want to make sure that those areas are being filled with productive businesses that add to the quality of life. That add perhaps entertainment to the lives of our youth, family activities, restaurants, shopping options, things of that nature, and not just a vape store,” Nash said.

City officials plan to step up enforcement of rules limiting how much storefront windows can be covered. Nash acknowledged the changes won’t end youth vaping but said reducing the concentration of shops would help. “That’s not to say that this is going to be the end-all all be-all to the selling of these products to minors, it’s not. But there’s a difference when there are five of them within a few block radius versus one of them or two of them,” he said.

Downtown residents interviewed by WDBJ7 on Tuesday largely supported limits on vape shops. “I mean, it’s probably as addictive as cigarettes are, and I would not want my children or my grandchildren to vape. I don’t think any of us would; we all discourage it,” said Roanoke resident Kendra Savage.

Existing vape shops would be grandfathered in and not affected by the potential changes. Planning staff are drafting and evaluating the ordinance to ensure it is legally sound. The city intends to collect public input over the next few months and hopes to send the proposal to City Council for adoption in April.

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