Costa Mesa, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Enacted by Ordinance No. 99-5 in May 1999 as Chapter I 1/2 of Title 11, the tobacco chapter defines self-service display as any open display the public can access without a store employee's intervention, including racks, shelves, vending machines or counter-top displays, and requires a vendor-assisted sale, a direct face-to-face exchange where the customer does not take possession of the product until it is purchased. Section 11-18 makes it unlawful for any person, business or tobacco retailer to sell tobacco products by self-service display, including a cigarette vending machine, or by any means other than vendor-assisted sales, so a standard convenience store cannot stock cigarettes on an open rack behind the register that customers could reach themselves.

The chapter exempts three categories: tobacco shops, whose main business is tobacco sales; cigar lounges attached to a tobacco shop dedicated to cigar and pipe use; and a restricted tobacco sales area, defined under section 11-17 as a set-aside area with a single restricted entrance next to a sales counter, an adult clerk continually present who monitors and denies minors entry, and a posted sign reading 'RESTRICTED TOBACCO SALES AREA. ' Section 11-19 separately bars retaliation against an employee or job applicant who agrees to abide by the chapter, and against anyone who tries to enforce it. The definitions section sets the minor threshold at under 18 years of age throughout the chapter.