Standalone vape shops can now open in Dunwoody's retail districts, but they'll face some of the strictest location rules in metro Atlanta.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday, Aug. 10, to end a moratorium that had blocked new vape shops since February and replace it with an ordinance requiring 600-foot buffers from schools, daycares and places of worship, plus 1,500-foot buffers from other vape shops and gas stations.

Dunwoody has no standalone vape shops within city limits.

Planning & Zoning Manager Paul Leonhardt told the council the distance requirements are modeled after the city's existing liquor-store restrictions and mirror an ordinance adopted by Johns Creek, according to Appen Media.

The ordinance defines a vape shop as any business deriving more than 25% of its revenue from nicotine-based products or dedicating more than 25% of its floor space to displaying or selling electronic cigarettes.

The vote caps a three-month debate that swung from a proposed total ban to regulated access. At the council's May 11 meeting, as Appen Media reported, Councilmember John Heneghan argued a ban would be "a slippery slope," telling colleagues the city doesn't ban alcohol or tobacco sales outright. The council instead extended the moratorium through Aug. 10 and directed staff to draft distance-based rules.

Council members pointed to the north end of Sandy Springs' Roswell Road, where seven standalone vape shops cluster between the Chattahoochee River and the Fulton County line, as the kind of concentration Dunwoody wanted to prevent.

Ashwood Parkway townhomes advance

At the same meeting, the council discussed but did not finalize a rezoning request to replace a largely vacant five-story office building at 1200 Ashwood Parkway with 122 townhomes. A final vote is expected later in August.

Developer Ashton Woods Homes proposes three-story units ranging from 1,850 to 3,000 square feet on the 11.64-acre site across from Perimeter Marketplace on Ashford Dunwoody Road. No more than 12 of the 122 units could be rented. Senior Planner Madalyn Smith said the existing office building, which has more than 50 vacancies, has no "viable path forward" and would be demolished at the developer's expense if the rezoning is approved.

Mayor Lynn Deutsch pushed Ashton Woods to add elevator accessibility for older adults before the final vote. Joe Ingram of Ashton Woods explained that including even one elevator would trigger federal Fair Housing Act requirements across the entire development.

"If we put even one elevator in, we are then required to do it for the entirety of the building," Ingram said.

Deutsch was undeterred, calling the site "a perfect location for people looking to age in Dunwoody" and asking the developer to find a solution before the rezoning returns for its final reading later this month.