Ventura, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 6.410.020 defines “tobacco product” to include electronic smoking devices, meaning vape shops and any store selling e-cigarettes, cartridges, e-liquid or vaping accessories fall under the same license as cigarette and cigar sellers. Section 6.410.030 requires a valid tobacco retailer license for each location engaged in tobacco retailing, prohibits itinerant tobacco retailing or tobacco sales from vehicles altogether, bars issuing a license to any location already licensed under state law to serve alcohol for on-premises consumption, and denies a license within 1,000 feet of any school unless the retailer qualifies for the pre-existing use exemption in Section 6.410.130.

That exemption lets a retailer already operating lawfully near a school on the ordinance's effective date keep selling, but only if it applies for a license within 30 days, renews annually without lapse, does not close for more than 60 consecutive days, and does not expand its tobacco sales floor space or change ownership (6.410.130). The tobacco licensing administrator, designated by the city manager, processes applications and must issue or deny a license within 30 calendar days, and the enforcement agency, the city's code enforcement division, conducts at least two compliance checks of every licensed retailer every 12 months, with the monitoring cost folded into the license fee (Sections 6.410.040, 6.410.060, 6.410.150). Licenses are nontransferable and tied to one address; a retailer that moves or changes ownership must apply for a new license (6.410.140).