Livermore, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

LMC § 5.50.030(A) makes it unlawful for any person to be a tobacco retailer or conduct tobacco retailing anywhere in Livermore without a valid license, and § 5.50.030(B) requires a separate license for each fixed location. Licenses run for one year (§ 5.50.030(C)) and cannot be issued for itinerant retailing, vehicle or cart sales, or delivery from a fixed City location to a different address (§ 5.50.050(B)). Section 5.50.050(C) bars new or renewed licenses within 1,000 feet of a 'youth-populated area,' defined to include schools, public libraries, playgrounds, licensed child care, and youth centers serving ages 6 to 17, measured property line to property line; businesses lawfully operating before the ordinance took effect keep legal nonconforming status under Development Code Chapter 9.16.

Applications go to the police department and must disclose each proprietor's state tobacco license, any prior license suspension or revocation, and any citation history, with the license fee set by Council resolution to recover administration costs (§ 5.50.060). The department must issue a license unless the application is false, seeks an unauthorized activity, or targets a barred location or a proprietor who is currently ineligible (§ 5.50.070). Section 5.50.040 layers on an escalating relicensing bar tied to the location itself: 30 days after a first violation within five years, 90 days after a second, and five years after a third, unless the business changed hands in an arm's-length sale. Licenses are nontransferable (§ 5.50.080), and no licensee may sell tobacco to anyone under 27 without checking identification (§ 5.50.090(D)).