Apple Valley, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Chapter 115 licenses retail tobacco sellers in the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota. Section 115.03 requires a city license before any sale or offer to sell, and § 115.19 extends every license, sale, purchase, possession, use and enforcement provision to electronic delivery devices and nicotine and lobelia delivery products. The definition in § 115.02 names electronic cigarettes, electronic cigars, electronic pipes, vape pens, modes and tank systems, and excludes products approved by the FDA as tobacco-cessation or other medical products that are marketed for that purpose.

The application is a city form listing the applicant, the business name and address, and the operating manager, with the manager's date of birth. The Police Department investigates, and the City Council then approves or denies at a regularly scheduled meeting. Under § 115.05(D) the Council can deny a license if the applicant is under 21, has a tobacco-related conviction within the past five years, had a tobacco license revoked within the preceding 12 months, gave false or missing information, or is barred by other law. The fee comes from the city's schedule of fees, and no renewal issues without full payment. Licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years, with the fee prorated quarterly for a license issued in an odd-numbered year. Each license is valid only for its premises and the person named, must be posted in plain view, and ends with any transfer or change of ownership. Section 115.09 states that no license shall be issued to a moveable place of business, a term that covers sales by mail, courier, online or out of a vehicle.

Operating rules follow. Sales to anyone under 21 are unlawful, as are vending machines and self-service merchandising, unless the licensee derives 90% or more of its revenues from tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco related devices and bars everyone under 21 at all times. Other product stays behind a counter or in a case that is not freely accessible. Liquid for electronic delivery devices has to be in child-resistant packaging as required in M.S. § 461.20. The city runs unannounced compliance checks at least once per calendar year using underage persons aged 17 years but less than 21.