City says no to smoke and tobacco shop

Following a recent public hearing, the Lawrenceville City Council denied a request for a special use permit to allow a smoke and tobacco shop at Suite 101, 455 Grayson Highway.

Lawrenceville’s denial was an across-the-board decision from the planning and development department, mayor and council. While the area is within the city’s Community Mixed Use Character Area, which encourages a mixture of residential, retail, office, recreational and educational facilities, the plaza is also in the same vicinity as the Gwinnett County Health Department and near a local high school.

The city felt allowing a smoke shop in the same area may be counteractive to promoting good health for the community and could come into conflict with state guidelines regulating the sale of vapor products.

The applicant had hoped to address these concerns by assuring the retail store would be selling high-end tobacco products and limiting vape products to no more than 30%

A resolution to amend and/or eliminate zoning districts that accommodate the development of multi-family housing was passed by the Mcdonough City Council Feb. 15. The item was part of the meeting’s consent agendaand there was no discussion. The vote was 5-0 with mayor pro tem Craig Elrod and council member Kamali Varner not present at the meeting.

Other consent agenda items included the approval of a $640,000 contract (plus a 10% contingency) with Mcleroy Inc. for the construction of Jonesboro Road Park, the $48,150 purchase of a new SUV for the fire department, and confirmation of three Varner appointees: Stanley Head to the Planning Commission, Vanessa Thomas to the Board of Zoning Appeals, and Sylvia Holmes to the Historic Preservation Commission.

Information: mcdonoughga.org.