Redding, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- Separate tobacco retail license, § 6.13.030
- School buffer
- 600 feet for new locations
- Grandfather window
- 60 days to apply if operating before 8-19-2025
- License term
- 1 year, renew 30-60 days ahead
- Cannabis exclusion
- No license at a licensed cannabis site
- False application penalty
- Misdemeanor, up to 1 year jail/$1,000
Summary
Every tobacco retailer in Redding must hold a city-issued tobacco retail license under Municipal Code Section 6.13.030, separate from the general business license. Section 6.13.040(H) also bars a new tobacco retail location from opening within six hundred feet of a K-12 school, though a store already operating lawfully there before the 2025 ordinance can keep its license.
6.13.030 - License required. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in tobacco retailing unless under and by authority of a valid, unexpired, unsuspended, unrevoked tobacco retailer License issued pursuant to this chapter for each location at which tobacco retailing is to occur. ... H.Limits on eligibility for a tobacco retailer license.(1)No tobacco retailer shall be located within six hundred feet of a school providing instruction in kindergarten or any grade levels one through twelve, as measured in a straight line between the boundary lines of the parcel of the school and the boundary lines of the parcel of the License applicant's proposed business location.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 48).
Full Breakdown
Section 6.13.030 makes it unlawful to engage in tobacco retailing at any location in Redding without a valid, unexpired tobacco retailer license issued under Chapter 6.13, in addition to the general business license required of every business under Title 6 (§ 6.13.040(G)). Applicants must submit owner and location information, a listing of any prior license suspensions or revocations, and a sworn statement that the application is complete and accurate; knowingly submitting false information is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail or a one-thousand-dollar fine (§ 6.13.050(C)(7)).
The license lasts one year and must be renewed no later than thirty days, and no earlier than sixty days, before expiration (§ 6.13.070). New retail locations cannot open within six hundred feet of a K-12 school, measured parcel boundary to parcel boundary, though a retailer already lawfully operating at a location when the chapter took effect can keep or renew its license there if it applied within sixty days, has stayed continuously licensed, and has not closed for sixty or more consecutive days (§ 6.13.040(H)(1)-(2)).
A license cannot issue to a location already licensed for commercial cannabis activity under Chapter 6.12, and a tobacco license is nontransferable between owners or locations (§§ 6.13.040(M), 6.13.080).
Violations & Fines
Operating without the required tobacco retail license, or at a location this chapter bars from eligibility, is grounds for denial or revocation of the license under Section 6.13.060. Chapter violations bring an administrative penalty of at least one thousand dollars, escalating with repeat offenses, and can also be prosecuted as an infraction or misdemeanor at the city attorney's discretion (§ 6.13.130(C), (E)).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Redding tobacco shops need a separate city license?
Can a new tobacco store open next to a school in Redding?
How long does a Redding tobacco retail license last?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Redding
California rules heatmap·Compare Redding to another location·View the California business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.