The City of Dublin votes to ban new vape shops from opening

Dublin currently has 9 vape shops. While there were no public comments on the ordinance, Mayor Joshua Kight argued that vape products put community members at risk of lung and respiratory damage.

DUBLIN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Today, Dublin City Council members voted 5-1 in favor of banning new vape shops from opening within city limits and placed some restrictions on existing shops.

Dublin currently has 9 vape shops. While there were no public comments on the ordinance, Mayor Joshua Kight argued that vape products put community members at risk of lung and respiratory damage.

“Having these shops come up on every corner of town, it’s just a tremendous amount of access to it,” Kight said.  “And it becomes difficult for the police to regulate it when we have so many of those types of shops.”

The lone vote against the ban came from Ward 2 Councilman Chris Smith. The city classifies vape shops as businesses with 25% or more floor space, inventory or total sales from vape products. Smith argues that new convenience stores could open and work around that language and the ordinance.

“I think we need more information on how to control that,” Smith said. “You’re going to have more people just open up a store, a gas station, and just put vapes in all the stores. It’s happening now.” 

One happy meeting attendee was Dr. Fred Williams, Superintendent of Dublin City Schools. Williams called vaping a “national crisis for young people” and a “state crisis.” Williams says the district has vape detectors in school restrooms and other locations.

“Everything that happens in the community has a way of showing up in the schools as well,” Williams said. “We’ve always tried to be on the front end of things and be very proactive.”

Because of this, Williams says vaping isn’t an issue inside Dublin’s schools. He applauded the city for taking measures to keep students safe outside the classroom as well.

“The action that they took is a public health situation, and we’re in support of the action they’ve taken,” Williams said. 

The ordinance states that if an existing vape shop is forced to temporarily close and the closure reaches 90 days, then the shop is not allowed to reopen within city limits. The ordinance also rules that existing vape shops that relocate or change ownership won’t be permitted to continue operating in Dublin.