Sugar Land, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Table 2-91.1 in § 2-91 of the Sugar Land Land Development Code lists every use for the six nonresidential districts: B-O, B-1, B-2, M-1, M-2 and BR. The Tobacco, Hookah, and Vapor Retail Store row prints its definition and a parking ratio of 1:200 sq.ft., but no P, C or An designation sits under any district, and the row carries no note number. The table key states Blank Box = Prohibited Use, and § 2-55(E) repeats that a blank indicates a use that is not permitted in the district. The history line of § 2-91 lists Ord. No. 2334, § 1 (Att.), adopted 4-2-24, among its amendments. The use is defined as a shop or tobacco bar that specializes in the sale or consumption of tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, electronic vapor devices, hookahs, or other tobacco products, so it reaches both retail counters and on-site hookah lounges.

Sugar Land does not run a separate tobacco retail license in Chapter 4 of the Code of Ordinances (Licenses, Permits, and Business Regulations); that chapter contains no tobacco, hookah or vapor provision. The land use table is the gatekeeper, and a blank row means a new shop of this type has no district to locate in. A shop that qualifies as a Nonconforming Use under the zoning regulations is limited by § 2-230(B): the use can be extended throughout a completed building designed or arranged for it, but not to additional buildings or to land outside the building. Under § 2-233, a use is considered abandoned when the owner intends to discontinue it and the discontinuance lasts 6 or more continuous months, after which the property must comply with the zoning regulations.

Smoking is regulated separately by Article VIII of Chapter 3 (§§ 3-139 to 3-144). A retail tobacco store is an establishment with at least 60 percent of gross revenues from tobacco products and smoking accessories. A tobacco bar is a bar where on-site sales or rental of tobacco products and smoking accessories, including e-cigarettes, for use on the premises exceeds 20 percent of gross revenues and entry is restricted to individuals 21 years of age and above. Smoking includes inhaling, exhaling, or carrying any heated e-cigarette. Section 3-142(a)(2) exempts tobacco bars in operation on or before December 31, 2023, as long as smoke does not permeate areas where smoking is prohibited. Smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of outside entrances, exits, wheelchair ramps, operable windows and ventilation systems of enclosed areas where smoking is prohibited (§ 3-141).