In a unanimous vote, the Milledgeville City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that officially “prohibits the establishment of new vape shops, food marts and vice marts” within city limits.
The ordinance passed without much fanfare or pomp and circumstance. No store owners showed up to the meeting to speak in opposition. The discussion amongst council members was brief.
Regardless, the run on vape shops, vice marts and food marts, which seemingly have been popping up everywhere, is officially over. Mayor Pro Tem Denese Shinholster admitted that “it’s better late than never.”
“We actually started the process more than a year ago, but then we didn’t get back around to it, and (vape shops, vice marts and food marts) sort of just blew up around Milledgeville. You can ride around, and they’re everywhere,” she said. “We did put a six-month moratorium on them, and now we’re taking permanent action.”
Shinholster added that something similar is being done with liquor stores, and the city government won’t be approving any new liquor store applications anytime soon. The goal, according to Shinholster, is to get back to the “1 per every 10,000 residents” threshold.
The new ordinance includes definitions for “food marts” and “vice marts.” A food mart is defined as “any retail business where ready-to-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.”
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.”
Then, there are vape shops, which are defined as “any retail business that primarily sells adult-oriented products, nicotine products, vapor products, THC/hemp products, paraphernalia related to recreational substance abuse, or other products commonly associated with vice retail uses...and is NOT a grocery store, pharmacy, or similarly regulated essential retailer.”
The ordinance also prohibits “transfer of ownership” from existing vape shops, food marts and vice marts, while also prohibiting the “relocation or expansion” of these businesses.