Royal Oak, MI Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 770-8 of the Zoning Ordinance defines a 'smoking lounge' as an indoor establishment, or area within one, primarily used for smoking tobacco, tobacco products, cigars or cigarettes or for using smoking paraphernalia, where retail sales of tobacco and related items are only incidental to the smoking activity rather than the main business. To qualify, the lounge must carry a valid exemption certificate from the Michigan Department of Community Health as a 'tobacco specialty retail store,' comply with the Dr. Ron Davis Smoke-Free Air Law, Michigan Public Act 188 of 2009, and cannot be included as part of any outdoor cafe or outdoor dining area.

Under § 770-41C(21), a smoking lounge that is not run as an accessory use to a tobacconist is listed as a special land use in the General Business Zone, meaning it needs Plan Commission approval under § 770-11's special-land-use procedure rather than being permitted by right. A tobacconist, defined separately at § 770-8, that keeps a smoking lounge as an accessory use to its retail tobacco sales does not trigger this special-land-use step, so the zoning treatment turns on whether smoking, rather than tobacco retail, is the primary draw of the business.

Because Chapter 770 handles this through zoning classification rather than a City-issued tobacco retail license, an operator applying to open a smoking lounge or tobacconist in Royal Oak works with the Planning and Community Development Department on a site plan and, where a smoking lounge is not accessory to a tobacconist, a special land use application to the Plan Commission.