YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown will prohibit certain types of businesses from opening in the city for about two years, including marijuana dispensaries.

City Council held a special meeting Thursday, after delaying Wednesday’s regular meeting for the Juneteenth holiday. The finance committee met at 4 p.m. followed by a full board meeting.

The moratoriums, passed unanimously at the meeting, forbid “the issuance of zoning permits and other licenses or applications” for any small box discount stores — “dollar stores,” motor vehicle repair businesses, used and new motor vehicle sales establishments, and adult-use dispensaries until at least May 1, 2026.

Council members said the date or rules could change with new information, but council is largely concerned with reducing the number of what it says are predatory businesses that members say are bad for the city’s residents and economy.

“The committee felt that there is an oversaturation of these stores that seem to be predatory to our community,” said 1st Ward Councilman Julius Oliver. “We would also like to give the opportunity for more regular grocery stores to come into the city.”

Fourth Ward Councilman Mike Ray said the stores tend to use deceptive packaging and lure customers in with pricing that looks appealing but does not cost less.

“It’s known and documented that dollar stores sell smaller boxes, and they charge what seems like a lower price, but you’re also getting less, and in some cases, studies have shown, you’re actually paying more per volume,” he said. “And they have a captive audience because they tend to open in areas where there is limited transportation.”

Ray said many small car dealerships also lure people in with promotions, especially during tax season, but they charge high down payments and impose predatory monthly or even weekly payment plans. He said these practices lead to a much higher rate of car repossessions, leaving the buyer thousands of dollars in the hole, with no vehicle.

The resolutions come after several meetings between the zoning committee and administration officials since March. Officials originally discussed one-year moratoriums but they grew to nearly two years, and recreational marijuana was added.

Council had planned to vote May 5 on the moratoriums, but the zoning committee couldn’t get a quorum at its May 21 meeting, so the legislation was delayed. The committee met June 6 to finalize the details.

The recreational marijuana legislation states a moratorium is “necessary while the city council researches whether adult use dispensaries within the city should be allowed, limited or entirely prohibited.”

“We need time to see how recreational marijuana will affect our city, our community, the crime rate,” Oliver said.

“We’ve got too many places now that get in trouble selling cigarettes and alcohol under age,” Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, said. “I can see a whole generation going down the drain.”

Davis’s ward, however, is home to the only medical marijuana dispensary in the city – Leaf Relief at 4323 Market St. As a medical dispensary, Ohio law allows the business to almost automatically obtain a permit for recreational sales, and Leaf Relief has applied for a permit.

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