Forsyth County weighs separate rules for cigar and smoke shops

Forsyth County already requires tobacco-related retailers to clear a zoning check before they open, and that screening is now at the center of a push to separate cigar shops from smoke shops. The practical stakes reach beyond licensing paperwork: the answer can determine which storefronts are viable, how closely similar businesses can cluster, and whether a landlord can rent space in a corridor without running into county restrictions.

The Forsyth County Business License Department handles Non-Traditional Tobacco / Vape / E-Cigarette licensing, and county guidance says each business may need a Business Location Verification Decision Letter to confirm that a site is properly zoned before applying. That matters because the county’s ordinance materials are aimed at regulating the sale of non-traditional tobacco paraphernalia, e-cigarettes, and alternative nicotine products, while also adding licensing and screening requirements for those businesses.

The county’s proposed framework would also put clear distance limits around sensitive uses. The ordinance materials bar those sales within 100 yards of a church building and within 200 yards of a school building, educational building, school grounds, or college campus. They also say the county is acting in the interests of public health, safety and general welfare, and they authorize fingerprint-based criminal history checks for applicants seeking a non-traditional tobacco paraphernalia license.

That distinction has direct consequences for property owners and tenants in fast-growing commercial areas. A site that works for one kind of retailer may not work for another if the county decides cigar shops and smoke shops belong in different categories. Forsyth County’s Unified Development Code was most recently updated on April 2, 2026, giving local regulators a current framework to tighten definitions before more leases are signed.

The pressure point is growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Forsyth County’s population at 280,096 on July 1, 2024 and 282,805 on July 1, 2025, up from 251,283 in the 2020 census and 175,511 in 2010. Forsyth County Schools has said the county was the nation’s 6th fastest growing county from 2010 to 2020, a pace that has made land-use rules and business classifications increasingly consequential.

A visible part of that market already exists. Blue Havana II Cigars & Gifts says it serves Alpharetta, Milton and South Forsyth County, and it says it has been voted Best Cigar Shop in Best of Forsyth in multiple years. That makes the county’s policy choice more than a semantic one: it will help decide how Forsyth treats an established retail category as new tobacco-related businesses look for space.