NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – The New Smyrna Beach city commission is considering whether to restrict certain types of businesses in mixed-use districts such as on Flagler Avenue and Canal Street, according to city officials on Thursday.
In a release, city officials said that the issue was raised in April by Zone 2 Commissioner Lisa Martin.
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“The background of this is that there are businesses such as the smoke shop that I don’t really think we want on Flagler Avenue and, rather than wait for 17 more to pop up, I would like to ask staff to look at expanding the list to include pawn shops, tattoo parlors, smoke shops, gun stores and package stores,” Martin said.
The release shows that other commissioners supported having city planners present options to “help preserve the character of the popular districts while urging careful deliberation.”
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“I understand where you’re coming from. I know that there are some people on Flagler who’ve reached out to me with some concern of some smoke shops,” Zone 3 Commissioner Jason McGuirk said. “This is more of a long-term process because you can’t just start banning different things. There’s a process to it.”
While city planners have come up with several ideas, none of them includes shutting down already existing businesses. The ideas instead include the following:
- Take no action and keep the current list of permitted uses
- Remove undesirable or add desirable permitted uses, which are allowed by right without any approvals
- Classify certain uses as special exceptions that could be approved by the Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission on a case-by-case basis
- Impose buffers between similar uses to prevent them from clustering together; for example, businesses that sell alcohol but not food on Flagler Avenue are currently required to maintain a buffer of at least 1,000 feet
- Allow certain uses with conditions; for example, tattoo parlors are currently allowed in mixed-use business districts but cannot front Flagler Avenue or Canal Street
City planners are expected to present their findings to the city’s Planning and Zoning Board during the next scheduled meeting on July 17 at 5:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, residents are urged to share their thoughts with city leaders by taking a quick four-question survey found here.
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