Vape shops should be unwelcome Downtown and near schools, commission recommends

Pittsburgh’s City Planning Commission voted to recommend a bill to the City Council that would place restrictions on where vape stores can set up shop, but also called for major amendments.

Some people expressed their eagerness for the bill to pass because of Downtown shops in particular, even though the bill emphasizes the impact that vape shops have on school-aged children citywide. The legislation would not permit new vape shops in the Golden Triangle.

“Every time I see a bus unload, I see children going to the public schools around the corner, and they flow into these stores like they’re candy shops,” said Harris Jones, the co-owner of 824 Liberty Ave., which is across the street from a vape shop. “It makes you cry as a parent and as a Downtown resident.”