By Charles Owens
For Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield — New rules regulating vape shops and outdoor rallies and protests were voted on Tuesday by members of the Bluefield Board of Directors.
The city board unanimously passed the second reading of a tobacco and vape shop ordinance for the city, which means it is now law. The board also approved the first reading of a new ordinance establishing regulations for the use of city spaces, such as the downtown 400 block, for organized rallies, protests and public assemblies.
As for the vaping ordinance, Mayor Ron Martin said it was a good first step in protecting youth from the dangers of vaping.
“I would like to point out at our last meeting we had a couple of representatives from local schools who were talking about how detrimental vaping was to the school system and how readily available those vape products were to the students,” Martin said. “And so I think that what you guys have crafted is a good first-step solution to help curtail that a little bit. At least the city is doing a small part to try to make things better.”
The second reading of the ordinance was passed on a 4-0 vote with vice mayor Peter Taylor absent.
The new ordinance states that no new vape shop can be located within 1,500 feet of any church, school, daycare, public park or any other location that is frequented by children. A business that would fall under the proposed ordinance would be one where 40 percent of its retail space is utilized for the consumption of tobacco and vaping products, according to the ordinance. Existing vape shops would be grandfathered into the ordinance.
According to the new ordinance, the city of Bluefield deems it to be in the best interests of the health, safety and welfare of its youth to limit the access and exposure of under-age children to electronic cigarette items and markings by imposing a distance restriction for such retail shops.
As for the first reading of the proposed ordinance dealing with public protests and rallies, it was crafted so that the city would have written rules on what steps groups would need to take to apply for such organized rallies, protests or parades on city spaces or public parks, according to City Attorney David Kersey.
“Well since the 400 block has been demolished we’ve turned that into a larger green space,” Kersey said. “We’ve had groups express interest in meeting down there to have rallies and public expressive opportunities there, and we really had no ordinance on the books that laid out the application process. How would you apply? What were the regulations and restrictions that might apply? Our current ordinance just prohibited any sort of public meeting in downtown Bluefield because it goes back to the days when Bluefield was so busy downtown that there was no space for it, much less having large groups come downtown and have parking.”
The 400 block, including the former Chicory Square site, is now a largely flat and grassy area. At least three No Kings Day rallies have been held at the site in recent months.
Kersey said the proposed ordinance would not only apply to the 400 block, but also to city parks.
“That would apply to persons who wanted to use the park and to create a formal application process where groups can identify themselves, explain to the city what they wanted to do there, when they would like to do it and the hours involved and the general activities that they expected to take place there and to assume responsibility for the maintenance of the space when they were through with the use of it,” Kersey said of the proposed ordinance. “So that was the motivation for drafting this new ordinance.”
A second reading of the ordinance must still be passed before it becomes law.
While it establishes a procedure for groups to apply for a public rally, protest or parade, the city manager would still have the final say on which individual applications are approved or denied. If an application is denied, the city manager would have to explain why.
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