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

02 defines 'Electronic Delivery Device' broadly to cover e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, vape pens, mods, and tank systems, and folds every one of those products into the licensed category of 'tobacco-related product' alongside cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco. 03, Subd. 2 sets the maximum number of new tobacco retail licenses the City will issue at zero, so the City only renews licenses that existed before the ordinance's adoption date, provided the holder applies for renewal by November 15 each year; a license lost through non-renewal or revocation cannot be replaced with a new one.

An existing license can pass to a new owner if the retail establishment itself is sold and the buyer applies within one year of taking over. 03, Subd. 15 layers a 500-foot Tobacco License Buffer on top of the license cap: no tobacco retail establishment may operate, and no license will issue, within 500 feet of a school parcel, a playfield parcel, or a park amenity point regularly used by minors, measured to the closest exterior wall of the tenant space or the freestanding parcel.

A school or park amenity that opens near an already-licensed store after that store's license was granted does not retroactively disqualify the existing business from renewal or expansion. The Zoning Administrator maintains the official Tobacco License Buffer map. Licenses are barred from moveable places of business under Subd. 8, meaning only fixed storefronts qualify, and every license must be posted in plain public view.