(A) License required. No person shall sell or offer to sell any licensed product without first having obtained a license to do so from the City.
(B) Tobacco product shop license.
(1) No person shall operate a tobacco product shop without first having obtained a tobacco product shop license to do so from the City. To qualify for a tobacco product shop license, the retail establishment must:
(a) Prohibit persons under the age of 21 from being present or entering at all times;
(b) Derive at least 90% of its gross revenues from the sale of licensed products; and
(c) Meet all of the following building or structural criteria:
1. Share no wall with, and has no part of its structure adjoined to any other business or retailer, unless the wall is permanent, completely opaque, and without doors, windows, and pass-throughs to the other business or retailer;
2. Share no walls with, and has no part of its structure directly adjoined to, another licensed tobacco retailer; and
3. Is accessible by the public only by an entrance door opening directly to the outside.
(2) At any given time, there shall be no more than three smoke tobacco product shops, all with appropriate licenses, throughout the city. Currently existing smoke tobacco product shop establishments should be granted the first preference to renew their smoke tobacco product shop licenses if they choose to do so. Effective January 1, 2022, indoor sampling for all smoke shops shall be prohibited. Tobacco product shops must provide financial records documenting annual gross sales, upon request by the City.
(C) Application. An application for a license to sell licensed products shall be made on a form provided by the City. The application shall contain the full name of the applicant, applicant’s date of birth, applicant’s residential and business addresses and telephone numbers, the name of the business for which the license is sought, the name of the business’s operator, and any additional information the City deems necessary. Upon receipt of a completed application, the Clerk shall forward the application to the Police Department for a background and record check prior to formal review by the City Council. If the Clerk shall determine that an application is incomplete, the Clerk shall return the application to the applicant with notice of the information necessary to make the application complete.
(D) Action. The City Council may either approve or deny the license, or it may delay action for such reasonable period of time as necessary to complete any investigation of the application or the applicant it deems necessary. If the City Council shall approve the license, the Clerk shall issue the license to the applicant. If the City Council denies the license, notice of the denial shall be given to the applicant along with notice of the applicant’s right to appeal the City Council’s decision.
(E) Term. All licenses issued under this article shall follow the calendar year with an expiration date of December 31 of each year and are not pro-rated.
(F) Revocation or suspension. Any license issued under this article may be revoked or suspended as provided in § 5.311.
(G) Transfers. All licenses issued under this article shall be valid only on the premises for which the license was issued and only for the person to whom the license was issued. The transfer of any license to another location or person is prohibited.
(H) Moveable place of business. No license shall be issued to a moveable place of business. Only fixed location businesses shall be eligible to be licensed under this article.
(I) Display. All licenses shall be posted and displayed in plain view of the general public on the licensed premise.
(J) Renewals. The renewal of a license issued under this section shall be handled in the same manner as the original application. The request for a renewal shall be made at least 30 days but no more than 60 days before the expiration of the current license.
(K) Issuance as privilege and not a right. The issuance of a license issued under this article shall be considered a privilege and not an absolute right of the applicant and shall not entitle the holder to an automatic renewal of the license.
(L) Smoking prohibited. Smoking, including smoking for the purpose of the sampling of licensed products, is prohibited within the indoor area of any retail establishment licensed under this ordinance.
(M) Samples prohibited. No person shall distribute samples of any licensed product free of charge or at a nominal cost. The distribution of licensed products as a free donation is prohibited.
(Ord. 1371, passed 5-11-98; Am. Ord. 1570, passed 9-28-09; Am. Ord. 1616, passed 10-27-14; Am. Ord. 1652, passed 10-8-18; Am. Ord. 1667, passed 6-14-21; Am. Ord. 1670, passed 10-11-21) Penalty, see § 5.313