Speakers urge tighter vape-store limits and stronger penalties as Huntington holds two public hearings

The Town Board held two public hearings on proposed local laws aimed at regulating vape stores and hookah lounges, and public-health advocates urged the board to adopt stricter spacing rules, stronger penalties and robust enforcement.

Town Clerk Andrew Reay read notices for local law introductory number 13-2025 (amending chapter 173, streets and sidewalks) and number 14-2025 (amending chapter 198, zoning, article 11 on conditional uses for vape stores and hookah lounges). Brendan Black, speaking on behalf of Assemblyman Keith Brown, described vaping among youth as an "epidemic" and said he supported the town27s efforts and related bills in Albany to keep vape and cannabis retail storefronts away from schools, parks, places of worship and from each other.

Speakers from the Huntington Opioid and Addiction Task Force, local school-district-affiliated groups and health providers urged the board to strengthen the distance proposed between shops. Sharon Richmond, an educator and advocate with local anti-addiction efforts, asked the board to increase the minimum distance between vape shops "from 500 feet to at least 1,500 feet," and she asked for stricter penalties for businesses that sell to underage patrons. Linda Orestano, executive director of the North Port East North Port Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force, urged passage of both resolutions and emphasized enforcement, licensing oversight and compliance checks.

Barry Zacks, project director at Huntington Drug and Alcohol Counseling Center, described rising vaping among middle-school students and said reducing access and marketing would help prevention. Liz Alexander noted youth outreach efforts that have engaged some vape-store owners in voluntary compliance. The speakers repeatedly asked the town to match regulatory distance rules with active enforcement and penalties for repeat violators.

Town officials did not take final votes on the local laws at the meeting; both items remained in the public-review stage. The hearings created a public record of support for stronger regulation and for close coordination between the town and state lawmakers on retail licensing and enforcement.