The Village of Baxter Estates Board of Trustees on Thursday passed a law to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21 — following the Town of North Hempstead and other villages that have passed the legislation.
The law, which was approved unanimously at a public hearing, prohibits the sale of tobacco products, liquid nicotine and electronic cigarettes to anyone under the age of 21 in the village.
“We are in full support of the initiative of the Town of North Hempstead to adopt a local law that will protect our younger residents by raising the age requirement to 21 for any tobacco or tobacco-related products,” Mayor Nora Haagenson said.
The town passed legislation in November that went into effect in March and covers areas outside incorporated villages. The town also asked villages to increase the legal age from 18 to 21.
Suffolk County and New York City have also raised the legal age for buying tobacco products.
Nassau County Democratic legislators filed a bill in April to raise the county’s legal age to buy tobacco products to 21, a proposal similar to one the late Democratic Legislator Judy Jacobs put forward in 2014.
The Republican majority in the Legislature did not allow the measure to come to a vote.
The Baxter Estates board also held a public hearing on a law that would require site plan approval for demolition of buildings and structures, but did not vote on the legislation.
Trustee Chris Ficalora said the board agrees that the law is appropriate and will be passed, but needed to be clarified.
“The BOT will continue to develop this over the next month and will be back on our agenda for approval in our July meeting,” he said in an email.
A site plan would be required for proposed projects, including building a new structure, the demolition of any structure or building, all uses of vacant land, changes to a structure that will affect the characteristics of a site and making a structure, the law said.
Although the ongoing controversy surrounding the historic Baxter House includes the owner’s submitting a demolition application without a site plan and trying to subdivide the property, the laws are not connected to the house, village Clerk Chrissy Kiernan has said.
The 18th century house, which was heavily damaged in a fire in February, has stirred controversy, with residents and village officials condemning the owner, Sabrina Wu, for not preserving the home.
Last month, Wu submitted an application to demolish the home but the village deemed the proposal incomplete.
“This has nothing to do with the Baxter House,” Kiernan said last month. “The landmark law is very complex for the Baxter House and has its own rules regarding the property. The land at the Baxter House is landmarked as is the site plan and the home.”
