The small village of Romeo, Mich. has ended a moratorium on smoking lounges and passed an ordinance that will allow for such businesses, should they meet a set of guidelines.

While the village has not posted the ordinance’s text on its website, SourceNewspapers.com reports that anyone wishing to open a smoking lounge must first get an exemption from the state to allow for indoor smoking. Then, they must ensure that the business will not operate between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., it must prohibit outdoor activities and prevent loitering by customers, and there will be no storage lockers made available, except for humidors. Minors must not be allowed inside the lounge and the sale of alcohol is prohibited.

Lounges will also be required for providing private security should the business generate an abnormally high number of police calls.

The village council approved the proposal 6-1 at its meeting on Jan. 12.

Romeo is home to approximately 3,600 people and is located about 40 miles north of Detroit.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.