Troy amends ordinance to ban tobacco sales via vending machines to anyone under 21
By Charles Bolinger
Editor • On July 1, 2019, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law that prohibited anyone statewide under the age of 21 from purchasing any tobacco products.
During the July 20 Troy City Council meeting, the council voted to amend a city ordinance to ban the sales of tobacco products from vending machines.
Under the amended ordinance, the sale of any device, good or product involving, relating to or consisting of smoking (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes, cigars, pipes, etc.) from a vending machine or similar automated dispensing machine is prohibited to anyone under 21. The former age limit was 18. The same applies to tobacco accessories and smoking herbs.
“What we’re doing is we’re wanting to amend the ordinance to conform to Illinois code,” said Heather Klueter, executive assistant. “Ours says 18; Illinois’ code is 21. We’ve had somebody reach out to us about wanting to put [tobacco] vending machines in bars and in gaming places [in Troy] to sell these products to people through vending machines.”
She said quite a few municipalities have moved to either ban these machines completely or allow the sales, but there are fees involved and someone needs to monitor the process.
There are no current tobacco vending machines in town. Kleuter said the outside contact has been persistent.
“When I told him we were going to discuss it [at tonight’s meeting], he came back right away with, ‘When are you gonna know?’”
“Our [original] ordinance was a 1986 version and a lot has changed with the laws [since then],” said City Attorney Fred Keck during the city council meeting. “It came to Heather’s attention. She did a great job in being proactive and drafting some things in response.”
The city’s administrative and community service committee voted 6-0, banning such vending machines, which was upheld at the following city council meeting.
“Every place in town that would have those machines allow [people] under 21 in, so there’d be no policing of it. There’d be nothing to prevent a 19-year-old or a 16-year-old from buying,” said Councilman Nathan Henderson. Councilman Tim Flint agreed.
“We updated the local ordinance to deal with vending machines,” said City Administrator Jay Keeven. “Since we are doing that, we made our ordinance align with state law. One must abide by both local ordinance and state laws, so if one is more restrictive, you must follow the most restrictive.”
The penalties for violating this amended ordinance are anywhere between $75 and $750 for each offense.
In other action, the city council approved the following ordinances and resolutions:
All future industrial developments, including data centers, will receive a second reading before being approved or declined. In the past, there were only two opportunities for residents and business owners to express opinions — at the monthly planning commission meeting and one visit to city council. Now, there will be three opportunities for reactions or expressions. Residential, retail and commercial properties are not impacted by this ordinance — they remain at one reading at city council.
The council members amended requirements for mailing notifications in special uses and zoning amendment situations. The council approved adopting the Illinois Energy Conservation Code.
The council approved a resolution for the final plat for Waterford Villas. Currently, Auburn Trace is a stub street with four buildings of townhomes. The resolution will allow the developer to add seven more townhome buildings and three commercial out lots, two of them on Bouse Road and the other on Formosa Road. When complete, Auburn Trace will terminate in a cul-de-sac.
Councilmembers Sam Italiano and Debbie Knoll were absent from this meeting.
The next Troy City Council meeting is Aug. 3 at 6:30 p.m. in city hall, 116 E. Market St.
