A proposed vape shop just two-tenths of a mile from Moultrie Middle School has stalled at Mount Pleasant town hall, after officials pumped the brakes on plans for five illuminated signs advertising vaping products, CBD, hookah, cigars and kratom. The business, 54 Smoke & Vape, is slated for 709 Coleman Boulevard, and its storefront proposal has triggered a wave of parent pushback and a formal delay from town reviewers.
Mount Pleasant town leaders delayed approval of the proposed signage on Wednesday, according to WCIV. The Mount Pleasant Design Review Board ordered the applicant to revise the signage so it complies with the town's color ordinances and maintains architectural continuity with the surrounding neighborhood, the station reported. Notably, that review is strictly about signage compliance — it does not determine whether 54 Smoke & Vape can ultimately operate at the Coleman Boulevard address, as abcnews4.com notes.
Parents Flood Group Chats Over Proposal
Word of the plans spread fast through the Moultrie Middle School community. One parent told WCBD News 2, “We've had at least 100 back and forth texts about it,” describing a neighborhood thread that lit up once families learned a smoke shop with glowing signage could land so close to campus. Another resident worried about the broader exposure the signage could create, telling abcnews4.com, “It exposes hundreds of students to marketing of addictive substances, and that's a real concern.”
Charleston County School District Superintendent Anita Huggins weighed in publicly, saying signage decisions are consequential and that a business selling vaping products next to a middle school warrants particular care. Huggins welcomed the design review board's decision and described the proposed vape shop as a threat to the environment surrounding students in the area. She added that families should feel comfortable that the community outside their child's school supports the work happening inside it, and said the consequences of youth vaping are part of the school district's daily work.
A Town Council Member With Kids At the School
Daniel Brownstein, a Mount Pleasant resident and town council member who has two children attending Moultrie Middle School, has been among the most vocal opponents of the proposed location. He compared the proposed signage to something out of Myrtle Beach or Las Vegas, and said no other storefront along Coleman Boulevard carries signage like what's been proposed. Brownstein also warned that bright lights and a flashing sign could lure children into the shop and create a dangerous situation.
Accounts differ on exactly when the full proposal would next come before elected officials. WCIV reported that the Mount Pleasant Town Council will discuss the entire Smoke & Vape proposal at a specially called meeting on November 2, while WCBD News 2 reported that the town council was expected to take up the signage at its meeting on October 28. Hoodline could not independently confirm which date reflects the council's actual schedule.
No School Buffer on the Books in Mount Pleasant
Unlike some other South Carolina cities, Mount Pleasant has no zoning rule restricting how close a vape shop can operate to a school. Myrtle Beach bars smoke shops and tobacco stores from operating within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, churches and other places where children regularly gather, per abcnews4.com. Columbia requires smoke and vape shops to stay at least 1,000 feet from schools and other designated sites, the outlet also reported.
The gap isn't unique to the Lowcountry. The Post and Courier reported that a vape shop in Greenville sits less than 100 feet from the main wing of Wade Hampton High School, and that while several Midlands municipalities require 1,000-foot buffers for vape shops, Greenville does not. By comparison, South Carolina liquor stores generally must sit 300 to 500 feet from schools, churches or playgrounds — a statewide distance rule that doesn't apply to vape retailers, according to the same report.
Youth Vaping Remains a Statewide Concern
The fight over one storefront's signage sits against a backdrop of persistent teen vaping numbers across South Carolina. One in 10 high school students reported using vapes in a 2024 state survey, The Post and Courier reported, down from 20 percent in 2021 but with officials saying that decline has leveled off. In Pickens County alone, schools seized 368 vapes from middle and high school students last year, while Greenville and Charleston counties logged a combined 1,600 tobacco violations and nearly 1,000 drug-possession incidents among students, per the same reporting.
Adding to the concern, a 2025 review by researchers at the University of North Carolina found growing evidence of lung toxicity tied to hemp-derived cannabinoid vapes, even as the products show some therapeutic promise, The Post and Courier reported. For now, the fate of 54 Smoke & Vape's storefront — and its neon-bright pitch to passersby on Coleman Boulevard — hinges on revised signage plans and whatever comes out of the town council's next discussion.
