The City Council approved new zoning regulations Tuesday for smoke shops, imposing distance requirements from schools, parks, residential areas and other sensitive uses while giving many existing businesses up to two years to relocate or close if they do not comply.
The ordinance, approved after months of discussion by the City Council, Planning Commission and Land Use Committee, is intended to reduce the concentration of smoke shops near youth-oriented facilities and residential neighborhoods while advancing the city's Blue Zones health initiative.
Council members rejected an alternative proposal that would have extended the compliance period to three years before approving staff's original recommendation.
The new regulations amend the city's zoning code to treat standalone smoke shops as a separately regulated land use rather than as general retail. New smoke shops must be located at least 100 feet from residential uses and 1,000 feet from public parks, K-12 schools, childcare facilities, places of worship and other smoke shops.
Existing businesses that do not meet those standards will have two years to relocate or cease operations, with the possibility of a one-year extension in cases of financial hardship.
According to the staff report, Riverside has 214 known tobacco retailers, including 41 businesses that qualify as standalone smoke shops under the zoning code. Twenty-four are believed to be operating without a valid tobacco retail permit or otherwise violating permit requirements. Staff estimated that as many as 35 existing smoke shops could ultimately be subject to the amortization process because they do not meet the proposed separation requirements.
Principal Planner Matthew Taylor said the ordinance builds on a temporary moratorium adopted in 2025 while the city developed permanent regulations. Staff also plans to work with the city's Economic Development Division and Blue Zones Project Riverside to help affected businesses relocate or transition to other retail models, including convenience stores or healthy food markets.
All public commenters during the hearing spoke in support of the moratorium, arguing the ordinance would improve public health by reducing youth exposure to tobacco retailers.
Representatives from Blue Zones Project Riverside urged council members to adopt the regulations, citing research linking higher tobacco retailer density to increased tobacco use among young people.
Another caller, who gave his name as Adrian Cowboy Aros, echoed these sentiments, cautioning parents against exposing kids to tobacco retailers.
"I want to make sure our business community is protected, but of course there are some businesses that I hope will invite some regulation and in this case, making it harder for them to be seen by the youth and hopefully to decrease usage," he said.
Council members Sean Mill and Phillip Falcone both said during the meeting that they would prefer to go "draconian" with the moratorium — but that they ultimately supported the 1,000-foot restriction.
"I was all in favor of a moratorium across the board," said Mill. "I didn't have a problem with that, but our friends on the Planning Commission and others thought that, well, let's not be so draconian. So I look at what's before us today and I support it…"
Mill, who has also championed tighter regulations on kratom and nitrous oxide, said his office has repeatedly found such products during visits to local smoke shops.
Several council members, however, raised concerns about the effect on long-established small businesses.
Council member Clarissa Cervantes questioned whether business owners who had allowed permits to lapse because of personal hardships would have sufficient opportunity to continue operating, noting a business owner that spoke during the meeting to ask for a permit renewal, citing health issues and difficulty with the city.
She also expressed concern about businesses facing closure during a difficult economy and asked staff how the city would help owners transition to other business models.
Council member Chuck Conder also questioned how businesses with long operating histories would be affected if their permits had lapsed, arguing the city should provide more flexibility.
Council member Luis Hernandez similarly said he supported the ordinance's public health goals but worried about the impact on family-owned businesses, particularly along the Magnolia Avenue corridor. He proposed extending the amortization period from two years to three years while eliminating the hardship extension.
However, the alternate motion to establish a three-year amortization period without a hardship extension failed to receive majority support, with Council member Steven Robillard, as well as Conder and Falcone, voting "no".
The council then approved staff's original recommendation — with a "no" from Conder and abstention from Hernandez — retaining the two-year compliance period and allowing businesses to seek a one-year extension based on financial hardship.
The ordinance marks the culmination of nearly two years of city discussion that began after Riverside adopted a moratorium on new tobacco retail permits in 2025. The Planning Commission rejected an earlier proposal to prohibit smoke shops citywide, instead recommending minimum separation requirements and an amortization process for existing businesses. The Land Use Committee later endorsed that approach before forwarding it to the City Council.
