No person shall, directly or indirectly, keep for retail sale, sell or offer to sell at retail or otherwise dispense any licensed product at any place in the city without first obtaining a license from the city and paying a license fee.
(A) Application. An application for a license to sell licensed products shall be made on a form provided by the city. The application shall include, but is not limited to requiring the full legal name of the applicant, the applicant’s residential and business address and telephone numbers, the name of the proposed license holder, the business location for which the license is sought, and a copy of the materials the applicant intends to use to educate employees about unlawful sales in violation of the City Code. The completed application along with the license fee shall be submitted to the City Administrator or his or her designee for approval. If the City Administrator determines that an application is incomplete, he or she shall return the application to the applicant with notice of the deficiencies.
(B) Action. The City Administrator may either approve or deny the license, or may delay action for such reasonable period of time to permit the city to complete any investigation of the application or the applicant as deemed necessary. If the Administrator approves the license, a license shall be issued to the applicant. If the City Administrator denies the application for any reason, including the reasons set forth in § 113.03(I) herein, a notice of denial shall be sent to the applicant at the business address provided on the application along with the reasons for the denial. The notice shall also inform the applicant of the right to appeal the City Administrator’s decision to the Council. If a license is mistakenly issued or renewed to an applicant or license holder, it shall be revoked by the City Administrator upon the discovery that the person, applicant or license holder was ineligible for the license under this section.
(C) Term. All licenses are issued for a period of 1 year. The license period is from January 1 to December 31. The initial license term will expire at the end of the calendar year during which the license was issued.
(D) Revocation or suspension. Any license issued under this section may be revoked or suspended as provided in § 113.99, pursuant to the process set forth.
(E) Transfers. All licenses issued under this section shall be valid only on the business premises for which the license was issued and only for the person to whom the license was issued. No transfer of any license to another location or person shall be valid without the prior approval of the City Administrator.
(F) Display. Every license shall be conspicuously posted at the place of business for which the license is issued and shall be exhibited to any person upon request. At each location where licensed products are sold, the licensee shall display a sign in plain view to provide public notice that selling any of these products to any person under the age of 21 is illegal and subject to penalties. The notice shall be placed in a conspicuous location in the licensed establishment and shall be readily visible to any person who is purchasing or attempting to purchase licensed products. The sign shall provide notice that all persons responsible for selling licensed products must verify, by means of photographic identification containing the bearer’s date of birth, the age of any person under 30 years of age.
(G) Renewals. The renewal of a license under this section shall be handled in the same manner as the original application. The request for renewal shall be made at least 30 days but no more than 60 days before the expiration of the current license. The issuance of a license under this chapter 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.
(H) Instructional program. No person shall be issued a license or renewal license to sell tobacco-related products unless an applicant or license holder has an approved program for instructing all employees at the business premises for which the license was issued, in the legal requirements pertaining to the sale of tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco-related devices, including, but not limited to, reviewing the law on the sale of tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco-related devices, providing information on the health risks of using tobacco or tobacco products, and requiring employees to request identification from every customer who appears to be under 30 years of age. No license shall be issued unless the applicant or license holder has received training and instruction on the sale of tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco-related devices and the date the training occurred. The training shall include information that the sale of tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco-related devices to minors is illegal, explains what proof of age is legally acceptable, and that a sale to a minor can subject the applicant or license holder and their employees to criminal and/or civil liability.
(I) Denials. The following shall be grounds for denying the issuance or renewal of a license under this section. The following list is not exhaustive or exclusive:
(1) The applicant is under the age of 21 years;
(2) That applicant has been convicted within the past 5 years of a violation of any provisions of this chapter or a violation of a federal, state or local law, ordinance provision or other regulation relating to tobacco or tobacco products or tobacco-related devices;
(3) The applicant or license holder has had a license to sell tobacco, tobacco products or tobacco-related devices revoked within the preceding 12 months of the date of application;
(4) The applicant fails to provide any information required on the city license application, or provides false or misleading information; and
(5) The applicant or license holder has outstanding fines, penalties or property taxes owed to the city.
(Prior Code, § 6.32) (Am. Ord. 2, Second Series, passed 2-12-1998; Am. Ord. 2015-09, passed 7-6-2015; Am. Ord. 2020-05, passed 9-21-2020)