Cibolo dental office, residents urge city to curb vape-shop emissions and nuisance

Dr. Angela Henriques, owner of Cibolo Dental, told the City Council that vapor and odors from the neighboring Smoke and Tokes CBD vape shop have intruded through the medical office’s demising wall and disrupted clinical work, prompting headaches, nausea and staff absences. She said she installed a forensic vape detector that recorded molecules consistent with nicotine and CBD vapor, and that repeated code complaints were dismissed by city response staff through the click‑fix system.

Council heard supporting testimony from clinic staff and public-health‑oriented presenters. Sheretta Tate, who identified herself as an employee of the dental practice, described the particle size and chemical mix in “vape cocktails,” asserting they can deliver ultrafine metals and toxic chemicals to bystanders and raising concerns about fire risk from lithium‑ion batteries. Hygienist Dolores Salinas and others recounted patients asking whether the dental clinic used controlled substances after smelling marijuana-like odors in waiting rooms.

Speakers proposed specific city-level responses: require vape shops to operate only in standalone buildings or be sited away from daycares, ambulatory healthcare facilities and schools; require impermeable demising walls and enhanced HVAC/filtration or dedicated smoking rooms; make retail tobacco/Hemp/CBD licensing and nuisance complaints enforceable with faster code responses. Liz, identified as a Cibolo Dental staff member, also recommended that municipal smoke‑free building designations explicitly include vaping products.

City staff and a Chamber representative told the council they will help the business pursue remedies. The mayor and council asked staff to circulate the land‑use and licensing maps and to confirm existing licensing status; the chief reported the previously noncompliant business had applied for and received a retail hemp registration and was “to the best of [the chief’s] understanding now compliant with the law.”

Next steps: Council asked staff to take the proposals under advisement and to provide options for zoning, licensing and code‑enforcement remedies at a future meeting so council can consider whether local regulations or permitting processes should be changed.