Hanover County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

The Zoning Ordinance defines 'Recreational Substances' in Section 26-6 to include any tobacco product such as cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and pipe tobacco, plus any noncombustible nicotine or vaping-fluid product using a heating or electronic element to produce vapor, along with hemp and kratom products and the pipes, vaporizers and accessories used with them. A 'Recreational Substances, retail store' is any retail establishment devoting fifteen percent or more of its display space to these products, or allowing their on-site use, and the definition specifically excludes convenience stores or other establishments below that fifteen percent threshold.

Section 26-292.8 sets the operating standards such a store must meet: hours of operation are limited to 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and the section adds lighting rules barring exterior lighting that impairs motorists' vision and interior lighting visible from the right-of-way, plus a ban on neon or LED rope lighting. These standards apply unless the Board of Supervisors modifies or conditions them at the time of zoning approval. The use itself is only permitted as a conditional use in specific commercial and industrial districts, listed in each district's conditional-use section as 'Recreational Substances, retail stores, in accordance with the standards of section 26-292.8,' meaning a store selling these products at the fifteen-percent threshold needs a Conditional Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors in addition to meeting the operating standards.

The standards were adopted by Ord. No. 25-11, Section 7, effective August 27, 2025, and the Planning Department's Zoning Administrator reviews compliance alongside the conditional use approval.