03-29-16 Health and Public Safety

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now vacant buildings which is not something South Bend needs. Mr. Diltz offered is services to the city if they wished to do some type of study over the next year. His family has been putting video games, juke boxes, pool tables and other bar games in every location that would allow them to do so and bars are a big part of his business. We know exactly what happened in Elkhart and the ordinance did hurt those city bars, not a single bar in Elkhart County closed. James A. Masters, 350 Columbia St. South Bend, spoke on the behalf of Richman Master Distributer Inc. They are a wholesale distributer of products for grocery and convenience stores including tobacco products. They have 320 employees company wide and operates fifty -three (53) Low Bob's tobacco stores in the South Bend area. Six (6) of those Low Bob's are in the city limits and employ twenty -five (25) people. This proposed ordinance gives no exception to anyone and Richman Masters asks the Council to remove tobacco stores from the list of places where smoking is prohibited. Other Indiana cities that have adopted anti - smoking ordinances all expressly exempt retail tobacco stores from the ban. The business of a retail tobacco store is wholly dependent upon tobacco sales and has no other way to make up profits. Restaurants and bars have other principle profits. The courts have said exempting tobacco stores is reasonable because that is all the store can sell. It is unreasonable for South Bend not to exempt tobacco stores and this ordinance will put tobacco stores at a disadvantage to other stores in the area. It is not just the jobs in the tobacco stores that will suffer but the truck drivers, bookkeepers, officer workers and other employees of Richman Master Distributer Inc. Also, it appears to Mr. Masters that the second substitute bill is out of order and is not properly before the Council for consideration because no bill shall appear on the agenda of the regular meeting unless said bill has been filed in the City Clerk's Office before the Wednesday at noon immediately prior to said regular meeting. Both proposed substitute bills did not meet that deadline. Also, every bill is said to have to be read three (3) times and no bill shall be read the third time as the meeting it was introduced. In order for you to consider this bill you have to unanimously approve it tonight. Scott Carrico, 4202 Technology Dr., Vice - President of Richman Master Distributors spoke against the bill. It is commonsense to exempt tobacco stores from this ordinance because of their industry. Smoke free will not work for his company. For the state, local, and federal government they collect over $60 million dollars in tax. They are asking for the state law to be upheld and the exemption of tobacco stores remain in place. Our business has been here since 1936 and we do not have to be here. It would make more sense for us to be in Indianapolis by pure geography but we stay here because it is our home. A committee should be formed and they need to be a part of that discussion. Jason Nielson, 52936 Highland Dr. 46635 South Bend, stated he owns a vape shop in South Bend that deal with the liquids and devices. His business caters to adults only and people aged eighteen (18) and over are the only ones allowed in his store or on the premises. His customers include current smokers looking for a solution to quitting smoking as well as former smokers who have switched over to vaping completely. The sale of e- liquids and a wide variety of flavors comprises the bulk of his business and services provided. There is no nicotine in the sampling of flavors part of his business. The flavor testing portion is critical to his business because it allows customers to try before they buy. Allowing vaping in a vape shop makes common sense. No customer is keen on buying blindly and will drive customers to other vape shops where they can 7