Eden Prairie, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 5.35, adopted by Ordinance No. 30-2018 and amended by Ordinance No. 23-2022, makes it unlawful under Subdivision 3 for anyone to "keep for retail sale, sell at retail, or otherwise dispose of any tobacco-related product" anywhere in the City without first getting a license. The section's definitions sweep broadly: "tobacco-related products" covers cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, tobacco-related devices such as pipes and rolling papers, electronic delivery devices including vape pens and tank systems, and nicotine or lobelia delivery products, so the license requirement reaches vape shops and convenience stores alike.

Subdivision 5 disqualifies several categories of applicant outright: a movable place of business, defined to include kiosks, transportable structures, and vehicles, cannot be licensed at all, nor can anyone under 21, anyone who falsified a license application, or anyone tied to a tobacco license revoked or suspended in the past five years. Paragraph G adds that an applicant must have, or plan to have, at least one permanent physical premises in the City where the licensed business will operate, closing off any purely mobile retail model.

Applications go through the City for an application and investigation fee, a separate license fee once approved, and expire December 31 each year, with renewal due at least sixty days before expiration. Licenses can be suspended or revoked for fraud on the application, for violating Minnesota Statutes Chapter 461, the state's tobacco sales law, or for failing to pay an administrative penalty, following written notice and a hearing before an independent hearing officer whose recommendation goes to the City Manager for a final decision.