Laserfiche WebLink
Meeting Date: 7/13/94 <br /> Agenda Item: P 1 <br /> CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS <br /> REQUEST FOR COUNC /L CONSIDERATION <br /> ITEM DESCRIPTION: Proposed amendment to the city's code regarding tobacco <br /> licensing and sales of tobacco, chapter 5, section 1.03 <br /> subdivision (D) and chapter 5 section 4.01 subdivision (A) <br /> business license fees <br /> SUBMITTED BY: Susan Hoyt, City Administrator <br /> REVIEWED BY: Jerry Filla, City Attorney <br /> EXPLANATION /SUMMARY: Prepared by Susan Hoyt <br /> DISCUSSION OF THE CITY ORDINANCE GOVERNING TOBACCO SALES <br /> Background. On April 13, 1994 the council discussed the state law and city ordinance <br /> regarding selling tobacco products to minors with city attorney Jerry Filla. State <br /> statute provides a gross misdemeanor for a person who sells tobacco products to a <br /> minor, but no penalty for a store owner in an establishment that sells to minors. The <br /> city code establishes a misdemeanor for a person selling to a minor, but no penalty <br /> to the store owner. The store owner is responsible for educating and supervising <br /> employees selling tobacco products. However, the store owner cannot be criminally <br /> charged for sales of tobacco to minors by his /her employees because the owner does <br /> not break the law. At the time of this discussion, the council requested staff to <br /> prepare some revisions to the city's code that might accomplish the following: <br /> 1. Provides a penalty for selling tobacco products that affect the owner of <br /> the store as well as the salesperson selling the product. <br /> 2. Provides for an increasing penalty for those that sell tobacco products <br /> to minors multiple times. <br /> 3. Provides a mechanism that is administratively manageable in a small city <br /> and keeps violations out of the costly and time consuming court system. <br /> 4. Provides a mechanism for charging for tobacco licenses that covers the <br /> cost of compliance checks and related work. <br /> Proposed amendments to the city code. These proposed amendments to the code are <br /> an attempt to meet the criteria described above. They are a blend of what several <br /> cities do. Experience in other cities suggests that when tobacco vendors are charged <br /> with fines and license suspension, they will appear before the city council to request <br /> a reduced penalty. In sum, the proposed ordinance revisions include: <br />