(Photo via Pexels).
The City of Cortland Common Council will hold a public hearing this evening prior to the start of its meeting.
The hearing will be on the city’s proposed local law to “establish a local licensing system for tobacco product and electronic smoking device retailers,” according to Tuesday evening’s agenda.
It was noted at the Common Council meeting on Jan. 2 that the proposed local law would limit retail cigarette sale establishments and restrict sales to specific areas in the city.
City mayor Scott Steve said at the Jan. 2 meeting that the idea of the proposed local law is to put 1,000-foot buffer zones around all of the area’s schools, the Cortland County YMCA, YWCA Cortland and more.
Steve said there are 18 licensed cigarette sales points in Cortland. Of that total of licenses, four of them are not in the proposed buffer zone, including Joe’s Kwik Mart, Smoker’s Choice and Family Dollar on Clinton Avenue, and the Speedway gas station on Port Watson Street.
Since those four establishments are out of the buffer zone, Steve said they would be “grandfathered” into the proposed law. The mayor added that the city would implement a max number of licensed tobacco sales. Once a local business ceases operations, it will not be able to reapply for a license.
Tonight’s Common Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. A breakdown of the city’s proposed local law can found here under agenda item number two.
