The planned opening of a vape shop in Pleasantville has prompted proposals for new restrictions on tobacco-related sales. The Pleasantville Village Board of Trustees yesterday discussed raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. The board could also limit where vape shops and other businesses that sell tobacco products could operate.
Both changes were recommended in a resolution passed by the Pleasantville Union Free School Board on August 1st. The resolution also called for greater education on the dangers of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and vaping; tighter regulations and monitoring of the sale of tobacco products; and restrictions on where adult businesses may operate.
Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer noted that New York’s minimum age to buy tobacco products is 18, but state law allows municipalities to raise the age within their own borders. Some municipalities have done so, including New York City, and Suffolk, Albany, Schenectady, Chautauqua and Cortland counties, which have a minimum age of 21.
The zoning restrictions under consideration in Pleasantville also have precedent. Last month, the city of New Rochelle barred businesses that “primarily” sell tobacco-related products from operating within 500 feet of any “child daycare center, children’s institution, playground, school premises or youth center.” The measure passed New Rochelle’s City Council unanimously.
Scherer said similar restrictions might be difficult to impose in Pleasantville due to the relatively small size of its business district. Although Pleasantville has some power to enact restrictions, it is not allowed to “zone out” particular businesses by effectively making it impossible for them to locate anywhere in the village.
Scherer also noted that the wording of New Rochelle’s law would not affect other kinds of businesses that do not “primarily” sell tobacco products, such as delis and convenience stores.
Village Board member Joseph Stargiotti said that several such businesses in Pleasantville sold e-cigarettes and other tobacco products before the new vape shop, called The Glass Room, moved into a former Verizon store on Wheeler Avenue. According to the Journal News, the shop may open by the end of August.