By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
The Millbrook City Council met this morning, passing an ordinance declaring a temporary moratorium on convenience stores, vape shops, gas stations and package stores in the city. This action is mainly targeting new businesses that want a package store, or vaping products.
This does not impact currently operating businesses or those who have already obtained a business license. This impacts any new such businesses wanting to locate in Millbrook or the police jurisdiction, at least in the near future.
Areas such as Prattville and Pike Road have taken similar measures, according to Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley.
The Council met during a work session prior to the official business meeting, to discuss the ordinance before votes were taken. No votes were taken during the work session, but there was quite a bit of discussion, all favoring the temporary moratorium.
“I looked at what Prattville and Pike Road have done and thought this might be a good idea. We are getting lots of calls,” Kelley said.
Kelley said that stores who are currently blocked out of Prattville and Pine Level have had officials reach out to Millbrook, interested in obtaining property.
“We need to curtail it a bit so we can get a handle on it,” Mayor Kelley said. He then asked the council and department heads present if they had any thoughts on the issue.
Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson was first to speak up, saying, “We are getting a lot of complaints about items they are selling in these places with the THC. The state is going to start regulating that better. But it is out there. There are also a lot of vapes that have THC products. I think this (moratorium) is a good idea and I thank you.”
Johnson said that he plans to have his officers making frequent visits to current operations to make sure they are following the law.
“These places sell a lot of drug paraphernalia. The reason we cannot do anything about that is because until they use it for that specific purpose, it is not considered drug paraphernalia. We and the court department deal with that on a daily basis. But they are selling that stuff hand over fist, so this is a good thing,” Johnson said.
Councilman Jimmy Harris said, “The number one issue in our public schools is Vaping. Number two is truancy.” Later during the regular meeting, he said, “It is so readily available to our kids. They don’t think it is as bad as cigarettes. It is becoming an epidemic. I applaud the Mayor for taking charge of this. Thank you.”
Council President Michael Gay said the moratorium would allow city officials to look at current ordinances and perhaps make a permanent change that would impact these types of businesses included in the ordinance.
Mayor Kelley said that he and Economic Developer Ann Harper have talked to several convenience stores interested in locating in Millbrook.
“They haven’t made a move yet. But if we get a clean one that we know is not going to be selling the Vape products, or have a package store, then I think we can come back and deal with that individually. We need to be flexible.”
During the official meeting, the council unanimously approved the temporary moratorium through May 9, 2026.
The ordinance states that the city has seen a significant increase in the number of earlier stated businesses. “The concentration of these businesses has raised safety, traffic and crime concerns” the ordinance reads, thus moving the city to review current ordinances. This ordinance will not impact such businesses currently licensed within the city or police jurisdiction.
The next meeting of the Millbrook City Council will be Tuesday, May 27 with the work session at 5:30 p.m. and regular meeting at 6 p.m. These are public meetings, and all are welcome.
