By Chris Spangler
The Fort Atkinson Ordinance Committee is recommending that future “smoke shops” not be allowed to locate within 1,000 feet of public or private school property lines.
At its meeting Tuesday, the committee approved amending Section 58-148 of the City of Fort Atkinson Municipal Code relating to the sale of tobacco, nicotine products, electronic smoking devices, and electronic smoking device paraphernalia near schools.
It would pertain to businesses that generate more than 50% of their gross income from such products.
The first reading of the draft ordinance will go before the full city council when it meets Jan. 18. If all three readings go as planned, the council could adopt the ordinance Feb. 17.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Plan Commission had approved signage for Extreme Smoke, a “smoke shop” being located between Dunkin’ Donuts and ShopKo Optical at 1642 Madison Ave.
During discussion, Commissioner Roz Highfield voiced concern about the store’s proximity to Fort Atkinson High School. She was told that there currently is no ordinance addressing that, but the Ordinance Committee would be advancing one to the council this month.
Extreme Smoke will be the second retailer specifically focused on the sale of smoking products that include tobacco, vape, electronic smoking devices and paraphernalia, pipes, hookahs, rolling papers, and other miscellaneous nicotine consumables and smoke products to be opening near the high school.
Vaper 101 is located at 1309 Madison Ave. There also is another shop, Tobacco Land Inc., farther away near downtown at 211 Washington St.
“It is the intent of this ordinance to prevent future businesses from opening such retail locations near our schools where marketing and sales either intentionally or unintentionally target our youth,” Police Chief Adrian Bump wrote in a memo to the Ordinance Committee.
He noted that 60% of schools in the U.S. are within 1,000 feet of a tobacco retailer.
“Fort Atkinson is within this 60% because we do not have an ordinance focused on preventing businesses to open in locations that place additional temptation on our youth,” he said.
Bump also reported that at least 44% of teens in the U.S. attend school within 1,000 feet of a tobacco retailer, and 77% of public schools are within a 10-minute walk of a tobacco retailer.
“This is important, because when there are more stores near schools, youth smoking rates are higher,” Bump wrote in his memo.
He cited a 2019 systematic review of both U.S.-based and international studies that found a positive association between higher density of stores near schools and youth susceptibility to future smoking.
According to Bump, one study found that schools with more stores within walking distance have a higher smoking prevalence than schools with fewer retailers nearby. Stores near schools in some areas might be more likely to sell to minors or to display more tobacco advertising than others.
“A study conducted in Washington D.C. found that illicit sales to minors were higher in tobacco retailers located closer to high schools,” he said in his memo, citing www.countertobacco.org as his source. “The researchers also found that the closer retailers were located to a public high school, the more likely they were to display exterior tobacco advertising.”
He also pointed out that tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., resulting in more than 480,000 deaths and $170 billion in healthcare expenses each year. While the U.S. has greatly reduced cigarette smoking, youth use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed in recent years.
According to the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarette use among high school students nationwide rose from 11.7% to 27.5% between 2017 and 2019 and more than 5.3 million U.S. children now use e-cigarettes, Bump said.
He cited www.tobaccofreekids.org as reporting that research shows that 97% of current youth e-cigarette users used a flavored product in the past month, and 80% of youth who had ever used tobacco started with a flavored product.
He emphasized that the new ordinance will not target the two businesses already located near the school, but just those opening in the future.
The legal age to purchase tobacco products is 21 and customers are required to be asked to show an ID when buying them.
Smoking devices, such as the one pictured, are among products that are the focus of a proposed amendment to the city’s municipal code. Would council approve the proposed amendment, the sale of tobacco, nicotine products, electronic smoking devices, and electronic smoking device paraphernalia would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of schools. The ordinance would pertain to businesses that generate more than 50% of their gross income from such products. Kim McDarison photo.
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