The Atlanta City Council adopted an ordinance at its July 7 meeting to regulate vape shops and their proximity to schools.
The regulation establishes a minimum distance of 1,000 feet between vape shops and requires a 1,000-foot distance between vape shops and elementary and secondary schools.
The ordinance also defines a vape shop that sells alternative nicotine products, consumable vapor products, or consumable hemp products.
Other items approved by council include:
- A resolution authorizing contracts providing construction services to the Atlanta Department of Transportation on a task-order basis for an initial three-year term with two one-year renewal options at a cost of $120 million.
- An ordinance adopting Plan A — The City of Atlanta’s 2025 Comprehensive Development Plan as the official comprehensive development plan for the City in compliance with the Georgia Planning Act of 1989.
- An ordinance authorizing the acquisition of approximately 20 acres of land on Defoors Ferry Road NW from The Conservation Fund (TCF) for approximately $4.9 million and authorizing a facility use agreement allowing the Galloway School to continue to use the track and field and ball fields located on the property for a two-year period.
- A resolution exercising the first renewal option to provide for ADA compliance and other improvements on behalf of the Department of Parks and Recreation on a task-order basis at a cost of $12.5 million.
- An ordinance executing an amendment for an operations and maintenance contract for the automated guideway transit system at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on a month-to-month basis for up to nine months at a cost of approximately $27.5 million.
- An ordinance executing an amendment for a public safety systems operations and maintenance contract for approximately $9.1 million.
- A resolution issuing a task order for the renovation of Fire Station 5 at a cost of approximately $1 million.
- An ordinance executing the first amendment to the project management agreement worth $475,540 with The Path Foundation, Inc. for the PATH Westside Beltline to AUC Connector & Safety project (“Westside II Trail”).
- A resolution calling for the installation of a pedestrian crosswalk at the midpoint of Linden Avenue, NE, near the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown. Emory leadership has signaled a willingness to partner with the City in financing the installation.
Items introduced for consideration include:
- An ordinance establishing a short-term rental license requirement for multi-family residential complexes.
- An ordinance moving up the effective date of the Tree Protection Ordinance adopted June 16, 2025, from Jan. 1, 2026, to Oct. 1, 2025.
- A resolution authorizing acceptance of the Livable Cities Initiative (LCI) study grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission to conduct a LCI study in the Ashby MARTA Station Transit Area.
- A resolution accepting a $200,000 donation from the Trust for Public Land, which will go toward Atlanta’s section of the proposed Chattahoochee Riverlands and the Chattahoochee Brick Study.
- A resolution accepting $900,000 in grant funding from the Atlanta Regional Commission for preliminary engineering for the PATH Lakewood Trail Phase 1 from the Atlanta Beltline Southside Trail/Carver High School to Pryor Road.
- An ordinance providing for free swimming lessons for youths ages 3–17 from low-income households.
