OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Marion County commissioners will take final public comment Monday on a zoning ordinance that would keep new smoke and vape shops, including shops built around kratom, away from schools and other protected places. Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano told city council he wants the city to consider “a similar ordinance.”
The second hearing is Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala. The item is File 2026-24336, creating Land Development Code Section 4.3.30, headed “Smoke and Vape Shops.”
A new commercial establishment whose primary use is the on-premises sale and consumption of tobacco, tobacco products, tobacco paraphernalia, e-cigarettes, kratom, or kratom products, including a smoking area, could not be located within 1,500 feet of a school, licensed daycare, church or place of worship, or public park, or within 2,500 feet of another smoke shop…