Charleston looking to add buffer from smoke shops to schools, parks, churches

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Changes could be coming to how close smoke shops can be to schools, parks, and churches in the City of Charleston.

Currently, there is no restriction on how close a smoke shop can be from any of those establishments, the city’s Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability, Robert Summerfield says.

A proposal will go in front of the City’s Planning Commission next week recommending a 500-foot buffer between smoke shops and schools, churches and parks, and between one smoke shop and another.

The proposal also modernizes the definition of smoke shop to include vapes and subsequent paraphernalia, Summerfield says.

He added that the 500 feet recommendation is most consistent with the city’s restriction on alcohol and other stores of an adult nature.

The proposal does not apply to existing smoke shops.

“If it’s there already, it gets to stay there under the current proposal. We’re not suggesting that those existing businesses have to close,” Summerfield says.

The proposal will be presented to the Planning Commission and receive a public hearing on Dec.13.

From there it will go back to the city’s Community Development Committee before heading to City Council for a first reading in either January or February, Summerfield says.