BALTIMORE — The Baltimore City Council is currently considering legislation that would impose zoning regulations on discount stores.
Council Bill 25-0040 would require so called "small box establishments" to be located at least half-a-mile apart from one another before opening for business.
The bill would also narrow the number of days a store like that could be closed prior to being deemed abandoned and losing its usage permit.
The City's Legal Department, however, says the proposal could face legal hurdles.
"The bill appears to be aimed at regulating competition and favoring local businesses over national chain businesses within the same district, which the City may not do through its zoning powers," the City Solicitor's Office wrote in a memo.
City lawyers raised concern about the move potentially burdening interstate commerce.
"For example, two retail stores may have the same physical footprint in a community and otherwise be similarly situated, but under the bill, one would be excluded based solely on the type of goods it primarily sells, be it used consumer goods or cosmetics," the Solicitor's Office said.
Specifically the bill targets chains with 10 or more locations that sell "assorted inexpensive general goods in small units."
City Attorneys called that definition is "problematically vague," and should specifically define "inexpensive," by including price stipulations like no items priced at more than five bucks.
Still, the legislation includes some loopholes for businesses to be exempt, for instance if they have gas pumps or a pharmacy.
"This problem highlights the difficulty in using the City’s zoning authority to address perceived public welfare concerns with a store’s business model," the City Solicitor's Office wrote. “It is settled law in this State that the zoning ordinance is concerned with the use of property and not with ownership thereof nor with the purposes of the owners or occupants."
As it stands now the bill is scheduled for a third reading on October 27.
Below is a list of bill amendments recommended by the City Solicitor's Office.
