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Meeting Date: 4/13/94 Agenda Item: P 1 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS REQUEST FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION ITEM DESCRIPTION: Discussion on the North Suburban Tobacco Compliance Project and Falcon Heights compliance SUBMITTED BY: Councilmember Hustad REVIEWED BY: Susan Hoyt, City Administrator EXPLANATION /SUMMARY: Compliance checks Recently the North Suburban Tobacco Compliance Project carried out checks on stores selling tobacco to minors. Falcon Heights has six vendors that are licensed to sell tobacco products. These are: Tom Thumb, AMOCO, SuperAmerica, J's Liquors, the Blomberg Pharmacy and Ciatti's. Only one of the six vendors failed to comply when checked. Cindy Schwie, the coordinator for the North Suburban Tobacco Compliance Project, will meet with the council to explain the procedure and to report on Falcon Heights' compliance. Ordinances and statutes governing the sale of tobacco to minors The city's ordinance governing tobacco sales adopted in June, 1993 (attachment A) prohibits sales of tobacco products through vending machines or in self- service, individual packages. The city's licensing section provides for license revocation of any business that does not operate according to local, state or federal laws. Revocation of a business license penalizes the business owner, who is responsible for training the employees doing the selling, for illegal sales. If desired, the code can be revised to specifically include a statement that stores selling tobacco to minors will have their license revoked after a set number of illegal sales within a set period of months. For example, after three violations within a twenty -four month period. The city code does not establish a fine for the business owner or seller who sells to a minor. The city prosecutes these illegal sales through the criminal court system under the state statute 609.685 "Sale of Tobacco to Minors This can be a gross misdemeanor charge for the seller (not the store owner) with a maximum penalty of $3,000 or one year in jail. Some cities, like Roseville, have an administrative fine for this. However, that arrangement may work well in a larger city with a large staff that has specific duties. In a small city like Falcon Heights, it would put the staff and council in the position of policing establishments that they frequent with their personal business and community contacts. And, therefore, would be undesirable. The city's prosecuting attorney, Jerry Filla, will be on hand to discuss prosecutions of these types of charges.