West Bloomfield, MI Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Sec. 6-192 defines a smoking lounge broadly to include tobacco specialty retail stores, cigar bars and lounges, hookah cafes, tobacco bars and clubs, and zero-percent-nicotine establishments, and its definition of non-tobacco smoking products expressly reaches e-cigarettes, herbal cigarettes and electronic hookah devices. Sec. 6-195 requires both a state smoking exemption under the Michigan Clean Indoor Act and a township business license before operating, with the license expiring every August 31 unless suspended or revoked, and renewal applications due at least 60 days before expiration. Sec.

6-196 requires an annual application filed in person with the township clerk by June 30, listing all names used in the preceding seven years, the business's zoning classification and parcel ID, a copy of the state exemption, the local agent responsible for the premises, any specified criminal act conviction, and proof of $250,000 in commercial general liability insurance. Sec. 6-197 routes the application to police, fire, building, planning, treasurer, water utilities and code enforcement for a 30-day compliance review, and the clerk must decide within 60 days of a complete filing.

Sec. 6-198 lists denial grounds including missing ventilation or parking, unpaid fees, a lapsed or revoked state exemption, and a nuisance finding against a business the applicant controlled in the past seven years. Sec. 6-217 limits hours to between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., and Sec. 6-222 requires all activity to occur wholly indoors, with doors and windows closed to keep smoke from escaping to passersby. Sec. 6-225 bars anyone under 21 from the premises and bans alcohol and controlled substances there entirely.