A temporary pause on the establishment, expansion, or relocation of smoke shops within Turlock was approved by the city council Tuesday after a police sting operation showed widespread noncompliance of smoke shops.
Last month, the Turlock Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit, in coordination with the state’s Department of Tax and Fee Administration, conducted a citywide operation addressing smoke shops.
The unit attempted to inspect five shops — two were closed during normal operating hours, while major violations were documented at the other three.
“Retail and distribution patterns indicated systemic issues, ongoing issues, not isolated or inadvertent violations or mistakes,” said City Attorney George Petrulakis. “These conditions present a current and immediate threat to the public health safety and welfare, particularly to young people.”
Without moratorium, additional shops could open before the city has a chance to modernize zoning and other regulations, which might complicate enforcement.
Existing zoning and other regulatory standards do not adequately address the concentration of smoke shop uses, location compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods, and the scale and intensity of operations, according to Petrulakis.
“This is the second time that we’ve taken this action in conjunction with the CDTFA,” said Police Chief Jason Hedden. “We started back in 2023 … in 2024, we sent out a first and second notice, notifying these businesses that we would be back because we did see a significant problem in 2023. Then we did the operation in (December) 2025. They’ve ignored everything we’ve sent out, and it continues to be a very significant problem for us.”
Hedden said the smoke shops continue to sell marijuana and flavored tobacco products.
“When we went out and started hitting these businesses with enforcement, two of them closed down during business hours, which is unusual,” said the chief said. “Word starts to spread that we’re out there doing this enforcement.
“You would think the first operation — with the products that have been seized, and the citations levied by the state of California, and then first and second notices that the city was taking this seriously — would’ve changed some behavior. Of the shops we went in to, the behavior was not changed at all.”
In other business before the council, the use of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for Legacy Health Endowment’s Person-Centered Care program was continued until the Jan. 27 council meeting.
The city has already contributed $1 million over the past three years for a program that caters to seniors and disabled residents, offering services ranging from respite care, homemaker services, mental health assistance, palliative care, and access to primary care providers.
“The city’s contribution has shown that there is a great need,” said Councilmember Cassandra Abram. “But I’m also reminded that about a year ago this council unanimously supported a memorandum of understanding that we were going to use the remainder of our COVID relief funds in some very specific policy areas. I think it’s the time to pass this program off to our partners at Legacy Health.”
Councilmember Erika Phillips, and vice mayor Rebecka Monez, who ran Tuesday’s meeting in the absence of Mayor Amy Bublak, wanted additional information from LHE president and CEO Jeffrey Lewis.
“We’ve extended the program with a little extra stretching here and there,” said Lewis. “Based on your decision tonight, it will either continue or cease by the end of January.”
The program serves 69 people in Turlock, with an average age of 76 years old.
“These are people with multiple chronic disease conditions, who are half a step away from being homeless, institutionalized, in a hospital prematurely or in a long-term care facility.”
