INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The city of Independence is reducing the number of tobacco and convenience stores in the area with hopes to reduce the amount of crime.
“We’ve seen a lot of an association between the category of smoke shops and convenience stores and illegal activity,” said Robert Heacock, the City Manager for Independence.
He says the city’s Unified Development Ordinance passed on Monday to limit the number of convenience stores and tobacco shops will help reduce crime.
“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference, the customers are going to be the same,” said Salima Bhura, who owns a convenience store in Independence.
Bhura sells gas also so her store is in a different category than the stand alone shops. But she says running any type of convenience store is hard work.
“You cannot be at the store 24/7, you have to train the employees, you have to tell them you can’t do this and you have to take precautions,” she said.
Based on the city’s 2010 census population, the ordinance will limit the number of tobacco and convenience stores to 14.
“We don’t think we need to have a whole city filled with these types of establishments,” added Heacock.
The city says it is trying to send a message to those selling illegal products like drug paraphernalia and synthetic drugs. Heacock says the city is just trying to get one step ahead of the illegal activity.
He says this ordinance does not affect tobacco and convenience stores already here. Heacock says it will just limit the number of them per population in the future.