The Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse in Downtown Fresno. File photo

The California Smoke Shops Association is asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order blocking the City of Fresno from enforcing its smoke shop ordinance before it goes into effect on June 5.

In April the Fresno City Council approved a conditional use permit ordinance that would allow only 49 smoke shops in the Fresno — seven per city council district. Estimates are as high as 150 for the number in operation currently.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court on May 21, with the motion for a temporary restraining order filed May 28. A hearing on the matter is scheduled Tuesday, June 3, at 3 p.m. in the courtroom of Judge Kirk E. Sherriff.

Smoke shops not awarded a conditional use permit through a lottery system will have 18 months to wind down their operations.

Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza, along with the city attorney’s office and the Fresno Police Department, noted that several smoke shops have engaged in gambling, prostitution and selling illegal cannabis products.

“Do the federal and state constitutions permit defendant City of Fresno to shut down legal, licensed businesses without a rational basis for doing so? The answer is no,” the lawsuit reads.

The ordinance would close at least 33 or more existing licensed smoke shops.

The California Smoke Shop Association is a Fresno-based nonprofit mutual benefit corporation that provides education, resources and advocacy to licensed tobacco shop owners, according to a news release.

According to the court document, the ordinance will revoke the operating licensed smoke shops that are currently open for business without regard to the quality of a store’s operation or its compliance with law.

The lawsuit states the city is singling out smoke shop owners who comprise approximately 15% of all tobacco purveyors in the city for unequal treatment under the law.

The lawsuit states that the ordinance requires them to make immediate, expensive and extensive renovations and remodeling within 30 days.

The lawsuit stated that numerous licensed smoke shops have lost employees who were tired of being raided at gunpoint, harassed, and detained.

“Similarly, the employees themselves face irreparable harm in the form of lost wages and associated benefits, which also constitute irreparable harm,” the lawsuit read.