Hoschton council to change law allowing gun dealers
Saying it didn’t have a law allowing firearms dealers in the city, the Hoschton City Council voted Thursday to change its zoning ordinance after a council member said a gun shop was unfairly treated by officials.
“We did not have this ordinance,” said Mayor Pro Tem Theresa Kenerly. “We’ve had some problems with a business license and council member (Sandie) Romer brought it to our attention. So, it’s become apparent that we have a large issue that we need to handle.”
At issue is a business license issued to a gun store in Hoschton.
After a closed-door meeting on June 3, council member Romer told reporters that she believed that the gun shop was harassed by city officials over its business license.
SM Solutions — which sells self-defense products, including guns and teasers at the Trigger Shop — initially opened on Jackson Trail Road, but moved to the Hoschton Towne Center shopping center in 2009. It then moved to its current location at 4164 Ga. Hwy. 53.
The Trigger Shop was issued a Hoschton business license for retail sales, but was later told by city clerk Cindy George that it needed a new business license because it started selling guns and ammunition.
The store paid the $100 fee for a new business license after George came in to the Trigger Shop in April.
Kenerly said the store didn’t get a new license when it changed names and locations. SM Solutions owner Bill Topping has debated that statement.
City officials also contend that since Hoschton’s zoning ordinance didn’t specifically allow for firearms dealers, the store owners should have asked the council to amend its regulations.
The Trigger Shop is located in a small retail center zoned C-1. Hoschton’s zoning ordinance has several specified permitted uses — such as drug stores, dry cleaners and daycare centers — in the C-1 zoning district, but it doesn’t include firearms dealers. It also doesn’t specifically prohibit them, either.
If a firearms dealer wanted to open shop in the city, it would have to ask the council to amend its zoning ordinance to make it a permitted use, according to council member Scott Butler. A proposed tattoo parlor — which also isn’t allowed in the C-1 zoning district — has been told about the process to amend the zoning ordinance, which would require public hearings.
“Had (SM Solutions) followed the same rules as the man who wanted to put a tattoo parlor in here — he realized that a tattoo parlor is not a permitted use in Hoschton, he came to the city, said, ‘I’d like would like to get an ordinance that would allow me to open a business in your city,’” Butler said. “If the people at the Trigger Shop had done the same thing, we would not be having this conversation. We could have had an ordinance passed and they would have been in business.”
To amend the zoning ordinance, Hoschton requires that the city’s planning commission hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the city council.
The council would then hold its own public hearing during a work session, followed by a vote at a regular council meeting.
Butler said SM Solutions didn’t follow the rules to allow the store to operate a business in Hoschton.
“It was never, ever discussed for them to leave the city,” he added.
The Hoschton City Council voted 3-1 on Thursday to allow firearms dealers in all commercial and industrially-zoned districts.
However, the initially proposed amendment only allowed firearms dealers in the C-2 and M-1 zoning districts. Another gun store — Dixie Dump Ammo — is located in an industrial park in Hoschton.
Council member Jim Cleveland asked that the ordinance include the C-1 zoning district, after Romer pointed out that the Trigger Store is located in that zoning district.
Romer also noted that other businesses in Hoschton — such as a yoga studio and a flower shop — are also located in the C-1 zoning district and are not specifically permitted in the city’s ordinance. She questioned if the city would change its ordinance with every non-permitted business request.
The council added flower shops and yoga studios to the proposed ordinance changes.
The ordinance amendments provided by city attorney Thomas Mitchell on Tuesday would allow firearms dealers in the C-1, C-2, C-3 and M-1 zoning districts; florist shops in the C-1 zoning district; and exercise, yoga and physical therapy services in the C-2 zoning district. Mitchell said in an email that the phrasing is subject to council approval.
Meanwhile, planning consultant Guy Herring is also reviewing Hoschton’s ordinances, Kenerly said.
Romer also stood by her comments about SM Solutions’ business license and said the owners were harassed by city officials.
Romer was the lone council member to vote in opposition of the proposed amendment after concerns that it could invite a lawsuit from gun rights supporters.
“We have done wrong,” she said. “We don’t need to do this. We are going against the Georgia statute. Our city cannot afford a lawsuit when the gun people hear about this. We are going to break this city.”
City attorney Thomas Mitchell said the zoning ordinance is a regulation of land use and not businesses, such as firearms dealers.
Romer cited a 2009 state law prohibiting counties or cities from regulating firearms dealers and other gun uses by zoning regulations, ordinances r resolutions.
“I believe that this is a zoning ordinance and that means we’d be violating the Georgia stature state law,” Romer said. “I cannot vote for this.”
Mitchell countered that the state’s constitution outlines that cities and counties may regulate land use. The Georgia Constitution overrides all other laws in the state, he added.
Until the council adopts its amended zoning ordinance allowing firearms dealers — and yoga studios and flower shops — the city will allow the businesses to continue to operate.
The Hoschton City Council is expected to adopt an amended zoning ordinance in August, after the planning commission makes its recommendation.
Kenerly said the council held a called meeting on Thursday to discuss firearms dealers after the issue became the center of media attention. An Atlanta television station also reported on the business license issue.
“We had hoped that it could be handled with discretion,” Kenerly said. “This was never about running anybody out of business, nor was it about anyone on the city council or the mayor had any wishes not to have a gun shop in the city. It was about following the rule of the law.”
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, Mitchell reported that the owner of a proposed tattoo parlor hasn’t filed the required zoning ordinance amendment request to allow his business.
The owner recently approached the city about opening a tattoo parlor on Ga. Hwy. 53, but was told by Mitchell that it would require a change to the city’s zoning ordinance. Mitchell said he hadn’t heard from the owner’s attorney, although Mitchell said he was recently on vacation.
Mitchell said the business license permit may possibly be denied because the applicant hasn’t asked to amend the zoning ordinance within a specified timeframe.
The council also met in a closed-door session for five minutes to discuss threatened litigation. The council took no action when the meeting was opened to the public.
At issue is a business license issued to a gun store in Hoschton.
After a closed-door meeting on June 3, council member Romer told reporters that she believed that the gun shop was harassed by city officials over its business license.
SM Solutions — which sells self-defense products, including guns and teasers at the Trigger Shop — initially opened on Jackson Trail Road, but moved to the Hoschton Towne Center shopping center in 2009. It then moved to its current location at 4164 Ga. Hwy. 53.
The Trigger Shop was issued a Hoschton business license for retail sales, but was later told by city clerk Cindy George that it needed a new business license because it started selling guns and ammunition.
The store paid the $100 fee for a new business license after George came in to the Trigger Shop in April.
Kenerly said the store didn’t get a new license when it changed names and locations. SM Solutions owner Bill Topping has debated that statement.
City officials also contend that since Hoschton’s zoning ordinance didn’t specifically allow for firearms dealers, the store owners should have asked the council to amend its regulations.
The Trigger Shop is located in a small retail center zoned C-1. Hoschton’s zoning ordinance has several specified permitted uses — such as drug stores, dry cleaners and daycare centers — in the C-1 zoning district, but it doesn’t include firearms dealers. It also doesn’t specifically prohibit them, either.
If a firearms dealer wanted to open shop in the city, it would have to ask the council to amend its zoning ordinance to make it a permitted use, according to council member Scott Butler. A proposed tattoo parlor — which also isn’t allowed in the C-1 zoning district — has been told about the process to amend the zoning ordinance, which would require public hearings.
“Had (SM Solutions) followed the same rules as the man who wanted to put a tattoo parlor in here — he realized that a tattoo parlor is not a permitted use in Hoschton, he came to the city, said, ‘I’d like would like to get an ordinance that would allow me to open a business in your city,’” Butler said. “If the people at the Trigger Shop had done the same thing, we would not be having this conversation. We could have had an ordinance passed and they would have been in business.”
To amend the zoning ordinance, Hoschton requires that the city’s planning commission hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the city council.
The council would then hold its own public hearing during a work session, followed by a vote at a regular council meeting.
Butler said SM Solutions didn’t follow the rules to allow the store to operate a business in Hoschton.
“It was never, ever discussed for them to leave the city,” he added.
The Hoschton City Council voted 3-1 on Thursday to allow firearms dealers in all commercial and industrially-zoned districts.
However, the initially proposed amendment only allowed firearms dealers in the C-2 and M-1 zoning districts. Another gun store — Dixie Dump Ammo — is located in an industrial park in Hoschton.
Council member Jim Cleveland asked that the ordinance include the C-1 zoning district, after Romer pointed out that the Trigger Store is located in that zoning district.
Romer also noted that other businesses in Hoschton — such as a yoga studio and a flower shop — are also located in the C-1 zoning district and are not specifically permitted in the city’s ordinance. She questioned if the city would change its ordinance with every non-permitted business request.
The council added flower shops and yoga studios to the proposed ordinance changes.
The ordinance amendments provided by city attorney Thomas Mitchell on Tuesday would allow firearms dealers in the C-1, C-2, C-3 and M-1 zoning districts; florist shops in the C-1 zoning district; and exercise, yoga and physical therapy services in the C-2 zoning district. Mitchell said in an email that the phrasing is subject to council approval.
Meanwhile, planning consultant Guy Herring is also reviewing Hoschton’s ordinances, Kenerly said.
Romer also stood by her comments about SM Solutions’ business license and said the owners were harassed by city officials.
Romer was the lone council member to vote in opposition of the proposed amendment after concerns that it could invite a lawsuit from gun rights supporters.
“We have done wrong,” she said. “We don’t need to do this. We are going against the Georgia statute. Our city cannot afford a lawsuit when the gun people hear about this. We are going to break this city.”
City attorney Thomas Mitchell said the zoning ordinance is a regulation of land use and not businesses, such as firearms dealers.
Romer cited a 2009 state law prohibiting counties or cities from regulating firearms dealers and other gun uses by zoning regulations, ordinances r resolutions.
“I believe that this is a zoning ordinance and that means we’d be violating the Georgia stature state law,” Romer said. “I cannot vote for this.”
Mitchell countered that the state’s constitution outlines that cities and counties may regulate land use. The Georgia Constitution overrides all other laws in the state, he added.
Until the council adopts its amended zoning ordinance allowing firearms dealers — and yoga studios and flower shops — the city will allow the businesses to continue to operate.
The Hoschton City Council is expected to adopt an amended zoning ordinance in August, after the planning commission makes its recommendation.
Kenerly said the council held a called meeting on Thursday to discuss firearms dealers after the issue became the center of media attention. An Atlanta television station also reported on the business license issue.
“We had hoped that it could be handled with discretion,” Kenerly said. “This was never about running anybody out of business, nor was it about anyone on the city council or the mayor had any wishes not to have a gun shop in the city. It was about following the rule of the law.”
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, Mitchell reported that the owner of a proposed tattoo parlor hasn’t filed the required zoning ordinance amendment request to allow his business.
The owner recently approached the city about opening a tattoo parlor on Ga. Hwy. 53, but was told by Mitchell that it would require a change to the city’s zoning ordinance. Mitchell said he hadn’t heard from the owner’s attorney, although Mitchell said he was recently on vacation.
Mitchell said the business license permit may possibly be denied because the applicant hasn’t asked to amend the zoning ordinance within a specified timeframe.
The council also met in a closed-door session for five minutes to discuss threatened litigation. The council took no action when the meeting was opened to the public.
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