Latrobe Considers New Regulations for Smoke Shops, Convenience Stores, and Gaming Venues

Latrobe is evaluating an ordinance intended to impose operational limits and designate authorized zones for smoke and vape shops as well as local convenience stores.

Another suggested ordinance would outline regulations for businesses that operate gaming devices.

As gaming devices providing payouts have been proliferating in establishments and clubs across Latrobe, City Manager Terry Carcella mentioned that the development of a relevant ordinance was triggered by a recent instance where an applicant sought to establish a business in the downtown commercial sector focused solely on such games.

“Our city code does not accommodate this,” Carcella remarked about such a gaming operation. “We want to ensure we can regulate it in some form.”

According to Carcella, due to the absence of provisions in city zoning laws regarding such use, it could have only been permissible in the least restrictive industrial area, leading to the denial of the proposed business operator’s application.

“The city must facilitate all forms of use,” he stated.

This has resulted in a second proposed ordinance that would establish guidelines for other categories of businesses not recognized by Latrobe’s zoning — specifically, smoke and vape shops and neighborhood convenience stores under 3,000 square feet.

The ordinances are accessible for public examination at the Latrobe municipal office. They will be discussed at a hearing before city council scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on January 13.

Under one of the proposed ordinances, “Some convenience stores may incorporate an area for games of skill or chance,” Carcella noted.

Per the ordinance, businesses or entities desiring to operate a local gaming device — involving a game based on chance or skill — would need to apply for conditional use approval in one of several of the city’s commercial districts.

The devices would not be authorized in a C-1 neighborhood commercial district.

Establishments with gaming devices that are already in operation at the time the ordinance is enacted may continue functioning as a non-conforming use. They will not be required to secure a conditional use permit.

Ordinance conditions

Facilities with a local gaming device would be restricted from locating within 1,200 feet of an already established facility with a similar device or of a school, daycare center, community center, recreational facility, park, church, hospital, or other venue where minors frequently assemble.

Individuals under 18 would be prohibited from entering such a facility unless accompanied by a parent or guardian and would not be allowed to engage with any gaming devices. The facility would be obligated to display relevant signage as well as a license it must obtain from the city’s police department.

The facility would be barred from operating between midnight and 8 a.m. — or between 2 and 8 a.m., if it possesses a state liquor license and maintains good standing with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Consumption of alcohol would be prohibited within the facility unless it possesses an appropriate state liquor license.

The number of gaming devices would be limited to five in an establishment holding a state club liquor license. There would be a cap of three devices in a facility with another type of state liquor license.

Gaming devices would need to remain in view of a staff member at all times. However, they would need to be located in an area separated from other operations within the facility, including retail sales and the preparation, serving, and consumption of food and beverages.

Definition of ‘Gaming device’

The proposed ordinance defines a local gaming device as a “mechanical, computerized, or electrical apparatus, terminal, machine, or other device that, upon insertion or payment of cash or cash equivalent as a wager, is available to play or activate one or more games, the play or outcome of which is determined by any element of chance or skill, and that may provide or allow the player to receive cash or cash equivalent at the conclusion of one or multiple such games.”

According to the ordinance, such devices do not include: a coin-operated amusement game; a lottery game; devices operated in accordance with state laws governing bingo games and small games of chance; devices utilized in multi-player video gaming competitions where the element of chance does not significantly influence the play or outcome of the game.

The language of the proposed gaming device ordinance was influenced by regulations currently in effect in other municipalities across the state.

Regulations for vape and smoke shops

A second proposed ordinance would simultaneously regulate vape shops, hookah bars, and smoke shops/tobacco shops — along with neighborhood convenience stores.

With the exception of existing businesses, which would be exempt, these types of establishments would be categorized as a conditional use in any of the city’s commercial zones, inclusive of the neighborhood commercial zone.

New ventures in any of the mentioned sectors would be barred from establishing within 1,200 feet of an existing business of the same type or a location where children often gather.

Hours of operation for convenience stores would be restricted between 2 and 6 a.m., while the other business categories would be limited between midnight and 8 a.m.

The proposed ordinance defines a neighborhood convenience store as a retail establishment with a floor area not exceeding 3,000 square feet that offers food for offsite consumption, beverages, over-the-counter medications, reading materials, household goods, or tobacco items.

The ordinance does not appear to apply to the Sheetz convenience store currently closed for renovations at Ligonier Street and Route 982. The revamped store is anticipated to exceed 6,000 square feet.