Aurora councilmembers moved forward with a proposed ordinance in Monday night’s study session that would create a license for businesses that sell tobacco, Kratom and psychoactive substances.

Councilmember Curtis Gardner was the only member in opposition to the ordinance, expressing concerns about lack of clarity for businesses, money and government overreach.

If passed at a future regular council meeting, the ordinance would create a $500 license that any business wanting to sell such products would need to apply for.

The intent of the license is to prevent youth access to such products by requiring local licensure and compliance checks, according to council documents.

It does not propose a ban on flavors and existing businesses would be grandfathered from distance restrictions, City Licensing Manager Trevor Vaughn told councilmembers Monday night.

The ordinance, sponsored by councilmembers Ruben Medina and Stephanie Hancock, was initially presented in a Management and Finance Committee meeting in November, getting support from Councilmembers Francoise Bergan and Alison Coombs and opposition from Councilmember Curtis Gardner.

In the time since, the ordinance sponsors have made changes to the ordinance to reflect industry feedback and feedback from members of the community.

Multiple people have spoken in support of the ordinance during public comment at recent council meetings.

Aurora currently has 354 licensed tobacco retailers, 101 of which are within 1,000 feet of schools and recreation centers, according to Aurora Partners for Thriving Youth.

The new ordinance, if passed, would require these types of businesses to be 1,500 feet from schools, maintain 2,000 feet between vape and smoke shops and require 2 miles between hookah lounges.

There are six licensed hookah lounges in the city currently, and three have closed since September 2024 due to violations. The ordinance would require such lounges to close by 2 a.m. and prohibit alcohol and drug possession.

The Adams County Board of Health, Aurora Partners for Thriving Youth and Kaiser Permanente supported the ordinance in a resolution, saying tobacco is the No. 1 cause of preventable and premature death in Colorado.

Several members of the public attended Monday night’s regular meeting to support the ordinance, which will go to an official council vote at a future regular meeting.

Tracy Gilford, one of the speakers in the public comment session, called the ordinance an “absolute critical step” in protecting children from tobacco products.

“Passing this ordinance says we care about reducing access to these products for our children,” Gilford said. “Children are our future and they’re depending on us to always have their best interests at heart.”

The Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance sent out a news release Monday morning saying Aurora vape store owners Marc Briones and RJ Mello would attend Monday night’s meeting to “call for changes” to the ordinance.

The major change they called for in the release was recommended by Vaughn in the meeting Monday.

Mello and Briones did not speak at Monday’s meeting, but said in the release that a provision about federal government approval “goes too far.”

“The inclusion of federal government approval within the Aurora retail tobacco ordinance will force the closure of all of the responsible Aurora vape stores because these stores are nearly 100% reliant upon vape product transactions,” the news release said.

The same provision came up in Monday’s study session, and Vaughn recommended getting rid of the word “federal” in the provision that states “no tobacco and age-restricted psychoactive product retailer shall sell or offer to sell any licensed product in any manner or form prohibited by federal, state or other local law or regulation.”

Having “federal” essentially makes the ordinance “a flavor ban,” Vaughn said.

All councilmembers except Gardner approved moving the ordinance forward, slashing the word “federal,” to a future regular council meeting.