Redwood City bans flavored vapes, tobacco hookah lounges: City adopts San Mateo County's tobacco ordinance, placing harsher restrictions on permits, enforcement

However, the restriction also means local businesses that offer on-site hookah — which was allowed as an exception to tobacco use under the city’s former ordinance — will need to pivot to a tobacco-free hookah product or cease operations altogether. 

While the city prohibited the sale of flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes within Redwood City in 2021, this ordinance included an exemption for grandfathered-in hookah establishments lawfully operating with a valid retailer permit. This included The Sandwich Spot, Pasha Mediterranean and Rockn Wraps, which all offer hookah exclusively for on-site consumption with a valid ID. 

The county’s ordinance, which was established in unincorporated county in May 2023 and will now be enforced in Redwood City with the council’s vote, creates stronger restrictions, including banning hookah lounges altogether. 

Restaurant owners offering hookah on-site expressed their concern that the updated ordinance would significantly impact their business, possibly reduce profitability and lead to closure, while taking away a cultural custom. 

Eyyup Gokqe, owner of Pasha Mediterranean, said hookah is not just a product, but a long-standing cultural tradition. During public comment, Gokqe expressed his concern of passing the ordinance.

“It creates a space where people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions can come together, relax and connect in a peaceful and respectful setting,” Gokqe said. 

Other community members emphasized their frustration and feelings of being targeted for a cultural practice — and noted this restriction was under consideration during Arab American Heritage Month. 

Councilmember Chris Sturken said the timing of the ordinance under consideration was not lost on him. As one of the two opposing votes against the ordinance, Sturken felt a locally-established ordinance could provide exemptions that protect small businesses in Redwood City where cultural customs are protected and celebrated. 

“We celebrate our diversity here in Redwood City. In terms of demonstrating our value of equity, it is important for us to support spaces where people can practice their cultural traditions,” Sturken said. 

However, Sturken acknowledged that money is also a factor. 

By adopting the county’s ordinance, regulation and enforcement is undertaken by San Mateo County staff, alleviating resources at the city level. 

After the county passed its own ordinance in 2023, it also stopped enforcing within cities and jurisdictions that did not follow suit. 

Enforcement and regulation has been up to Redwood City staff, but an already stretched workforce and minimal resources has resulted in businesses to slip through the cracks and even operate without a permit. 

“There’s been no enforcement in Redwood City in four years, so you’re seeing businesses pop up without any regulation,” City Attorney Veronica Ramirez said. “Until we have something adopted, there is nothing we can enforce.” 

With a looming budget deficit, councilmembers agreed that it will be critical to spend money wisely, and agreed that outsourcing enforcement will be more fiscally responsible for the city. 

With the adoption of the county’s ordinance, there would be no cost to the city. If Redwood City established its own retailer permit program, it would cost approximately $58,000 to establish and $76,000 annually, without enforcement included, according to a staff report. 

Beyond the cost savings, the need for harsher restrictions was quantified through smoking rates.

“This is not about targeting businesses that are upholding the current regulations,” Mayor Elmer Martínez Saballos said. “This is about reversing the tide that we’re seeing because we’re losing progress.” 

Approximately 11% of California adults use tobacco, and 6.4% of high school students between 10th and 12th grade reported tobacco use, with the most common form being vaping. In San Mateo County, approximately 3.3% of adults smoke, but the number is closer to 8.5% in Redwood City, according to a staff report.

The use among youth is the significant concern that hopes to be mitigated by the updated ordinance, staff said.

Rates of tobacco and vape use among high schoolers is noteworthy; 6% of 11th graders within San Mateo County reported vaping in the last month, and 2% of 7th graders. 

There are currently 55 tobacco retailers in Redwood City, including convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, hookah lounges and smoke shops. 

All councilmembers agreed that addressing tobacco use among minors was a necessary endeavor, including Sturken and Councilmember Marcella Padilla who opposed voting for the county’s ordinance. 

While Padilla said the lack of funding, resources and staff capacity, as well as the concerning statistics among young people is a valid reason to move forward with the harsher restrictions, she said she wished there was another path forward. 

“I walk by and see the restaurants filled with, not smoke, but laughter, conversation,” Padilla said about the hookah lounges. “I would never want anyone in our community to feel like they were being singled out, especially when they’ve contributed so much to the vibrancy of our downtown.”

The ordinance “lumps in our local businesses with bad actors,” Sturken said. He expressed an understanding of why the ordinance would move forward, but agreed with Padilla that he wished there could still be an exception for on-site hookah lounges. 

“I just wish we could have given a runway or other kind of accommodation or support to our local businesses,” Sturken said. 

Under the updated ordinance, restaurants that serve hookah can transition from tobacco-based hookah to tobacco-free alternatives, such as flavored tea leaves. 

Businesses in South San Francisco made this change to tobacco-free alternatives after the city also followed suit with adopting the county’s ordinance, but Redwood City businesses owners expressed they were not interested in pursuing this option to staff. 

The update in the city’s tobacco ordinance to be in compliance with the county’s was passed 5-2. Full implementation and enforcement is estimated to begin this summer.