Rockville, MD Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 1,000 feet
- Protected uses
- parks, elementary/middle/high schools
- Trigger threshold
- 10% of floor area
- Applies in
- all zoning districts
Summary
City of Rockville zoning bars new vape and tobacco shops within 1,000 feet of parks or schools, citywide, in every zone.
A Tobacco and Vape Shop must not be located on a parcel that is within 1,000 feet of a
parcel on which one or more of the following uses are located:
A. Destination park, citywide park, or neighborhood park as classified by the City of
Rockville Recreation and Parks Strategic Plan, as adopted December 7, 2020;
B. Public or private elementary school;
C. Public or private middle school; or
D. Public or private high school.
(2) A Tobacco and Vape Shop is a nonconforming use subject to the requirements of Sec.
Full Breakdown
Rockville's Zoning Ordinance defines a Tobacco and Vape Shop as any retail establishment devoting at least 10 percent of its floor area to tobacco or vape product sales/display, or letting customers vape or smoke indoors on-site. Under Sec. 25.6.4.33(b), a Tobacco and Vape Shop cannot locate on a parcel within 1,000 feet of a parcel holding a destination, citywide, or neighborhood park, or a public or private elementary, middle, or high school. This is a City of Rockville land-use standard administered through the Zoning Ordinance, separate from Montgomery County's own regulations.
Violations & Fines
A shop sited inside the 1,000-foot buffer cannot obtain zoning approval to open; an existing shop later hemmed in by a new school or park becomes a nonconforming use under Sec. 25.9.1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the buffer apply only to new shops?
What counts as a Tobacco and Vape Shop?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rockville
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