County targets hookah lounges for stronger regulations

Clark County officials are pursuing ways to more consistently regulate hookah lounges.

One way to do this is creating a separate business license category for the shops and storefronts that sell flavored tobacco to their patrons.

Commissioners discussed the issue at their Tuesday meeting, spurred by Commissioner Mary Beth Scow, who has raised concerns after hearing complaints about fire safety and hookah lounges morphing into unrelated businesses such as nightclubs.

Creating a separate business license category for hookah lounges would create a trigger for the appropriate fire and building inspections, county officials said.

“I think our goal is ultimately to protect the structures and the patrons of the hookah lounges as well as the neighborhoods,” Scow said.

Concerns include a variety of problems such as open flames, unapproved extension cords and blocked fire exits. Furniture in some lounges have been reported singed, along with the outside walls.

Hookah lounges peddle tobacco that can be smoked with a water pipe, a practice with historical roots in the Middle East.

“It became clear that we needed to take some action,” Scow said, describing the hookah lounges that have strayed from their original purpose as “mini-nightclubs.”

Sometimes hookah is the prime purpose of the business; other businesses sell it in other environments.

About 50 hookah lounges are in unincorporated Clark County, including those that focus solely on hookah and others that offer the product as an ancillary to another business, such as a restaurant.

“The problem is they’re not getting the inspections and the reason is we don’t have a trigger for them to be inspected,” said Nancy Amundsen, director of county comprehensive planning.

The business license and a category for a hookah lounge, acting as a trigger, can move the applicant through zoning for a land use decision and fire and building inspections, said Jacqueline Holloway, director of county business licensing.

The regulation proposal is not a done deal yet. The county will still need to draft an ordinance and prepare a business impact statement.

Scow said the proposal will probably come back for a vote in the summer.

The county has received feedback from the industry about potential changes.

The move to add a business license category would help close loopholes, Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said.

Commissioners stressed the goal is safety — not putting hookah operators out of business.

“This is no witch hunt on our part to try to shut folks down,” Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.