Hookah bars and vape shops in New Hyde Park still have some time before they take their place next to head shops in the village code.
While it awaits input from Nassau County, the Village Board on Tuesday tabled a law that would define those businesses as adult uses and restrict them to industrial zones.
The aim of the change is not to outlaw them, but to make sure they comply with the code, Mayor Robert Lofaro said.
But Anthony Gabriel of New Hyde Park, manager of Cherry Valley Vape in West Hempstead, said vape shops help people quit smoking and do not warrant the same regulation as other adult uses.
“I can see why people would be a bit turned off by them, but I feel like it would be a bit harsh to include it with peep shows and adult bookstores,” Gabriel said Tuesday.
The proposed change to the code would add definitions of “hookah bar” and “vape shop” to an existing list of 11 adult uses in section 195-13 of New Hyde Park’s village code.
Any business that sells electronic cigarettes or where tobacco is smoked through hookah pipes could operate in industrial zones with a special-use permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals, but cannot be within 2,000 feet of each other or within 800 feet of a school, church, park, playground, playing field or public library.
The code already implies hookah bars and vape shops would be adult uses because minors aren’t legally allowed in them, Lofaro said last month, but the village wants to give “no room for interpretation.”
Gabriel, 27, smoked tobacco for 12 years until vaping helped him quit two years ago, he said. He said it does not make sense to restrict vape shops to industrial zones when convenience stores and gas stations selling normal cigarettes can operate in regular commercial zones.
People often incorrectly associate vaping with tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, Gabriel said.
“They just want to constantly make that connection that it’s something bad,” he said.
Many other Long Island municipalities, including three in Great Neck, have banned hookah bars in recent years.
The villages of Great Neck and Great Neck Estates both passed bans on the establishments in 2014. The Village of Great Neck Plaza passed a moratorium on hookah bars that year, making an exception for the now-closed Fountain Blue Hookah at 435 Middle Neck Road.
The Village of Mineola passed a law in December defining hookah bars as a permitted use for industrial zones, and the Village Board will hold a public hearing in May to do the same for vape shops.
The village started regulating the businesses because they are not “the right mix or feel” for its downtown business district and the commercial strip on Jericho Turnpike, Mayor Scott Strauss said.
“Everybody’s got to make a buck, everybody’s got to put food on the table, everybody’s got bills to pay,” Strauss said. “I’m not going to let you kill anybody, but if you want to do it, do it over there. We’re easy. Work with us.”
Reach reporter Noah Manskar by e-mail at nmanskar@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @noahmanskar and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
Photo courtesy of Vaping360.com.
