Common Council approves temporary moratorium to slow vape shop growth

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday approved a temporary moratorium on certificates of occupancy for establishments selling electronic cigarettes. 

The moratorium, according to Alderman Jonathan Brostoff, "puts the brakes on new vape shops" until after Aug. 1, while the city studies their impact on neighborhoods and residents. 

“The proliferation of establishments selling electronic cigarettes or electronic cigarette paraphernalia, particularly when concentrated geographically, may have harmful impacts on the public health, safety and welfare of Milwaukee residents, and as a Council it is clearly our duty to prevent and mitigate that potential harm,” Alderman Brostoff said.

“The moratorium allows us to review the city’s existing regulatory structure for establishments selling electronic cigarettes, and to develop revised regulations that better serve the interests of the residents of Milwaukee,” he said. “I am very grateful of my colleagues for their support on this important piece of Council legislation.”

The file will next go to Mayor Johnson for his signature.