Wilmington City Council passed a temporary moratorium on smoke shops about a month and a half ago. Last week, Council put the same restrictions on new convenience stores in the city.
The ordinance sponsor, Councilmember Shané Darby, said Wilmington is oversaturated with corner stores, which the ordinance defined as businesses who sell goods consumed outside of the store’s premises.
“We also know that residents complain a lot about groups of gatherings that happen outside of a lot of our corner stores in regards to illegal activities and violence that happen,” Darby said. “A lot of women, elders and young people don’t feel comfortable entering a lot of the corner stores that we have.”…