Evanston, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- School buffer
- 150 ft, lot line to lot line
- Flavored vape ban
- Effective April 1, 2024
- Vending machine sales
- Prohibited citywide
- First-offense fine
- $500-$1,000
Summary
Evanston bars selling tobacco or liquid nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, within 150 feet of any school and bans flavored vape and tobacco products outright, on top of the citywide retail license.
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, give away, or deliver tobacco or liquid nicotine products within one hundred fifty (150) feet as measured from lot line to lot line of any high school, middle school or elementary school except for the Park School and Rice Children's Center of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Special Schools and Centers and private educational institutions located in any Downtown zoning districts...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 21).
Full Breakdown
Evanston regulates e-cigarette and liquid nicotine retail under the same Chapter 14 license as traditional tobacco. Section 3-14-5 bars selling, offering, or delivering tobacco or liquid nicotine products within 150 feet, lot line to lot line, of any high school, middle school, or elementary school, with narrow carve-outs for specific special-education campuses and downtown-zoned private schools. Section 3-14-14 goes further, banning the sale, display, marketing, or advertising of any flavored tobacco product, expressly including flavored e-cigarette liquids and menthol, as of April 1, 2024. Vending-machine sales of vape and tobacco products are also prohibited citywide under § 3-14-8.
Violations & Fines
Selling vape or flavored tobacco products near a school or violating the flavor ban risks fines up to $1,000 for a first offense, rising to license suspension or revocation for repeat violations under § 3-14-15.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a vape shop operate near an Evanston school?
Are flavored vape products legal to sell in Evanston?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Evanston
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