San José is taking an initial step toward temporarily banning all new smoke shops, as city leaders hope to redistribute the concentration of such businesses across the city.

District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz proposed a temporary moratorium on smoke shops to the City Council’s rules committee on Wednesday. Ortiz championed the idea in response to a new county report showing that predominantly Latino areas of the city are heavily saturated with the businesses.

“People have been waiting long enough for health justice, and so we’re taking action now,” Ortiz said Wednesday outside City Hall.

While Latinos make up about one in every four residents across Santa Clara County, in the southern portions of the county and in East San José, Latinos account for nearly half of the population.

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