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Item No: 07C Meeting Date: Nov 28, 2011 Type of Business: Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 865, an Ordinance Regulating the Possession, Sale and Consumption of Tobacco and Tobacco Related Devices and Products within the City of Mounds View. (ROLL CALL VOTE) Introduction: On May 9, 2011, the City Council adopted Interim Ordinance 859 establishing a temporary moratorium on new tobacco products licenses and zoning approval for a period not to exceed 12 months to give the City sufficient time to review the current laws, model ordinance language, zoning issues and licensing matters. Since that time, staff has been working with representatives from the Ramsey Tobacco Coalition to review model language they prepared with the League of Minnesota Cities and the Public Health Law Center for purposes of incorporating the same or similar language into the City’s code. At the October work session, the City Council reviewed a draft ordinance prepared by Kennedy & Graven based in large part on the model ordinance created by the League of Minnesota Cities, the Ramsey Tobacco Coalition and the Public Health law Center. The only revisions proposed at that meeting were to expand the sampling allowance to include all tobacco shops, present and future, as long as sampling was limited to cigars, and, to establish an hours of operation for tobacco businesses. The ordinance was presented for a public hearing and first reading on November 14, 2011. All licensees were notified regarding the proposed revisions and provided with an opportunity to submit comments and/or address the Council. (A representative from Tobacco View, located at Mounds View Square, attended the meeting.) Discussion: While many businesses sell tobacco products as part of their retail operation, only two businesses in the City—Vino and Stogies and Tobacco View—are licensed solely for tobacco sales. According to MN Statutes, in such businesses a customer is allowed to sample the tobacco products under certain conditions. Vino & Stogies allows the sampling of cigars in their establishment while sampling does not appear to occur at Tobacco View. As reported on October 3, 2011, the Vino & Stogies owner indicated that the sampling of cigars was integral to his operation and retaining such an allowance would be critical to the success of his business, as many customers will not purchase quantities of product without sampling first. After discussing the issue at the work session, the Council directed that the sampling provision, limited to cigars only, should apply to ALL tobacco shops, present and future, subject to all limitations expressed in MN Statutes and the ordinance. The ordinance presently reflects this expanded allowance.