Midtown school next to smoke shop worried new smoke shop rules aren’t helping them

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nine year old Paisley Midkiff sits in class everyday and concentrates on her work. A few times a week though she’s disturbed by arguing a few feet behind her just beyond the glass door.

That arguing comes from people hanging around the smoke shop next to her school Renaissance Academy.

“There’s a lot of beef going on out there,” Midkiff commented.

People aren’t just loitering outside her classroom though. Her mom, Kim Midkiff, who is also her teacher, said people do drugs outside and pointed to some burned tin foil on the ground that she said they use as drug paraphernalia.

“I know I’m safe, but I don’t feel comfortable,” Paisley Midkiff said.

KGUN9 reporter Andrew Christiansen last spoke with the Midkiffs last month and they told him about the smell of smoke that comes into the school from the smoke shop next door. They believe people are smoking cigarettes and marijuana in there.

“It’s definitely hard to look at parents and be like this is ok…” Kim Midkiff said.

Since talking with them last, Midkiff said they have seen people outside with knives.

KGUN9 news reporter Andrew Christiansen went up to the smoke shop owner next to the school, but he denied him an interview request.

He also called the landlord of the building, but did not get an answer.

On Tuesday, the City of Tucson’s mayor and City Council unanimously passed rules for new smoke shops that want to open.

They say say smoke shops have to be at least a thousand feet away from schools and parks and half a mile from other shops. They can also only be open 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. but the rules would not apply to current shops unless they move.

The new rules will go into effect in about a month.

The new rules would also apply if they expand to the next place over. In the meantime, The City’s Planning and Development Services said current smoke shops can expand up to 50 percent within 5 years of the adoption of the new regulations without having to follow the rules.

However, they said they would have to go through a zoning examiner special exception public process, which includes notifying the public, a neighborhood meeting, and a meeting with the City.

After the 5 years, they cannot expand unless they meet the new criteria, which they said would be hard.

They said smoke shops that are already established don’t have to be a certain distance from schools, parks, and other smoke shops because they are considered a general retail use, which means they are under the same rules as a grocery or convenience store.

Paisley Midkiff is hoping the City reconsiders that, and while she doesn’t know how far away the current smoke shops should be, she suggested the one next to her should be across the parking lot while her mom said the City should help them.

“I hope the City does notice that there’s schools like us that do need help, that do need that protection. We need someone to fall back on and say hey, this is not ok,” Kim Midkiff said.