01-12-2022 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM: Heidi Heller, City Clerk/HR Manager DATE: January 12, 2022 RE: Workshop – Discuss Potential Amendments to Tobacco Licensing ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED Discuss potential amendments to City Code Chapter 802, Tobacco Products. BACKGROUND Last June when the Little Canada tobacco license renewals were being considered, Council members stated that they would like to consider amendments to the tobacco code. After the issues from one of the tobacco store owners during the pandemic, and learning that more cities are further restricting the number of tobacco licenses issued and products that can be sold, Council questioned why the City was still issuing licenses for tobacco product sales when there is so much information about how harmful tobacco is to public health. Little Canada has two types of tobacco licenses: Tobacco Store or General Sales & Display. The tobacco store license is for a business whose primary business is tobacco products, and the sales & display license limits the amount of square footage in the store that can be dedicated to tobacco products. This license type is for retailers like a gas station or liquor store. The City Code limits the number of tobacco stores licenses to two, but has no limit on the number of sales & display licenses that can be issued. The current tobacco license holders are: GENERAL SALES & DISPLAY TOBACCO LICENSES - no limit on number of licenses 1. BP Station - 300 Little Canada Road 2. Hoggsbreath - 2504 Rice Street 3. Speedway (Kath Bros) - 3096 Rice Street 4. Tierney’s Liquors - 2770 Rice Street 5. CV Liquor - 2760 Rice Street TOBACCO STORE LICENSES – limit of 2 licenses issued at the same time 1. Little Canada Smoke Shop – 27 Little Canada Road E. 2. Hookah Hideout – 3 Little Canada Road E. In May 2013, the City Council amended the tobacco code to no longer permit any indoor smoking and sampling, but included specific language that would allow the indoor smoking to continue at the two tobacco stores that were in existence at the time of the ordinance adoption. Both of these businesses are still operating and offering indoor smoking. The number of general sales & display licenses has remained very consistent for the last several years. In 1975 Minnesota was the first state to enact a Clean Indoor Air Act, the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act (MCIAA) was passed, and then was amended by the Freedom to Breath Act of 2007, which