Item 41 - Councilmember Requested Item Regarding a Moratorium on New Smoke Shops

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CITY ATTORNEY Sonia R. Carvalho CITY MANAGER Alvaro Nuñez CITY CLERK Jennifer L. Hall 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA - P.O. BOX 1988, M31 - SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 92702 TELEPHONE (714) 647-6900 - FAX (714) 647-6954 - www.santa-ana.org Councilmember-Requested Item Report DATE December 2, 2025 TOPIC Moratorium on New Smoke Shops COUNCILMEMBER-REQUESTED ITEM TITLE Discuss and Consider Providing Direction to the City Manager, working with the City Attorney, Planning and Building Agency’s Code Enforcement Division, and Police Department to Prepare an Interim Urgency Ordinance under Government Code Section 65858 that Temporarily Halts the Approval of New Smoke Shops and the Expansion of Existing Smoke-Shop Uses, Returning to the City Council within 90 Days with a Report Describing the Interim Steps Taken and a Draft Permanent Ordinance Establishing Long-Term Rules for the Location and Operation of Smoke Shops DISCUSSION Smoke shops, businesses that sell tobacco products, vape devices, smoking paraphernalia, and related items, have increased in number in many parts of Santa Ana. These businesses often operate along major corridors and near residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, transit stops, and youth-serving facilities. Community members and City staff have raised concerns about youth access to nicotine and vaping products, loitering and nuisance activity, and the concentration of smoke shops in certain areas. Some retailers also sell items such as nitrous oxide canisters, which the City recently addressed through a new ordinance banning recreational NOX sales at the public request of my office. The City already regulates tobacco retailers under Chapter 18 of the Municipal Code. Smoke shops are required to obtain a tobacco retailer license, and the City prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products. California has also enacted SB 793, which created a statewide ban on flavored tobacco. These actions reflect the City’s and the State’s commitment to preventing youth exposure to products that can lead to addiction. However, neither the City’s flavored tobacco ban nor the State’s ban addresses the land-use impacts created by smoke shops themselves. Under the current zoning code, smoke shops without on-site smoking are treated as ordinary “retail and service uses” because the Santa Ana Municipal Code does not define smoke shops as their own use category. The City therefore lacks zoning tools that could limit the number of smoke shops in a given area, prevent clustering, or restrict their proximity to schools, parks, or other sensitive uses. Smoke shops that offer on-site smoking, such as hookah parlors, are regulated differently, but they represent only a small portion of smoke-shop activity in the city.