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iii. The owner of the establishment has maintained a valid license <br />and has abided by all applicable laws. <br />Any smoking allowed under this exemption shall be prohibited if the <br />license holder loses the license or transfers title to, relinquishes <br />management or control of, or sells the business to any other individual or <br />business entity. <br />I have attached the full Tobacco Ordinances for the Council's review and reference. I have also <br />attached information provided by Katie Engman of Ramsey County Tobacco Coalition <br />summarizing the current status of tobacco regulations in the State. Please note that on page two <br />there is a summary of what Ramsey County cities have done relative to sampling/smoking in <br />licensed tobacco shops. Of the 11 Ramsey County cities listed, all have banned <br />samplingYsmoking, except that Little Canada and Mounds View have grandfathered in existing <br />tobacco stores with non -transferable licenses. <br />Relocation of Hookah Hideout to larger space — <br />Provision ii, above provides that the Tobacco Store cannot relocate to another space in order to <br />continue qualifying for the smoking exemption. With that in mind, when the two tobacco stores <br />relocated as part of the shopping center remodel, the Council took the position that the <br />relocations would not invalidate their exemptions from the smoking/sampling prohibition <br />provided that their retail space was essentially the same size. It should be noted that the Council <br />did allow Hookah Hideout to increase the amount of retail and seating/lounge area space by 9%. <br />Staff recommendation — <br />Given that both the request for a Text Amendment to add a third Tobacco Store License as well <br />as the request to allow relocation to a larger space is contrary to past discussions of the City <br />Council and to the direction that the issue of indoor sampling/smoking is going, City staff would <br />recommend denial of both requests. It should be noted that Hookah Hideout is not prohibited <br />from adding the cigar model to the existing space that is allocated for retail and seating/lounge <br />area. <br />cc: David Nelson, Hookah Hideout <br />John DeRosa, Little Canada Smoke Shop <br />