CA City to Ban Tobacco Lounges

Well, I guess the way to get around having to fight smoking is to not even let it in the door. Vista, CA (my old hometown) is worried about the health of its residents. So, to make sure that their residents stay healthy, they’re looking at not allowing smoking lounges within city limits. I wonder if they’re going to get rid of the fast food restaurants too. Here’s the full story from last week.  I’m not sure what the result of the city council’s meeting was.

VISTA —- Cigar bars and smoking lounges may soon be unwelcome in Vista.

On Tuesday, the Vista City Council will consider banning such businesses and may also cap the number of tattoo parlors that can open up shop.

Vista doesn’t have any of either type of establishment right now, according to city staff. But the council has been tightening restrictions on businesses it fears could hinder its revitalization efforts. It recently started requiring permits for new pawn shops, tobacco stores and bail-bond dealers, among others.

Councilman Bob Campbell said Friday he wants to draw a harder line with smoking lounges by banning them outright. He said Vista should be a “health-oriented community.”

“(People) can go home and have their friends over and do whatever they want,” Campbell said. “But why do we need to have public smoking lounges where kids can walk buy and say ‘Hey, that looks pretty cool’?”

The ban would apply to tobacco bars as well as Middle Eastern-style hookah lounges, where customers smoke flavored tobacco through ornate communal pipes, Community Development Director John Conley said.

Vista’s Chamber of Commerce hasn’t taken a position on the local proposal, but a hookah wholesaler in Encinitas said it would be a shame if it passed.

“I find it disconcerting that everyone keeps banning forms of business that are generating revenues for the city and the state,” said George Jonson, owner of the Hookah Company.

Jonson’s company supplies the colorful pipes and flavored tobacco to lounges and individuals.

On Tuesday, Vista’s council will also consider capping the number of tattoo parlors at one per 40,000 residents. Today’s population —- about 96,000 —- would create a two-parlor limit.

Until recently, the city didn’t allow tattoo parlors at all. But the council decided in February that those businesses could open with a permit. The shift may have had more to do with limiting legal exposure than relaxing standards —- legal battles have been waged over whether tattooing protected speech.

Conley said there have been a “number of inquiries” about opening tattoo studios, but no applications have been filed.

http://nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/10/news/coastal/vista/z129791eadee0612588257594005df26c.txt

No related posts.

1. 

   Se7en_Vandalay says:

   April 21, 2009 at 11:08 am

   Remind me never to move to Vista, CA. Sounds like they’re doing everything they can to make Vista the ‘perfect-cookie-cutter-Utopia’. Nothing like denying the ‘rift-raft’ a permit or business license to keep them out of your city. Thanks for the post Ricky.
2. 

   Ricky says:

   April 21, 2009 at 7:17 pm

   Yeah, it’s not a bad neighborhood, but they’re definitely a long way from becoming any kind of Utopia…even without cigar lounges or tobacco parlors.
3. 

   Arnetta Tegarden says:

   February 1, 2012 at 3:27 pm

   Great – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, website theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..