The city of Toledo wants to increase regulations surrounding tobacco shops to decrease the
density of shops popping up and their proximity to youth.
“The special-use permit process that we have right now, it’s not working,” said Brandon Rehkopf, chairman of the Toledo City Plan Commission. “I’m just being blunt …, because we have more [tobacco shops] that are operating without a special-use permit than we have with a special-use permit.”
City Commission Reviews Tobacco Shop Study
On Thursday, the city’s plan commission met to discuss a study on tobacco shops conducted by the city’s plan staff and hear recommendations based on the staff’s conclusions.
According to the staff’s study, 37 tobacco shops are within the city. Of those, 13 are legal tobacco shops that were granted a special-use permit to operate; three have legal nonconfirming status; and 21 are operating illegally without a special-use permit, nine of which are vape shops. The report says it is possible that more illegal tobacco shops are in the city than what could be found by the staff.
In the city’s municipal code, tobacco shops are defined differently from a tobacco retailer.
A tobacco shop is “any retail establishment that devotes 33 percent or more of floor area or display area to the sale or exchange of retail packaged tobacco products and/or tobacco paraphernalia.”
A tobacco retailer is an establishment that sells tobacco products, such as grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies, and bars.
The city’s plan staff identified 345 tobacco retailers with a license to sell cigarettes, and 24 of those are tobacco shops.
Although the Toledo Municipal Code already has regulations regarding tobacco shops and retailers, the study says the current regulations do not properly capture and regulate the sale of tobacco.
To enforce stricter regulations, the city’s plan staff introduced a myriad of recommendations they hope to implement. The city’s five-member plan commission unanimously approved the recommendations, but it will now go to Toledo City Council’s zoning and planning committee for further discussion.
City suggestions on spacing, licensing regulations.
Council requested a study on the number of tobacco shops and the impact to the community in October, 2024. The city’s plan staff looked at regulations in other Ohio cities, the health impact on the community, and state and local laws.
Of the 17 other Ohio cities the staff looked at, Toledo has the most restrictive zoning regulations for tobacco shops.
Currently, all tobacco shops are required to obtain an approved special-use permit to operate, but through the city’s investigation, it found that such a permit does not properly regulate the sale of tobacco. Therefore, the city is proposing a change that would not require tobacco stores to have a special-use permit but be subjected to additional spacing requirements.
Tobacco shops are required to be at least 500 feet from any school, public park, public library, child day-care center, or other use established specifically for the activities of minors. The plan staff wants to increase that length to 1,000 feet from any youth-related use and 2,000 feet from another tobacco shop.
The staff also recommends retailers that sell any tobacco products obtain licensing. In Lucas County, businesses selling cigarette products are required to obtain a license, but retailers that just sell tobacco products are not required to be licensed.
The staff also recommended amending the definition of tobacco products and tobacco shops to align with state regulations, which includes defining “cigarettes,” “electronic smoking products,” and “vapor products;” amending the definition of tobacco paraphernalia to include electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, and vapor products; and adding vapor products and electronic smoking products to the definition of a tobacco shop.
Legal concerns, misconceptions discussed.
Although the commission recommended approval, some commission members had concerns, and one attendee asked the commission to revisit the report.
The city’s municipal code does not explicitly include vapor products as tobacco paraphernalia. In the 21 tobacco shops operating without a special-use permit, nine of those are vape shops. If council passes the new regulations, those shops could be at risk of being shut down.
Tom Gibbons, the city’s plan director, said officials’ interpretation is that if a shop sells tobacco products, it is subject to being classified as a tobacco shop.
“I’m concerned about that,” Mr. Rehkopf said. “I think there’s an argument that can be made, if we go to court, that we didn’t articulate that vape shops were part of this code prior … if we change it, and we start shutting people down, we could have some battles on our hands.”
Mr. Gibbons said his office would meet with the city’s law department to see how to address the issue, but Robert Zora, chief legal officer for Wild Bill’s Tobacco, had other concerns.
“I think the pretext for commissioning this report to begin with, in my opinion, is misguided because it was based on preconceived notions regarding tobacco shops,” he said.
Industry Pushback on Targeting Allegations
Mr. Zora went before the plan commission in March, requesting a special-use permit for a Wild Bill’s Tobacco shop at 3026 Glendale Ave. The commission recommended it be approved, but council voted against it in April, barring the store from opening.
In the report, the staff found tobacco retailers that are not tobacco shops are more concentrated in areas with higher population density and lower median income. Conversely, tobacco shops appear to locate in areas with lower population density and higher median income levels.
After researching, the plan staff came to the conclusion that “the tobacco industry as a whole has proven to be predatory towards minorities, low-income populations, and youth populations.”
“The fact of the matter is, that’s not true,” Mr. Zora said. “We have stores in higher socioeconomic areas and stores in lower socioeconomic areas … and you know, to be quite frank, our stores in more affluent areas do just as well as our stores in the cities where the median income level might be lower.”
Mr. Zora said it is also a misconception that tobacco shops target youth.
Youth Access Trends and Enforcement Stats Amid Toledo Tobacco Shop Regulations
The Lucas County 2022/2023 Health Assessment, which is conducted every three years by the Healthy Lucas County Coalition, found that 2 percent of youth are current cigarette smokers, 9 percent have tried a cigarette before the age of 13, and 14 percent of youth are current e-cigarette/vape users.
Of the youth who have used electronic vaping products, 55 percent got them from a friend, family member, or someone else, while only 3 percent bought them in a vape or tobacco shop.
The report says between 2015 and 2025, the Food and Drug Administration performed 1,252 tobacco retailer compliance checks in Toledo. Of those checks, 372 violations occurred, and 15 of those violations happened at a tobacco shop, acknowledging that a majority of incidents where a minor purchased a smoking device occurred at a non-specialized business.
“There are 21 illegal tobacco shops currently present,” Mr. Zora said. “So rather than enforce the rules that are on the books that would presumably solve this issue, or not issue if I’m being frank, we are seeking to impose additional restrictions on the tobacco shops only.”
Despite Mr. Zora’s comments and previous legal concerns, Mr. Rehkopf joined the rest of the plan commission in recommending the changes go before council’s zoning and planning committee for approval. The item is expected to be on the committee’s June agenda.
