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April 25, 2024

Hartford adjusts for state law, allows smoke shop to sell alcohol

HBJ PHOTO | DAVID KRECHEVSKY Penthouse Cigar Shop at 570 Wethersfield Ave. in Hartford.
By David Krechevsky

For some people, a good cigar should be paired with a stiff drink. 

With smoking banned in bars and restaurants, that social convention is generally reserved for home or some grandfathered clubs.

The state adopted changes last year, however, to allow smoke shops to also serve alcohol under certain conditions, with the law taking effect Oct. 1. The law restricts such shops to cities with 80,000 people or more and allows just one per municipality.

Hector Moran supported that change. The owner of the Penthouse Cigar Shop at 570 Wethersfield Ave. in Hartford, Moran wasted no time after the law took effect in filing an application with the city seeking to allow him to set up what he called a “tobacco bar.” 

He faced a significant obstacle for his idea, though: city zoning ordinances didn’t yet reflect the new state law. That changed Tuesday night, when the Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved zoning amendments that would follow the state law and allow for the sale of alcohol in smoke shops under certain conditions.

While Moran’s application proposed adding the term “tobacco bar” to the city’s zoning regulations, department staff suggested an alternative, stating that creating “a new primary use category may not be the most appropriate pathway to allowing this type of use.”

In the alternative, staff recommended the commission consider amending the current language that addresses smoking places and smoke shops “to allow the sale of alcohol as an activity that would be accessory and subordinate to the principal use.” 

The staff recommendation added that while the language would align with the new state law, it would also “ensure that the sale of alcohol at these types of establishments would remain incidental to the principal use as a smoking place or smoke shop.”

Commissioner David McKinley asked whether it would be legal for a smoke shop to offer alcohol even without the change to city regulations since the state now allows it. 

Planning Director Erin Howard responded, saying the change to city regulations was still necessary.

Commission members ultimately approved the staff-recommended  language in a 6-0 vote. 
On Thursday, Moran said he is happy with the decision and will move forward with plans to add a bar in his shop, which already has seating areas inside. Penthouse strictly sells cigars — “no hookahs or vape pens,” he said — while also offering memberships.

“A membership entitles you to sit on the member side with a comfortable chair and you get a 5 percent discount,” Moran said, adding that non-members can also walk in to buy cigars and sit at tables set aside for them.

The interior already includes a counter with a sink, he said, so setting up the bar once he receives all the required approvals, including a liquor license, should not be difficult, he said.

Moran, who has owned and operated the shop for seven years, said he does not expect to change his hours of operation once his bar is in place. Penthouse is open seven days a week from 1 p.m. to midnight.

While he is the shop’s only employee, he said he intends to hire bartenders to serve his customers and control the sale of alcohol.

“Some places they do BYOB,” he said. “You can’t control when somebody does BYOB, because it’s their bottle. If you have a bartender and serve drinks, you can stop serving someone.”

Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the state law restricts the location and number of tobacco shops that can also offer alcohol.

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