El Dorado County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- Setback from sensitive uses
- 1,500 feet
- Setback from other tobacco retailers
- 1,500 feet
- 'Tobacco product' includes
- E-cigarettes, vape devices
- Violation classification
- Misdemeanor
- First violation fine
- $250, up to $1,000 for repeats
- Adopted
- Ordinance No. 5210, Oct. 22, 2024
Summary
El Dorado County Code Section 130.40.340 defines 'tobacco product' to include e-cigarettes and vape devices, then bars any tobacco or vape retailer from locating within 1,500 feet of a school, park, church, licensed child care, or another tobacco retailer in the unincorporated county.
Tobacco product means:1.Any product containing, made of, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption or is likely to be consumed... including, but not limited to, a cigarette, a cigar, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, or snus;2.Any electronic device that delivers nicotine or tobacco, whether natural or synthetic, to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic pipe, or electronic hookah...C.Setbacks. No tobacco retailer shall be established within 1,500 feet from a:1.Sensitive use.2.Another tobacco retailer. Measurement shall be by a straight line from the nearest point of the property line of the parcel on which the sensitive use or tobacco retailer is located to the nearest point of the property line of the parcel on which the tobacco retailer is proposed to be located.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 13 Update 4).
Full Breakdown
El Dorado County's tobacco retailer ordinance, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on October 22, 2024 under Ordinance No. 5210 following findings in Resolution Number 177-2024, folds vape shops directly into its zoning controls. Section 130.40.340(B) defines 'tobacco product' broadly enough to cover any electronic device that delivers nicotine, including electronic cigarettes, electronic cigars, electronic pipes, and electronic hookahs, plus components like vape mouthpieces and filters, so a store selling only e-cigarettes and vape hardware counts as a 'tobacco retailer' under the same rules as a cigarette shop.
The core zoning control is the 1,500-foot setback in Subsection C: no tobacco or vape retailer can open within 1,500 feet of a 'sensitive use', which the ordinance defines to include licensed child day care facilities, licensed childcare homes, schools, youth-oriented facilities, churches and community assembly uses, parks, and public libraries, or within 1,500 feet of another existing tobacco retailer. Distance is measured in a straight line, property line to property line. An existing, legally established retailer is grandfathered even if a new sensitive use later moves in nearby.
Subsection D adds that a Conditional Use Permit is required only for a nonconforming tobacco retailer that wants to change or expand, not for unrelated changes to the site. The setback and definition provisions apply to all unincorporated areas of the county regardless of any adopted specific or local area plan.
Violations & Fines
Opening a tobacco or vape retailer inside the 1,500-foot buffer from a sensitive use or another retailer is a misdemeanor under Section 130.40.340(E), with fines of $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second, and $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation for each notice and order issued, plus the county's recoverable abatement costs under Section 9.02.090.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does El Dorado County treat vape shops like tobacco stores?
How close can a new tobacco or vape shop be to a school or park?
What is the penalty for opening a tobacco retailer inside the buffer zone?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in El Dorado County
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