Fort Smith, AR Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- Permitted
- By right in C-1–C-6, I-1
- Excluded
- Not allowed in any residential zone
- Definition
- UDO § 27-201
- Governing table
- Land Use Matrix § 27-400
Summary
Fort Smith's Unified Development Ordinance treats tobacco and smoke shops as a distinct retail use, permitted by right only in the MEOS district and Commercial C-1 through C-6 and Industrial I-1 zones: never in a residential district.
Cigar, cigarette or tobacco store means a place where cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco and related items are sold at retail.
City shall mean the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
City administrator means the chief administrative officer of the city.
Classroom means a room in which teaching or learning takes place and which can be found in all kinds of educational institutions.
Cleaner, dry cleaning, or laundry (pick-up and drop-off) means a custom cleaning shop with drop-off service for the cleaning and pressing of garments.
Clothing and personal items means a facility for the custom making of apparel and millinery not involving a factory.
Clothing manufacturing means operations involving cutting, sewing, forming and packing of garments and similar items, including millinery and clothing accessories.
Clothing store means a retail facility for selling male and/or female apparel.
Coal mining comprises establishments that:
(1)Mine bituminous coal, anthracite, and lignite;(2)Develop coal mine sites; and(3)Beneficiate (i.e., prepare) coal (e.g., by cleaning, washing, screening, and sizing coal). Collection agency means a business engaged in the collecting or receiving of payment for others on any account, bill, or other indebtedness.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 4).
Full Breakdown
The UDO defines a 'cigar, cigarette or tobacco store' as a place where cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco and related items are sold at retail, and separately lists 'tobacco shop' on the citywide Land Use Matrix. That table marks tobacco retail as a by-right ('P') use in the Medical Education, Office and Scientific (MEOS) district and every commercial district, C-1 through C-6, plus the Industrial Light (I-1) district. It carries no listing at all in any residential district (RE-3 through RH) or the Transit district, so a storefront proposing to sell tobacco there needs a rezoning, not just a permit.
Violations & Fines
Selling tobacco or smoke-shop merchandise in a residential zone, or any district without a 'P' for 'tobacco shop,' is a zoning violation subject to enforcement, occupancy denial, or business-license revocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a smoke shop in a Fort Smith residential neighborhood?
Which zones let a smoke shop open by right in Fort Smith?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Smith
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