New Freedom Vapor manager Andrew Engen and company attorney Amanda Brown address Bee Cave City Council regarding the zoning of a proposed second electronic cigarette shop within the city's limits.[/caption] If all goes according to plan, an electronic cigarette shop could be open in Bee Cave within the next two months, said Andrew Engen, who manages New Freedom Vapor, an electronic cigarette shop in Lakeway. The site selected for the store’s second location, 13908 W. Hwy 71, Bee Cave, is zoned retail, an issue the Bee Cave City Council tackled during its June 13 meeting. Stores that sell electronic cigarettes and supplies are not defined within any of the city’s current zoning categories and owner Lanette Yoakley, through her attorney, Amanda Brown, requested the business be zoned under a retail designation. Council members debated three options for zoning the shop:
  • Include electronic cigarette shops under the retail designation;
  • Include electronic cigarette shops under the adult novelty store designation; or
  • Create a new zoning category for electronic cigarette shops.
The existing Lakeway electronic cigarette store, New Freedom Vapor, 325 S. RR 620, Ste. B101, Lakeway, was approved as a general retail use within Lakeway’s office/retail zoning district. Brown said the adult novelty store designation “doesn’t capture [New Freedom Vapor’s] business model” and the creation of a new zoning category could take up to six months to process. Additionally, she said electronic cigarettes and supplies are the only products the store will carry and, therefore, functions similar to a traditional cigarette shop. “Other e-cigarette retailers sell other things [New Freedom] does not sell,” said Council Member Monty Parker, referencing the sale of other smoking paraphernalia including hookah products or pipes. Although city staff initially told Brown an electronic cigarette store most closely matches an adult novelty store designation, new information presented—including the fact that minors can enter an electronic cigarette store but not an adult novelty store—caused the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission to recommend a retail store designation to City Council on June 6. “E-cig stores wanting to sell marijuana paraphernalia is what we want to avoid,” Council Member Tom Matzen said. Council members unanimously approved electronic hardware and supplies stores as a retail use. Council also unanimously approved a site development plan for the Animal Care Center of Bee Cave, 15314 W. Hwy. 71, Bee Cave, located on the Summit 56 tract that houses Nitro Swimming. Although the facility abuts homes off Swiss Alps Court in Falconhead West, the project will include a landscaped buffer between the two sites. The center features three single-story buildings and includes office space, a 24-hour veterinary hospital and indoor kennels for pet boarding as well as to hold overflow sick, injured or recovering animals from the hospital.