La Habra officials will impose a temporary moratorium on smoke shops while officials examine stricter policies aimed at curbing underage tobacco use – joining a host of other cities trying to crack down on smoke shops in Orange County.

In recent years, cities across the northern part of the county have been tinkering with new regulations for smoke shops requiring tobacco retailers to get city permits.

Earlier this year, Anaheim officials adopted an ordinance tightening regulations on smoke shops after police officials raised concerns that some have become hubs for illegal gambling and black market marijuana sales.

[Read: Anaheim Cracks Down on Shady Smoke Shops]

This summer, City of Orange officials also adopted a similar ordinance to their neighboring city.

Last year, Stanton extended their own moratorium on smoke shops put in place after city inspectors found about half of the city’s tobacco stores were illegally selling flavored vapes, a violation of the city’s municipal code and a recent state law. 

Last week, La Habra city officials joined the list, voting unanimously to halt smoke shops while they consider requiring permits, imposing distancing regulations, or even enacting a permanent ban.  

The city currently has 68 state-licensed tobacco retailers, with 20 that operate exclusively as smoke shops.

Two of these retailers are doughnut shops that legally sell vapes and tobacco products under the city’s current code.

Susan Kim, the city’s director of Community and Economic Development, said La Habra has a higher number of smoke shops per capita than other cities in Orange County.

Kim added that there has been a significant increase in smoke shops over the past five years. 

“Between 2008 and 2018, over 10 years, we saw six smoke shops established,” Kim said at the meeting. “However, over the last five years, we’ve seen 14 established.” 

Councilman Delwin Lampkin asked whether there was any data indicating that the existing stores were acting in bad faith.

“I just want to make sure that we distinguish that we’re not disparaging any of our current businesses, to suggest that there are some, either misfits, malfeasance or illegal activity occurring with our current smoke shops,” Lampkin said at the meeting. 

Kim said that although no police reports were available, a La Habra report found that a higher concentration of smoke shops can lead to increased tobacco use among children.

“In our environmental justice amendment to the general plan that we recently did, it stated that, typically, the more smoke shops you have, the more likely it is that children are addicted to tobacco,” Kim said. 

Lampkin asked staff to consider distancing smoke shops and even looking into prohibiting any new shops from coming into the city.

“That (68) seems to be an excessive amount of smoke shops,” said Lampkin. 

Resident Norma Paris said she has been walking through the streets of La Habra for 10 years, and there were very few smoke shops, but now there are shops every two blocks. 

“I want to thank the city manager and councilmembers for taking the first step in the process regarding no more tobacco stores,” Paris said at the meeting. “Especially for a better community and the health of the youth.” 

The temporary moratorium will block new tobacco retailers from opening in the city for the next 45 days.