Ferndale City Council Sets Restrictions for Novelty Shops

Ferndale City Council approved an ordinance regarding novelty shops at their regular meeting on Monday night.

Novelty shops - commonly referred to as "head shops" - are stores that primarily sell smoking-related items.

The new ordinance states that a novelty shop cannot be located within a 1,000-foot radius of another novelty shop and also cannot be located within a 500-foot radius of a school, library, playground, day care center, church or other place of worship.

The issue came up after city staff received requests to open novelty shops around the time when the Medical Marijuana Act was adopted.

The city issued a moratorium on this type of business in response to concerns over the possibility of a clustering of novelty shops selling legal smoking materials in areas where medical marijuana facilities were located.

At the request of council, the Planning Commission recently reviewed a possible amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to define, restrict or prohibit “head shops” but the commission ultimately recommended no changes be made to the ordinance.

"There was considerable deliberation on both ends," said Derek Delacourt, the city's director of community and economic development. There are currently no novelty shops in the city, though a few businesses offer some smoking-related items, he said.

Regarding the connection to medical marijuana distribution, commissioners believed new clarification on the medical marijuana statute left little to no possibility of novelty shops leading to an increase of unintended distribution "storefronts."

Mayor Pro Tem Melanie Piana was the only "no" vote on the ordinance change, stating she supports the Planning Commission's decision and believes the appropriate protections are already in place.

"I think that the guidance that we have by our city staff and the DDA can help landlords deal with those types of applicants as well as make sure that they are following appropriate laws," she said, also pointing out that much of the concern was related to the medical marijuana law, which has been clarified.

Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter said he supports the restrictions.

"I think that Ferndale has effectively balanced its nightlife with its community orientation ... we are both a place where people go to play and also to raise their kids and I think that always requires us to strike a balance between the two," he said.

Councilman Dan Martin said he doesn't want to stop the businesses from opening but prefers some guidance.

"I just don't have 100 percent faith in the pure market to govern this and that's where I think a little bit of guidance from council on this matter would help," he said. "I want to be clear that it's not to deter people from opening businesses here."