Smoking lounges in Corpus Christi are prohibited from operating from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Corpus Christi City Council passed an ordinance that restricts smoking lounges from operating during early morning hours.
The ordinance passed Tuesday includes retail tobacco stores, hookah lounges, vaping lounges and cigar bars, the ordinance reads.
Smoking lounges are prohibited from operating from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Violation of the ordinance will carry a punishment.
Punishment will follow section 1-6 of the Corpus Christi Code of Ordinances. Violations may result in a fine.
The fine can be between $500 and $2,000, the code states. The fine may not exceed $2,000 when the violation governs fire safety, zoning, public health and sanitation, the code states.
Council heard about problems with a hookah lounge off Nile Drive from Corpus Christi Police Department Chief Mike Markle in October 2018.
The concerns from Markle came after a large fight involving teens in the parking lot of Tropical Hookah Lounge on Nile near McArdle Road.
In that incident, Markle said, about 500 underage people were around the lounge. The teens left the lounge after a "Teen Night," and police were later called. Officers detained three teens, and about 15 patrol vehicles were stationed near the building at one point.
Discussions included banning all smoking lounges from residential zones. The plaza, which is near a residential area, would be grandfathered into the ordinance, council said in October.
Four months later, Markle came before council members with Deputy Chief Billy Breedlove to discuss ongoing issues with the hookah lounge that operates until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
It's a quality of life issue with these neighborhoods where the businesses are located," Breedlove told council Feb. 19. "We get several calls for service. Eighty-five percent of those calls are from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m."
Markle told council members officers have responded to hundreds of calls at the hookah lounge. Neighbors also contacted police about people publicly urinating in the neighborhood.
Since the first City Council discussion, the lounge's owner, Mustafa M. Alzakzok, hired off-duty police officers as security in the area, his attorney Hal George told council in October.
The item was tabled Feb. 26, after officials with the city's downtown management district were unable to attend the meeting. Mayor Joe McComb tabled the discussion to be fair to those who wanted to speak about the ordinance.
No one was opposed to the passing of the ordinance during Tuesday's meeting.