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

Lakeville's tobacco licensing chapter, Title 3 Chapter 6, treats electronic delivery devices and e-cigarettes as tobacco products, so vape shops fall under the same Section 3-6-3 license requirement as cigarette and cigar retailers. Applications go to the city through the administrator or designee on a city form disclosing the applicant's name, address and proposed business location, along with the investigation and application fees Section 3-6-4 sets by council resolution. Licenses run one calendar year, expiring December 31 regardless of issue date, are non-transferable to another owner or location, and must be posted conspicuously at the business (Section 3-6-3C through F).

Section 3-6-5 bars sales to underage persons, defined as anyone under 21, and outright prohibits vending-machine sales and self-service merchandising: tobacco and vapor products must sit behind a counter, not on open shelves customers can reach without asking an employee. A narrow exception lets a tobacco-only shop skip the counter rule if it excludes unaccompanied minors and posts a notice saying so. Section 3-6-5C flatly prohibits smoking lounges and vapor lounges anywhere in the city, and Section 3-6-6 bars issuing any license for mobile sales from vehicles, kiosks or trailers.

The city runs at least one undercover compliance check per year sending underage buyers into licensed stores, and an applicant whose record shows a tobacco-law conviction within five years, a revoked license within the past year, or unpaid city fines can be denied under Section 3-6-3I. Any violation is grounds for the city to suspend or revoke the license through the hearing process in Section 3-6-8, in addition to state misdemeanor penalties for underage purchase or possession under Section 3-6-7.