No person shall sell or offer to sell any tobacco, tobacco-related device, electronic delivery device, pipes and rolling papers or nicotine or lobelia delivery product in the city without a valid license to sell such product in the city.
(A) Application. Any application for a license to sell tobacco, tobacco-related devices, electronic delivery devices or nicotine or lobelia delivery devices shall be made on a form provided by the city. The application shall contain the full name of the applicant, the applicant’s residential and business addresses and telephone numbers, the name of the business for which the license is sought, and any additional information the city deems necessary. Upon receipt of a completed application, the City Administrator-Treasurer shall forward the application to the City Council for action at its next regularly scheduled board meeting. If the City Administrator-Treasurer shall determine that an application is incomplete; he or she shall return the application to the applicant with notice of the information necessary to make the application complete.
(B) Action. The city may either approve or deny the license, or it may delay action for such reasonable period of time as necessary, but for no less than 45 days, to complete any investigation of the application or applicant it deems necessary. If the City Council shall approve the license, the City Administrator-Treasurer 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 decision.
(C) Term. All licenses issued under this chapter shall be valid for one calendar year from the date of issue.
(E) Transfers. All licenses issued under this chapter shall be valid only on the 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 Council.
(F) 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 chapter.
(G) Display. All licenses shall be posted and displayed in plain view of the general public on the licensed premises.
(H) 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 nor more than 60 days before the expiration of the current license.
(I) Issuance as a privilege and not a right. The issuance of a license issued 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.
(J) Smoking prohibited. Smoking shall not be permitted and no person shall smoke within the indoor area of any retail establishment with a retail license. Smoking for the purposes of sampling tobacco, tobacco-related devices or electronic delivery devices would be prohibited in tobacco retail stores.
(2009 Code, § 504.04) Penalty, see § 112.99