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

Section 5.75.020 makes it unlawful to act as a tobacco retailer in the city, defined broadly to include electronic smoking devices such as e-cigarettes, vape pens, and e-hookahs, without first obtaining and maintaining a tobacco retailer's license for each location; retailing without one is declared a nuisance as a matter of law. The section also sets a minimum sales age of twenty-one, requires positive photographic identification before any sale, bans self-service displays unless products sit in a locked case with a posted sign, and caps window signage at ten percent of window area so law enforcement can see inside.

Section 5.75.050 requires the application to list every proprietor, the business address, and any tobacco law violations within the previous five years, and Section 5.75.060 lets the community and economic development department deny an application for incomplete or false information or for a tobacco law violation within the preceding one hundred eighty days; a granted license runs for one year and must be renewed by resolution-set fee under Section 5.75.100. Section 5.75.130 escalates discipline for licensees: the director may suspend a first violation for up to thirty days, a second for up to ninety days, a third for up to one hundred twenty days, and must revoke the license outright on a fourth violation within five years.