New regulations proposed for e-cig sales in Austin
The city of Austin is considering regulating the sale of e-cigarettes near schools and daycares. Some smoke shop owners are worried about the business impact and say they’re not selling to kids anyway. FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen reports from City Hall.
AUSTIN, Texas – The City of Austin is considering regulating the sale of e-cigarettes and synthetic nicotine products within 1,000 feet of schools and daycares.Â
The discussion stems from a resolution City Council passed in 2025, which directed the city manager to look at regulatory options to protect kids.
What we know:
In a Public Health Committee meeting last week, Austin Public Health (APH) says there are about 600 retailers within that distance.Â
They recommended a zoning ordinance change that would affect only new vape shops and convenience stores and grandfather in existing businesses.Â
“There is a state law that says when land use is taken away, the city must pay the business for the use they are losing,” Stephanie Helfman, program manager at APH, said during the meeting.
Stores that mostly sell food and are over 12,000 square feet would be exempt to prevent food deserts.Â
APH recommended broadening the ordinance to cover all forms of nicotine products.Â
“By including all tobacco products in this ordinance, it will capture the new products as they’re emerging,” Helfman said. “This will make the ordinance more evergreen and reduce loopholes in the future.”
What they’re saying:
Smoking Burnouts on South 1st Street is just a short walk to Dawson Elementary School. Owner Travis Tyler says they’ve never had a child come in.Â
“No 12-year-old walks in here and looks around and tries to buy anything from us ever. It’s outrageous,” he said.
“That does make me feel better. It does, especially since we’ve been here for almost nine years now, but I do still feel for the other companies that do want to expand,” Tyler said about grandfathering.
Tyler says it’s already hard to find commercial properties that aren’t close to a school or daycare.
“If you start looking, there will be less and less available properties to do any kind of business model as far as a convenience store or a tobacco store,” he said.
Smoking Burnouts says they check IDs at the door and check again if a customer is paying with a credit card, which is different from convenience stores.
Tyler says the issues could be regulated differently.Â
“If there are stores that are letting any age in, please, regulate them, but I assure you it’s not the specialty stores that are doing 21 and up that are having any sort of issues,” he said.
He says they already have to align with other restrictions at the state level.
“We’re getting attacked pretty hard right now, but we as shop owners and clerks, we’re doing our due diligence to make sure that children don’t get these products,” Tyler said.
What’s next:
City Council won’t vote on this right away. More hearings are planned in the fall.
The Source: Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen