Merced, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- School buffer
- 1,000 ft, no exceptions
- Youth-facility buffer
- 600 ft, CUP exception possible
- Youth-oriented facilities
- Day cares, youth centers, libraries, parks
- Large-store exemption
- Buildings over 20,000 sq ft exempt
- Governing section
- Merced Municipal Code Sec. 20.44.160
Summary
Merced bans new tobacco retailers, including vape and e-cigarette shops, within 1,000 feet of any listed school and within 600 feet of youth-oriented facilities like parks, libraries, day cares, and youth centers under Municipal Code Section 20.44.160.
A.Prohibited within One Thousand (1,000) Feet of Schools and within Six Hundred (600) Feet of Other Youth-Oriented Facilities. New tobacco retailers (including the sale of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and all other tobacco products or paraphernalia restricted by the State of California for sale to minors) are prohibited within one thousand (1,000) feet of any parcel which is legally occupied at the time an application for a business license to sell tobacco is submitted to the city by a "school" as defined below and within six hundred (600) feet of other youth-oriented facilities' as defined below.B.Measurement and Exceptions.2.Exceptions.b.The above prohibition does not apply to a tobacco retailer which occupies in its entirety a building of more than twenty thousand (20,000) square feet.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 85 - 1-26).
Full Breakdown
' That list is adopted by city council resolution after a public hearing and reviewed every year by January 31. 030. Distances are measured as the straight horizontal line between the nearest property boundaries, ignoring any buildings or other structures in between. Two narrow exceptions exist: a tobacco retailer already operating legally at its current location, even through a suspension of up to 90 days, is grandfathered in, and any retailer occupying an entire building larger than 20,000 square feet is exempt from the distance rule altogether. 020's standard findings; no such exception is available for the 1,000-foot school buffer, which the code treats as absolute.
Violations & Fines
Opening a new tobacco retail business license within 1,000 feet of a listed school, or within 600 feet of a youth-oriented facility without an approved conditional use permit, violates Section 20.44.160 and the city can deny or revoke the business license required to sell tobacco products. Because the school buffer allows no exceptions, an application inside that 1,000-foot radius cannot be approved regardless of building size unless the retailer already held a legal, continuously operating location before the buffer applied.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a vape shop near a Merced school?
Is there any way around the 600-foot buffer near a park or library?
Does the distance rule apply to big retailers selling tobacco?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Merced
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