Do we need a vape shop on every street corner?

They seem to be popping up with the almost magical overnight frequency of mushrooms or Starbucks locations. If a closed business is too small to host a Spirit Halloween, the space has a good chance of becoming a vape shop in short order.

But are those always the best spots?

While some businesses can be barred from certain locations by zoning, the relatively new vape shop category might slip between regulations that aren’t quite as up-to-date.

There’s a question of whether that would need to be updated. Cigarettes, the predecessor to the vape, have been traditionally available for purchase in many locations, from gas stations and convenience stores to grocers and bars.

A vape shop can sell electric cigarettes or vape pens and the nicotine-filled liquid that becomes the vapor inhaled. Does that require special fencing for where they can operate?

Pittsburgh City Council is considering that question as it relates to children.

The appeal of vaping to kids has been a concern for several years. That’s especially true because of the more appealing flavors of vapes over tobacco and the unknown physical impacts of a product that doesn’t have the same long-term studies as cigarettes.

Can a high school sophomore buy vaping supplies legally? No. State and federal law restricts it to those 21 and older. But that’s true of alcohol, too, and you can’t have a business that sells liquor within 300 feet of a Pennsylvania school.

Pittsburgh’s proposed legislation would increase that by 500% for vape shops, setting a 1,500-foot required cushion between the businesses and any school, day care, religious institution, public park or playground. It also would shut them down between 11 p.m. and 9 a.m. as well as eliminate any self-service aspects and keep the actual products locked up or behind counters.

The legislation does not address marijuana dispensaries. State law keeps those 1,000 feet from schools and day care centers.

Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, who introduced the bill, called it “common sense,” while Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, said her concern was public health.

It is important for municipalities — especially cities like Pittsburgh with large numbers of vape shops and child- and family-centered institutions — to seek common sense solutions to protecting the community.

More study of the proposal may be required, however, to make it seem less punitive to legal businesses.

By all means, city government should do what it can within its authority to regulate vape shops and protect children. But someone could get in a car after leaving a bar under the influence and hit and kill a child playing at a public park. Is that 500 times more likely to happen at a vape shop?

The intention is understandable, even admirable. But the level of danger is important to assess thoughtfully.

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