Paul Bass photo
The new smoke shop at 837 Whalley.
Paul Bass Photo
Bart Simpson lights up inside Vape R Us.
“Vape R Us” can stay put at the entrance to Westville Village despite the city’s new zoning restrictions — as the Elicker administration goes after the smoke shop for marketing tobacco products to children.
That’s the latest with the ground-floor storefront at 837 Whalley Ave.
The Westville smoke shop’s newest incarnation represents a bind City Hall faces as it tries to rein in the growing number of tobacco and vape product retailers around town.
On the other hand, zoning rules cannot box out “nonconforming” establishments that maintain a prior use.
Translation: 837 Whalley Ave. can remain a smoke shop ad infinitum, even if it continually changes ownership.
The one zoning trigger for preventing a new smoke shop from opening up at this site would be if the storefront’s use transitioned from a smoke shop to something else, like a barbershop, and then tried to change back again.
The 837 Whalley shop was most recently home to Harvest Mart — another (albeit reluctant) vendor of tobacco, bongs, e‑cigarettes, and vaping products.
Harvest Mart closed. In late March, a New Jersey sign company crew installed a host of new bright and cartoonish decor on behalf of a purportedly new owner who planned to keep the spot a smoke shop.
As of this week, a new sign hangs above the store’s front windows identifying the former Harvest Mart’s transformation into Vape R Us.
The new sign mimics the color scheme and font type of the logo for Toys ‘R Us. Both even have the same backwards “R” in the middle.
Sure enough, these two smoke shops — Harvest Mart and Vape R Us — appear to have different owners.
State business registry records show that Harvest Mart Inc., with a business address of 837 Whalley, has a business agent named Sami Alsaidi. (In this September 2024 article, the Independent spoke with Harvest Mart’s then-operator, Hassan Alsufanyi.)
Vape R Us Inc., meanwhile, which also has a business address of 837 Whalley Ave., has a business agent named Ashraf Rayshani.
Rayshani did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article. As of Monday, the new smoke shop was not yet open to customers.
So. One more time. Why doesn’t this new shop violate the city’s newly enacted zoning laws, which prohibit new smoke shops from opening within 3,000 feet of existing smoke shops? After all, another smoke shop already sits right across the street, at the site of the former Dunkin’ Donuts on the island bounded by Whalley, Fountain, and the closed-off block of Central.
“Unfortunately, while the smoke shop violates the spirit of our new zoning ordinance, it does not violate the ordinance itself,” Mayor Justin Elicker told the Independent in an email comment.
That’s because this 837 Whalley Ave. storefront has not changed uses — even if it has changed owners.
“As is the case with zoning and properties in general, the new ordinance provides that a non-conforming establishment (such as a smoke shop that is within a 3,000-foot radius of another smoke shop or within 1,000-foot radius of a park) can continue to operate under a new owner as a non-conforming establishment, provided there is no abandonment of use or expansion of non-conforming use,” Elicker said.
“In other words, if the site continuously transitions from a smoke shop to another smoke shop, that is permissible. But, if the site transitions to a barber shop or any other type of business, it can not then return to being a smoke shop. This has been affirmed in case law and is just the reality of zoning.
“As such, the existence of a new smoke shop at this location under this circumstance would not violate the city’s new zoning ordinance, provided the new business obtains a legal and valid license for the sale of cigarettes and tobacco from the state – and, prior to October 1st, also obtains a license from the city.”
On Tuesday morning, Tiffany Thiele, a spokesperson for the state Department of Revenue Services, confirmed that Vape R Us, Inc. has a valid state license to sell cigarettes.
Complaint Filed For Marketing To Minors
A peek inside "Vape R Us."
While New Haven’s zoning laws appear powerless to stop Vape R Us from opening up, the Elicker administration is looking to the state to ding the new smoke shop for its advertising.
The newly installed Vape R Us banner includes a picture of a cartoon giraffe vaping.
The store’s interior also includes a picture of the popular cartoon figure Bart Simpson smoking a joint.
Elicker told the Independent that, on Monday, the city’s Health Department filed a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ State Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Unit “regarding marketing tobacco products to minors.”
The Health Department also filed a complaint with the state Department of Revenue Services’ Tobacco Enforcement Division “regarding the potential lack of a Connecticut Cigarette Distributor or a Connecticut Licensed Cigarette Dealer License.” (Again, a state DRS spokesperson told the Independent that Vape R Us does have a valid cigarette license; though, for this article from late March, the DRS spokesperson said that the previous business, Harvest Mart, did not appear to have a valid state license to sell cigarettes.)
If this new smoke shop is found to be in violation of any required state laws or regulations, he said, “all appropriate fines and enforcement actions will be taken.”
Elicker also said the city’s building department will be conducting an enforcement check this week to make sure the store is abiding by New Haven’s zoning regulations in regards to signage.
“The owners of this establishment should be ashamed of themselves. Marketing vaping and tobacco products to children and teenagers is unconscionable – and to do so in such a cartoonish and brazen manner nearby a city park and local schools where kids learn and play is indefensible,” Elicker said.
He continued: “Regardless of what the law says, this type of intentional marketing to minors is unethical and outrageous – and we’re going to make that very clear to the business owner.”