CITY COUNCIL WILL SOON VOTE ON ORDINANCE
When it comes to vape shops and stores that rely primarily on income from gaming machines, the Milledgeville City Council currently is pondering if enough is enough.
The “first reading” of an ordinance “prohibiting new vape shops, food marts and vice marts in the City of Milledgeville” was read aloud at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The proposed ordinance includes definitions for “food marts” and “vice marts.” A food mart is defined as “any retail business where readyto- eat foods, snacks, beverages (including alcoholic beverages), and corresponding ancillary items are sold directly to consumers, but does NOT include traditional grocery stores, supermarkets, or full-service grocery retailers whose primary business is the retail sale of grocery and food staples for home preparation and consumption.”
Meanwhile, a vice mart “means any retail business that primarily sells adult-oriented products, nicotine products, vapor products, THC/hemp products, paraphernalia related to recreational substance use, or other products commonly associated with vice retail uses (e.g., tobacco accessories, counterculture merchandise), and is not a grocery store, pharmacy, or similarly regulated essential retailer.”
The ordinance, if ultimately approved by the City Council, would prohibit “transfer of ownership” from existing vape shops, food marts and vice marts, while also prohibiting the “relocation or expansion” of these businesses.
Meanwhile, existing businesses would be “grandfathered in,” according to the proposed ordinance.