Daytona Beach, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

City Code article VIII of chapter 26, adopted by Ordinance No. 2023-11 on January 4, 2023, defines a 'smoking lounge' as any establishment licensed as a retail tobacco products dealer by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Alcohol Beverages and Tobacco, that is dedicated in whole or in part to on-site smoking of tobacco, electronic cigarettes, or other vaporized substances; section 26-351 expressly includes cigar lounges, hookah lounges, and vapor bars or lounges within the definition, while exempting government-owned space and non-commercial religious property.

Section 26-352(a) sets the base hours of operation for every smoking lounge, including vapor bars, at 7:00 a.m. to midnight, and bars all but on-duty employees from the premises outside those hours. A smoking lounge that wants to stay open later must obtain a city extended hours permit under section 26-352(b), which allows operation until 2:00 a.m., or until 3:00 a.m. on New Year's Eve, July 4th, Labor Day, or a declared major event period under the Land Development Code (relevant to Bike Week and Speedway race weekends). The permit costs $100.00, renews annually by October 1, and is conditioned on posting the permit, running security cameras at all entrances and exits with at least 45 days of retained footage, maintaining security or an off-duty police officer during extended hours, and controlling exterior lighting.

An extended hours permit is a revocable privilege, not a right: the city commission can suspend it or impose conditions after three illegal-parking incidents, three law-enforcement calls for service, or three instances of adverse impact on a neighboring residential property within 1,000 feet, all within a one-year period, following notice and a hearing under section 26-352(b)(6).