Austin staff want a 1,000-foot buffer between new tobacco shops and schools. More than 600 stores would stay

Austin may soon stop new smoke shops, vape shops and convenience stores that sell tobacco from opening within 1,000 feet of a school or child care center. City health staff recommended the change in an Oct. 16 report to the council. If adopted, it would affect where new stores could open across the city, though the more than 600 retailers already inside those buffers could keep selling.

FOX 7 Austin reported on the proposal Oct. 19, and KVUE followed Oct. 22 with reaction from health officials and a smoke shop owner who called the plan an overreach.

What the report recommends

The report, from Austin Public Health Director Adrienne Sturrup, answers a council resolution from May 2025. Its main points:

• A zoning rule, not a license. Texas lets only the state comptroller issue tobacco and e-cigarette retail licenses, so cities cannot create their own. Staff said direct regulation would be hard to enforce for the same reason. A new land use in the zoning code is the tool they recommend.
• All tobacco, not just vapes. The council asked about e-cigarettes, vapes and synthetic nicotine. Staff want the rule to cover every tobacco product. They cite nicotine pouches and new dissolvable products that can look like candy, and say a broader rule is easier to enforce.
• Existing stores stay. More than 600 tobacco or e-cigarette retailers already sit within 1,000 feet of a school or child care center, the report says. The rule would apply only to new retailers.
• A possible grocery exemption. Staff are exploring ways to exempt full-service grocery stores so the rule does not discourage them in areas with low food access.
• Code clean-up. Staff also want the city's health code to treat synthetic nicotine and "nicotine analogs" as tobacco products, matching a 2022 federal definition change, and to state that FDA-approved quit-smoking products are not tobacco products.

Turnout from businesses was thin. The city emailed 525 convenience and grocery stores and mailed invitations to 81 smoke and vape shops. Five people attended two virtual forums, and none represented a vape shop, according to the report. Business feedback included worries about lost expansion options, less competition for grandfathered stores and a buffer they called too large. School and youth groups told staff vaping is disruptive in schools and generally backed the limits, though they said grandfathering weakens them.

What our records add

The council's vote. The council approved the resolution on consent on May 22, 2025, 11-0. Its sponsors were Council Members Krista Laine (lead), Ryan Alter, Vanessa Fuentes, José "Chito" Vela and Paige Ellis.

What was said in committee. Staff first presented these recommendations to the council's Public Health Committee on April 1, 2026. They said the 600-plus retailers were found through mapping, and explained why a zoning ordinance was the only workable route. Laine said she liked the direction staff had taken. Fuentes, a co-sponsor, urged staff to move as quickly as possible. Alter asked whether hemp-derived products could be included, and whether the city could treat repeat sellers to minors as a public nuisance. Council Member Marc Duchen asked how much the rule would help if most young people get products from friends and family rather than stores. Staff said national data show social sources are the larger share.

The October report answers Alter's questions. The City Attorney's Office told staff the council could limit hemp sales near schools through zoning and could declare illegal sales a public nuisance, though how that would work in practice still needs study.

Timing has slipped. In April, staff said the change would go to a joint hearing of the Planning Commission and council in spring or fall. The new report says fall or winter. At the Oct. 13 Housing and Planning Committee, a planning division manager listed the tobacco rules among code amendments expected in 2027. KVUE also reported that health officials expect the process next year.

What's next

Staff say they will move ahead with the code amendment unless the council directs otherwise. The proposal must go to the Planning Commission and then to a council public hearing. No date has been set. State laws that took effect in September 2025 already ban e-cigarette ads within 1,000 feet of a school and products designed to look like school supplies, the report notes.