Loading...
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING. Packaging that meets the definition set forth in Code of Federal Regulations, title 16, section 1700.15(b), as in effect on January 1, 2015, and was tested in accordance with the method described in Code of Federal Regulations, title 16, section 1700.20, as in effect on January 1, 2015.
CIGAR. Any roll of tobacco that is wrapped in tobacco leaf or in any other substance containing tobacco, with or without a tip or mouthpiece, which is not a cigarette as defined in M.S. § 297F.01, subd. 3, as may be amended from time to time.
COMPLIANCE CHECKS. The system the city uses to investigate and ensure that those authorized to sell licensed products are following and complying with the requirements of this chapter. Compliance checks involve the use of persons under the age of 21 who purchase or attempt to purchase licensed products. Compliance checks may also be conducted by the city or other units of government for educational, research, and training purposes or for investigating or enforcing federal, state, or local laws and regulations relating to licensed products.
ELECTRONIC DELIVERY DEVICE. Any product containing or delivering nicotine, lobelia, or any other substance, whether natural or synthetic, intended for human consumption through the inhalation of aerosol or vapor from the product. Electronic delivery device includes, but is not limited to, devices manufactured, marketed, or sold as e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, vape pens, mods, tank systems, or under any other product name or descriptor. Electronic delivery device includes any component part of a product, whether or not marketed or sold separately. Electronic delivery device does not include any product that has been approved or certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco-cessation product, as a tobacco-dependence product, or for other medical purposes, and is marketed and sold for such an approved purpose.
LICENSED PRODUCTS. The term that collectively refers to any tobacco, tobacco-related device, electronic delivery device, or nicotine or lobelia delivery product.
LOOSIES. The common term used to refer to cigars, cigarettes, or any other licensed product, whether individually packaged or that has been removed from its intended retail packaging and offered for sale. Loosies does not include individual cigars with a retail price, after any discounts are applied and before any sales taxes are imposed, of at least $4.00 per cigar.
MOVEABLE PLACE OF BUSINESS. Any form of business operated out of a kiosk, vehicle, or transportable shelter and not a fixed-address store front or other permanent type of structure authorized for sales transactions.
NICOTINE OR LOBELIA DELIVERY PRODUCT. Any product containing or delivering nicotine or lobelia intended for human consumption, or any part of such a product, that is not a tobacco or an electronic delivery device as defined in this section. Nicotine or lobelia delivery product does not include any product that has been approved or otherwise certified for legal sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a tobacco-cessation product, a tobacco dependence product, or for other medical purposes, and is being marketed and sold solely for that approved purpose.
RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT. Any place of business where licensed products are available for sale to the general public. Retail establishments shall include, without limitation, grocery stores, tobacco products shops, convenience stores, off-sale liquor stores, service stations, bars and restaurants.
SALE. Any transfer of goods for money, trade, barter or other consideration.
SELF-SERVICE DISPLAY. The open display of licensed products in any manner where any person has access to the licensed products without the assistance or intervention of the licensee or the licensee’s employee.
TOBACCO. Any product containing, made, or derived from tobacco that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, smoked, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means, or any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product including but not limited to cigarettes; cigars; cheroots; stogies; perique; granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff; snuff flour; cavendish; plug and twist tobacco; fine cut and other chewing tobaccos; shorts; refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings and sweepings of tobacco; and other kinds and forms of tobacco. Tobacco does not include any product that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco-cessation product, as a tobacco-dependence product, or for other medical purposes, and is being marketed and sold solely for such an approved purpose.
TOBACCO-RELATED DEVICE. Any rolling papers, wraps, pipes, or other device intentionally designed or intended to be used with tobacco products. Tobacco-related device includes components of tobacco-related devices or tobacco products, which may be marketed or sold separately.
VENDING MACHINE. Any mechanical, electric or electronic, or other type of device which dispenses licensed products upon the insertion of money, tokens, or other form of payment by or on behalf of a person seeking to purchase the licensed product.
YOUTH-ORIENTED FACILITY. Any facility with residents, customers, visitors, or inhabitants of which 25 percent or more are regularly under the age of 21 or that primarily sells, rents, or offers services or products that are consumed or used primarily by persons under the age of 21. Youth-oriented facility includes, but is not limited to, schools, playgrounds, recreation centers, and parks.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
No person shall sell or offer to sell any licensed product without first having obtained a license to do so from the city.
(A) 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, the applicant’s residential and business addresses and telephone numbers, the names of the business for which the license is sought and any additional information the city deems necessary. Upon receipt of a completed application, the Clerk shall forward the application to City Council for action at its next regularly scheduled meeting. If the Clerk shall determine that an application is incomplete, the application shall be returned to the applicant with notice of the information necessary to make the application complete.
(B) 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 approves 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 Council’s decision.
(C) Term. All licenses issued under this section shall be valid for the current calendar year in which the license is issued.
(D) Revocation or suspension. Any license issued under this section may be revoked or suspended as provided in this chapter.
(E) Transfers. All licenses issued are 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.
(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.
(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 processed 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.
(I) Proximity to youth-oriented facilities. No license shall be approved for any sales of licensed products within 1,000 feet of any youth-oriented facility, as measured by a straight line between the space to be occupied by the proposed licensee and the occupied space of the youth-oriented facility, unless the applicant has been lawfully in the business of selling such products in that location before the date this section was adopted.
(J) Proximity to other tobacco retailers. No license shall be approved for any sales of licensed products within 2,000 feet of any other establishment holding such a license, as measured by a straight line between the space to be occupied by the proposed licensee and the occupied space of the nearest existing licensee, unless the applicant has been lawfully in the business of selling such products in that location before the date this section was adopted.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
(A) Grounds for denying the issuance or renewal of a license include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The applicant is under the age of 21 years;
(2) The applicant has been convicted within the past five years of any violation of a federal, state, or local law, ordinance provision or other regulation relating to licensed products;
(3) The applicant has had a license to sell licensed products revoked within the preceding 12 months of the date of the application;
(4) The applicant fails to provide any information required on the application or provides false or misleading information;
(5) The applicant is prohibited by federal, state, or other local law, ordinance or other regulation from holding such a license.
(B) Except as may otherwise be provided by law, the existence of any particular ground for denial does not mean that the city must deny the license.
(C) If a license is mistakenly issued or renewed it shall be revoked upon the discovery that the person was ineligible for the license under this chapter.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
(A) In general. No person shall sell or offer to sell any licensed product:
(1) By means of any type of vending machine;
(2) By means of loosies;
(3) Containing opium, morphine, jimson weed, belladonna, strychnos, cocaine, marijuana, or other type of deleterious, hallucinogenic, or toxic or controlled substance except nicotine and not naturally found in tobacco or tobacco products;
(4) By any other means, or to any other person prohibited by federal, state or other local law, ordinance, provision or other regulation.
(B) Legal age. No person shall sell any licensed product to any person under the age of 21.
(1) Age verification. Licensees must verify, by means of government-issued photographic identification, that every purchaser is at least 21 years of age. Verification is not required for a person over the age of 30. That the person appeared to be 30 years of age or older does not constitute a defense to a violation of this subsection.
(2) Signage. Notice of the legal sales age and age verification requirement must be posted prominently and in plain view at all times at each location where licensed products are offered for sale. The required signage, which will be provided to the licensee by the city, must be posted in a manner that is clearly visible to anyone who is or is considering making a purchase.
(C) Self-service sales. No person shall allow the sale of licensed products by any self service displays where the customer may have access to those items without having to request the item from the licensee or the licensee’s employee and where there is not a physical exchange of the licensed product from the licensee or the licensee’s employee to the customer. All licensed products must be stored behind the sales counter, in another area not freely accessible to customers, or in a case or other storage unit not left open and accessible to the general public. Any retailer selling licensed products at the time this chapter is adopted must comply with this section within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter.
(D) Liquid packaging. No person shall sell or offer to sell any liquid, whether or not such liquid contains nicotine, which is intended for human consumption and use in an electronic delivery device, in packaging that is not child-resistant. Upon request by the city, a licensee must provide a copy of the certificate of compliance or full laboratory testing report for the packaging used.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
All licensees under this chapter shall be responsible for the actions of their employees in regard to the sale of licensed products on the licensed premises and the sale of such an item by an employee shall be considered a sale by the license holder. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the city from also subjecting the employee to whatever civil penalties the city deems are appropriate under this chapter, state law, or other applicable law or regulation.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
All licensed premises must be open to inspection by law enforcement or other authorized city officials during regular business hours. From time to time, but at least once per year, the city will conduct compliance checks. In accordance with state law, the city will conduct at least one compliance check that involves the participation of two persons: one person aged 15 to 17 and one person aged 18 to enter licensed premises to attempt to purchase licensed products. Prior written consent by a parent or guardian is required for any person under the age of 18 to participate in a compliance check. Persons used for the purpose of compliance checks will be supervised by law enforcement or other designated personnel.
(Ord. 212, passed 10-15-2019)
Loading...