The St. Paul City Council voted Wednesday to further restrict tobacco sales across the city.
The council unanimously passed an ordinance that would remove tobacco vending machines in the city and reduce the amount of tobacco shop licenses.
If approved by Mayor Melvin Carter, the ordinance will lower the number of available tobacco shop licenses from 150 to 100 and tobacco product shop licenses from 25 to 15, in addition to moving the penalty section into the matrix penalties under section 310 of the legislative code.
Tobacco shop licenses are given to businesses like convenience stores or liquor stores that sell tobacco and do not necessarily require their patrons to be 21 years old. Tobacco product shop licenses are required for smoke shops that require patrons to be 21 or older, derive 90% or more of their revenue from tobacco sales and have at least one staff member dedicated to tobacco sales.
Stores with existing tobacco licenses would be grandfathered in as long as they applied for their license on or before July 31, 2021, remain in compliance with city regulations and apply for renewal within a year of a license expiring. The exception does not apply to businesses that have previously had a tobacco license revoked.
“We’ve had lots of calls from people wondering if they’re having their tobacco licenses taken away, and we’ve said, ‘No, but if you have it taken away or it’s revoked for noncompliance, there’s not one waiting for you to get,’” City Council President Amy Brendmoen said Wednesday.
The measure is the latest effort to curtail smoking in St. Paul.
In 2021, the city passed a litany of restrictions on tobacco sales that established a $10 minimum on packs of cigarettes and tins of smokeless tobacco; banned the sale of menthols and other flavored tobacco products; codified a half-mile buffer between licensed tobacco retailers; and banned coupons and discounts for tobacco and vape products.
The 2021 measure also established the current 150-license cap and created two classes of tobacco licenses to differentiate between convenience stores and tobacco-focused businesses. There were approximately 190 licensed tobacco sellers at the time.
Earlier this year, the city passed an ordinance to ban all smoking in public parks and within 25 feet of entrances, exits and windows of public spaces and places of employment within the city.
“Our goal at the end of the day is to keep reducing these licenses because we do not believe that the loss leader or the lure into the stores should be tobacco,” Brendmoen said. She added that eventually the number of tobacco licenses could be tied to the number of cannabis retailers.
