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

04, lists 'Tobacco Retailer' as Permitted in the C-1 and C-2 zones and Not Permitted in C-P, C-3, C-M, and H-M. The Notes and Exceptions column attached to that row imposes a locational buffer: a tobacco retailer shall be a minimum of 1,000 feet from any park, child day care center, or school, measured from the property line of the park, day care center, or school to the proposed tenant space for the tobacco retailer. 06(b), (c), and (d), the article's nonconforming-use discontinuance rules. That grandfathering means a tobacco retailer that predates December 26, 2024 does not have to move or shut down solely because it sits inside the 1,000-foot buffer or in a zone that no longer permits new tobacco retailers; the protection only lasts as long as the business does not cease operating under the discontinuance standards.

New applicants proposing a tobacco retail use after that date must site the store in C-1 or C-2 and clear the 1,000-foot buffer from every qualifying park, day care center, and school before the City will approve the use.