Three Fresno councilmembers inexplicably balk at fighting crime at smoke shops | Opinion
If the Fresno City Council has a chance to break up criminal activity carried out at shady businesses, one expects the council would unanimously jump at the opportunity.
But that did not happen at a recent meeting. In fact, short-sided reasoning led three of the six council members to vote against a new law to better regulate what has become a real problem in parts of Fresno, that of smoke shops engaged in illegal activities.
As a result of the 3-3 deadlocked vote, the proposed ordinance could not be introduced. The three council members who authored the measure now must wait until results of a special election are in to fill a council vacancy in southeast Fresno. The winner can then be lobbied for support and, presumably, the vote to get the new law approved.
Until then, the criminal — repeat, criminal — activity at smoke shops will continue, taxing police resources as well as weary neighborhoods where the stores are located.
This did not need to happen.
What is a smoke shop?
Smoke shops sell tobacco products along with items such as beverages, snacks and T-shirts. Smoke shops also sell products with CBD, which stands for cannabidiol, the compound occurring in marijuana plants. CBD does not give a high to users, but is a pain reliever, and can be applied in creams or consumed in gummies, for example.
Problems occur when such stores sell flavored vape pens or tobacco products to minors, a violation of state law.
If issues remained at this level — minors wrongly buying products legally available only to adults — there would be little to debate.
But enforcement in the last few years by city code officers, police and representatives of the state Attorney General’s office found much more serious violations.
Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents southwest Fresno, the downtown and part of the Tower District, says 140 smoke shops were identified by code officers. Of those, 67 were inspected. Almost all — 94% — were engaging in illegal tobacco sales.
Nearly 80% were selling marijuana illegally. Some shops were dealing illegal mushrooms or selling medicines without prescriptions, like Viagra and Valium.
Gambling was occurring behind false walls at some shops; guns were sold out of 15 businesses. Sex trafficking was conducted at some shops, and gang members were discovered operating some of the businesses.
All of the shops inspected had violations of city codes in some way, Arias said.
Two months after the initial inspections, code enforcement offers returned and found 84% of the stores had resumed illegal marijuana sales, Arias said.
“The result of the inspections that took place over the last year validated what we had heard from the neighborhoods: That these establishments that were engaging in illegal sales of products, and were attracting the criminal element and increasing crime in the area,” Arias said.
Ending illegal activity
Two other council members also have troubles with smoke shops in their districts — Annalisa Perea and Nelson Esparza. They joined with Arias to write an amendment to the City Code to regulate for the first time such businesses.
Their measure said that a smoke shop could not be located within 1,000 feet of a school, park, playground, nursery or preschool, youth facility or substance-abuse treatment center. No marijuana, drug paraphernalia, nitrous oxide or flavored tobacco could be sold. Gambling would be outlawed.
Owners would have to apply for a conditional use permit, which costs about $1,500 and sets forth conditions. Violating the permit would jeopardize the owner’s right to operate. Security plans had to be drawn up.
Up to seven smoke shops per council district — 49 altogether citywide — would be permitted, though Arias said each council member could eventually flex that up. The proponents also required that currently operating smoke shops meet the new standards. There would be no “grandfathering” in of businesses.
That did not sit well with Councilmembers Tyler Maxwell and Mike Karbassi. They said that was unfair to businesses who might be good actors and not the problem. Maxwell described a couple who run a smoke shop and, with its earnings, put his friend through school.
“If you pass this blanket policy,” Karbassi said, “you are punishing the good with the bad. And that just isn’t fair.”
Councilmember Nick Richardson called the amendment “heavy handed” and said allowing only so many shops per district was poor policy.
Karbassi also leveled blistering criticism of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, which backed the amendment, saying the group was being anti-small business in favor of bigger stores, like Costco and groceries that also sell tobacco products.
Perea saw it from a different view. “This bill is business friendly. When you have a bad apple type of business, what does that do? It brings down the integrity of all the businesses around it.”
Reflect and support
Smoke shops are not critical to the health of Fresno’s economy. But problems that the “bad apples” create are significant, especially in the Tower District, central Fresno and south-city neighborhoods. Creating new rules can better help close shops engaged in wrongdoing. Currently, the process is cumbersome and lengthy.
The trio of Karbassi, Maxwell and Richardson had a chance to take a stand against criminal activity. They chose businesses over neighborhoods. Here is hoping they will see things differently if the issue returns for reconsideration.
