Ban on hookah bars to be lifted, but tight guidelines loom

HOOKAH BAR RESTRICTIONS

Under West Carrollton legislation set to go into effect this month, hookah bars will be barred from abutting single-family residence, will be permitted only in B-2 zoning districts and as a conditional use. They will also need to be at least 500 feet from the following:

Source: City of West Carrollton

Opening a hookah bar in West Carrollton is about to get easier, but tight restrictions have been placed on them.

West Carrollton is preparing to lift a year-plus moratorium on new smoking establishments. The ban is expected to end Sept. 25, when city guidelines that severely restrict hookah bars from West Carrollton’s regular business districts, its old downtown and city center are expected to take effect, officials said.

“Our estimate is no hookah bars could operate in the downtown corridor under this scenario,” said Planning Director Greg Gaines.

Instead, the guidelines approved by council Aug. 25 will limit hookah bars to only pockets on the city’s fringes, Gaines said. They will be barred from abutting single-family residences, permitted only in B-2 zoning districts and only as a conditional use, records show.

Hookah bars also must be located at least 500 feet from several other types of facilities, including schools, day cares, tattoo shops and gun shops.

They cannot operate “where there are sensitive populations,” Gaines said. “So the idea is not to have a concentration on those uses in one place.”

The guidelines also require those business to close from midnight to 7 a.m., and prohibit minors, the sale of alcohol and outdoor activity, according to the city. Annual licenses will require the review of the police chief.

City officials said they moved in July 2014 to put a moratorium on smoking establishments because West Carrollton’s zoning code did not specifically address hookah bars, which are exempt from Ohio’s smoking ban, Gaines said.

The move came after one hookah bar on Imperial Drive caused “quite a bit of trouble,” outside of the business, West Carrollton Mayor Jeff Sanner has said.

The location, which was open from 2010 to 1012, prompted more than 60 police responses, including burglary, disorderly conduct, robbery and theft, Gaines said.

“So there were some pretty significant issues going on at the time,” he said, noting there were “some serious concerns about the impact of this business on the community and the surrounding property.”

Last year, West Carrollton officials decided to “step back and take a look at where they fit into the community,” Sanner said.

The city extended the moratorium through January 2016 before proposing hookah establishment regulations, which were approved by the city’s planning commission before council approved them.