Albany Common Council passes smoke shop restrictions.

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Albany Common Council unanimously passed an ordinance, on Monday night, that imposes stricter regulations on business owners who want to open smoke shops. The council member who introduced the measure said it's due to the proliferation of smoke shops after cannabis was legalized.

Council Member Owusu Anane drafted the legislation and said existing smoke shops, already operating, will not be rolled up in the new regulations. Those shops will be grandfathered in.

“But when it comes to smoke shops in the City of Albany, there are no guidelines that were instituted on the state level. So, some of these smoke shops that we are seeing in the City of Albany some of them are right next to each other, some of them are close to schools, some are close to churches,” said Anane.

On Lake Avenue, just off of Central Avenue, a smoke shop can be found right across the street from Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls. But now, under that ordinance passed Monday, new smoke shops are banned from opening near schools.

Ordinance 3.21.24 went into effect August 5, but a moratorium had already been in place in anticipation of the amendments.

“We put a moratorium on all smoke shops during this process because we knew it was going to be a process to really find the language that many of the council members could all agree to,” said Anane.

The ordinance prohibits new smoke and vape shops from cropping up within 1,000 feet of each other, 500 feet from a school and 250 feet from a religious institution. Albany Common Council Member Alfredo Balarin praised the move.

“I think it’s important for us to mention, we had four smoke shops in the City of Albany in 2022. We’ve got 26 in 2024. There has been a massive increase in smoke shop availability,” said Balarin. “It is important we create clear guidelines so that people who want to invest in our city know what the expectations are but also make sure we are protecting our residents.”

“We want to make sure they are a distance away from each other. We also want to make sure they are a distance away from schools and religious institutions. Someone coming out of church shouldn’t have to see a smoke shop when they get out of church,” said Anane.

“This is about protecting Albany’s residents’ health. And the way to go about it is to make sure there are rules and regulations,” said Anane.

He said enforcement will be headed by the Planning and Development and Buildings and Regulatory Compliance departments. Mayor Kathy Sheehan is expected to sign the measure into law later this week.