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A smoke shop will no longer open up in West Menlo Park as previously planned following a neighborhood outcry that drew the involvement of the San Mateo County supervisor who lives in and represents the area.
The unlicensed smoke shop had taken over a vacant storefront at 3536 Alameda de las Pulgas in an unincorporated part of the county with a large sign being installed late October. Residents quickly learned about what turned out to be an unlicensed smoke shop and urged local officials to prohibit it from moving forward.
Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose District 3 covers the community and who lives there, took up his neighbors’ call.
The county determined that its tobacco retailer ordinance “made it impossible for the shop to open at that location,” Mueller told this news organization on Thursday, Nov. 14. “We confirmed that they cannot sell tobacco, cannabis or paraphernalia. The shop owner said he understood and took the sign down. They were voluntarily compliant.”
The shop was registered as “SmokesRUs Inc” and owned by Ahmed Omar of Oakland. It was first registered Sept. 24. Omar, who also owns Grizzlys Smokeshop in San Jose, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Among the neighborhood’s concerns was the fact that the shop would have opened close to schools and other sites where children learn or play.
The shop would have been within 300 feet of the University Heights Montessori Children’s Center preschool and next door to Studio 650, a dance company that offers classes for both youth and adults.
The shop would have also been within 1,000 feet of Phillips Brooks School and the La Entrada Middle School field, Mueller said.
Attempts to get comments from the neighborhood were not immediately successful.
The county’s ordinance prohibits new tobacco retailer permits from being issued to any new location within 1,000 feet of a youth-populated space. The ordinance applies to unincorporated county areas.
Apparently, Mueller said, Omar mistakenly went to the city of Menlo Park to check if there was any restriction on opening up a smoke shop at 3536 Alameda de las Pulgas, formerly Axiom Learning, a private after-school tutoring and exam-preparation service.
“The shop owner just relied on information that wasn’t accurate,” Mueller said. “The shop owner told the county that the city didn’t identify any problem. But the problem was that it wasn’t in the city’s jurisdiction.”
Mueller noted that he has reached out to Menlo Park City Manager Justin Murphy on all that has transpired and asked that information on the county’s ordinance be shared with the city’s planning department in case such a situation arises again.
The city is already doing its part, Menlo Park spokesperson Kendra Calvert said in an email.
“The city of Menlo Park is in regular communication with the county,” Calvert said. “Supervisor Mueller and City Manager Justin Murphy recently discussed this issue. The city has adopted the same tobacco retailer ordinance as the county and is working to increase awareness about this ordinance.”
The space that the smoke shop had targeted will house another kind of retail store – possibly a gift shop, Mueller said.
“I’m grateful and proud of the work of the county to protect our youth and the support of residents as we worked on this issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mueller is still pursuing a proposed new ordinance to prohibit new tobacco retailers along well-traveled school routes.
“County counsel is still researching” the proposal, he said, and it would go before the county Board of Supervisors not at its Tuesday, Nov. 19, meeting as previously expected but at a later date.
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