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

20(a) allows significant tobacco retailers only in the CRA zoning district and only with an approved conditional use permit. Operating standards in subsection (b) require compliance with City Code Chapter 21 plus additional conditions: tobacco products and paraphernalia must be secured so only store employees have immediate access, and self-service displays are prohibited; retailers must comply with local, state and federal advertising and display laws, including posting a sign near the point of sale stating the legal purchase age and checking identification of all purchasers; no minor may sell or exchange tobacco products, and sampling of tobacco products by minors is barred, so products cannot be given or sold to minors.

Item 5 imposes a locational review trigger: if a proposed retailer sits within 1,000 feet of a public or private school (kindergarten through high school), a licensed child-care facility or preschool other than a family day-care home, a public playground, a youth center, or a public recreational facility, the zoning administrator must weigh compatibility and decide whether the use can proceed as proposed, proceed with mitigating conditions, or must relocate, backed by a finding that a comparable alternative site exists without the same or greater impacts. The community development director may issue guidelines interpreting the section, which are incorporated by reference. 62.