Sections:
5.24.010 Purpose and intent.
5.24.020 Definitions.
5.24.030 Sale and distribution of tobacco products; tobacco retailer license required.
5.24.040 Tobacco retailer license application process.
5.24.050 License issuance; standards.
5.24.060 License non-transferable.
5.24.070 Fees for license; license renewal and expiration.
5.24.080 Other licensing requirements and prohibitions.
5.24.090 Compliance monitoring.
5.24.100 Revocation of license.
5.24.110 Tobacco retailing without a license.
5.24.120 Enforcement of license violations.
5.24.130 Settlement in lieu of hearing.
5.24.140 Severability.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to encourage responsible tobacco retailing and discourage violations of tobacco-related laws, especially those which prohibit or discourage the sale or provision of tobacco and nicotine products to minors. There is no intent, however, to expand or reduce the degree to which the acts regulated by federal or state laws are criminally proscribed or to alter the penalties provided therein.
(Ord. 365 § 2, 2006)
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions shall apply to all provisions of this chapter:
"Arm's length transaction" means a sale in good faith and for valuable consideration that reflects the fair market value in the open market between two informed and willing parties, neither or which is under any compulsion to participate in the transaction. A sale between relatives, related companies or partners, or a sale for which a significant purpose is avoiding the effect of the violations of this chapter is not an "arm's length transaction."
"Business" means any sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other business entity formed for profit-making purposes, including retail establishments where goods or services are sold, as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, architectural, or other professional services are delivered.
"Department" refers to the Riverside County Department of Health and Human Services or other county department, or if so designated by the city manager, any city department designated to administer and/or enforce the provisions of this chapter.
"Drug paraphernalia" means any equipment, product, or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body any controlled substance, possession of which is unlawful under any federal or state statute.
"Person" is defined in § 1.04.010 of this code.
"Proprietor" means a person with an ownership or managerial interest in a business. An ownership interest shall be deemed to exist when a person has a 10% or greater interest in the stock, assets, or income of a business other than the sole interest of security for debt. A managerial interest shall be deemed to exist when a person can or does have or share ultimate control over the day-to-day operations of a business.
"Retail tobacco store" means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco products and accessories; and in which at least 80% of the square footage of the available retail floor and shelf space is devoted to the sale of tobacco-related products and accessories.
"Self-service display" means an open display of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia in a manner that is accessible to the general public without the assistance of the retailer or employee of the retailer. A vending machine is a form of "self-service display."
"Smoking" means possessing a lighted tobacco product, lighted tobacco paraphernalia, or any other lighted weed or plant (including a lighted pipe, cigar, hookah pipe, bong, or cigarette of any kind), or the lighting of a tobacco product, tobacco paraphernalia, or any other weed or plant (including a pipe, cigar, hookah pipe, bong, or cigarette of any kind).
"Tobacco paraphernalia" means cigarette papers or wrappers, pipes, holders of smoking material of all types, cigarette rolling machines, and any other item designed for the smoking, preparation, storing or consumption of tobacco products.
"Tobacco product" means:
A. Any substance containing tobacco leaf including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, bidis, or any other preparation of tobacco; and
B. Any product or formulation of matter containing biologically active amounts of nicotine that is manufactured, sold, offered for sale, or otherwise distributed with the expectation that the product or matter will be introduced into the human body, but does not include any product specifically approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in treating nicotine or tobacco product dependence.
"Tobacco retailer" means any person who sells, offers for sale, or does or offers to exchange for any form of consideration, tobacco, tobacco products, or tobacco paraphernalia, or who distributes free or low-cost samples of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia. "Tobacco retailing" shall mean the doing of any of these things. This definition is without regard to the quantity of tobacco, tobacco products, or tobacco paraphernalia sold, offered for sale, exchanged, or offered for exchange.
"Vending machine" means a machine, appliance, or other mechanical or electrical device operated by currency, token, debit card, credit card, or any other form of payment, or any other thing representative of value that is designed or used for vending purposes including, but not limited to, machines or devices that use remote control locking mechanisms, which dispenses or releases tobacco products and/or tobacco accessories.
"Vendor-assisted" means that only a store or tobacco retailer employee has access to the tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia and assists the customer by supplying the tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia. The customer does not take possession of the tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia until it is purchased.
(Ord. 365 § 3, 2006)
A. It shall be unlawful for any person, business, or tobacco retailer, except for a retail tobacco store, to sell, permit to be sold, offer for sale, or display for sale any tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia by means other than vendor-assisted sales. A vending machine, as defined in § 5.24.020, is not a vendor-assisted sale.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person, business, or tobacco retailer to engage in the sale of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia without first posting a plainly visible sign at the point of purchase of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia which states: "THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS OR TOBACCO PARAPHERNALIA TO PERSONS UNDER EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE IS PROHIBITED BY LAW AND SUBJECT TO PENALTIES. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION IS REQUIRED." The letters of the sign shall be at least one-quarter inch high.
C. It shall be unlawful for any person, business or tobacco retailer to sell any tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia to any individual who appears younger than 18 years of age, without first verifying, by means of photographic identification containing the bearers date of birth, that the purchaser is at least 18 years old, unless the person, business, or tobacco retailer has some other reliable basis for determining the purchasers age.
D. It shall be unlawful for any person, business or tobacco retailer to sell or offer any drug paraphernalia to any person.
E. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a tobacco retailer without first obtaining and maintaining a valid tobacco retailers license pursuant to this chapter for each location at which that activity is to occur. Tobacco retailing without a valid tobacco retailers license is a public nuisance.
F. A tobacco retailer or proprietor without a valid tobacco retailer license, including, for example, a revoked license:
1. Shall keep all tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia from public view. The public display of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia in violation of this provision shall constitute an "offer for sale" for the purposes of § 5.24.120.
2. Shall not display any advertisement relating to tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia that promotes the sale or distribution of such products from the tobacco retailers location or that could lead a reasonable consumer to believe that such products can be obtained at that location.
G. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to grant any person obtaining and maintaining a tobacco retailers license any status or right other than the right to act as a tobacco retailer at the location in the city identified on the face of the permit. For example, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to render inapplicable, supercede, or apply in lieu of, any other provision of applicable law including, but not limited to, any provision of this code, or any condition or limitation on smoking in an enclosed place of employment pursuant to Cal. Labor Code § 6404.5. For example, obtaining a tobacco retailer license does not make the retailer a "retail or wholesale tobacco shop" for the purposes of Cal. Labor Code § 6404.5.
(Ord. 365 § 4, 2006)
A. Application for a tobacco retailer's license shall be submitted in the name of each proprietor proposing to conduct retail tobacco sales and shall be signed by each proprietor or any authorized agent thereof. It is the responsibility of each proprietor to be informed regarding all laws applicable to tobacco retailing, including those laws affecting the issuance of a tobacco retailer's license.
B. No proprietor may rely on the issuance of a license as a determination by the city that the proprietor has complied with all laws applicable to tobacco retailing. A license issued contrary to this chapter, contrary to any other law, or on the basis of false or misleading information supplied by a proprietor shall be revoked pursuant to § 5.24.100. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to vest in any person obtaining and maintaining a tobacco retailer's license any status or right to act as a tobacco retailer in contravention of any provision of law.
C. All applications shall be submitted on a form supplied by the department and shall contain the following information:
1. The name, address, and telephone number of each proprietor of the business that is seeking a license;
2. The business name, address, and telephone number of the single fixed location for which a tobacco retailer's license is sought;
3. The name and mailing address authorized by each proprietor to receive all license-related communication and notices (the "authorized address"). If an authorized address is not supplied, each proprietor shall be understood to consent to the provision of notice at the business address specified in subsection C.2. above;
4. Proof that the location for which a tobacco retailer's license is sought has been issued a valid state tobacco retailer's license by the California Board of Equalization;
5. Whether or not any proprietor is a person who has been determined to have violated this chapter or whose proprietorship has admitted violating, or has been found to have violated, this chapter, and, if so, the dates and locations of all such violations within the past six years; and
6. Such other information as the department deems necessary for the administration or enforcement of this chapter.
7. All information required to be submitted to apply for a tobacco retailers license shall be updated with the department whenever the information changes. A tobacco retailer shall provide the department with any updates within ten business days of a change.
(Ord. 365 § 5, 2006)
A. No license may issue to authorize tobacco retailing at other than a fixed location. For example, tobacco retailing by persons on foot and tobacco retailing from vehicles are prohibited.
B. Upon receipt of an application for a tobacco retailers license and the license fee required by this chapter, the department shall issue a license unless substantial evidence demonstrates that one or more of the following basis for denial exists:
1. The application is incomplete, inaccurate, or false. Intentionally supplying inaccurate or false information shall be a violation of this chapter.
2. The application seeks authorization for tobacco retailing at a location for which this chapter prohibits issuance of tobacco retailers licenses. However, this subsection shall not constitute a basis for denial of a license if the applicant provides the department with documentation demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that the applicant has acquired or is acquiring the location or business in an arm's length transaction. Clear and convincing evidence can be oral or written and must be the kind of evidence upon which a responsible person would rely in making an important business, personal, or other decision.
3. The application seeks authorization for tobacco retailing for a proprietor to whom this chapter prohibits a license to be issued.
4 The application seeks authorization for tobacco retailing that is prohibited pursuant to this chapter, that is unlawful pursuant to this code, or that is unlawful pursuant to any other law.
(Ord. 365 § 6, 2006)
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