DATE: March 11, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Development Services Department
TITLE: AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 7 OF THE OCEANSIDE CITY CODE TO ADD A LIMITED EXEMPTION FROM THE TOBACCO RETAIL LICENSE REQUIREMENT FOR RETAILERS WITH SMALL CIGAR DISPLAY CASES
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council introduce an ordinance amending Chapter 7 of the Oceanside City Code to add a new, narrowly tailored exemption from the Tobacco Retail License (TRL) requirement for qualifying cigar-only retailers.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Oceanside City Code (OCC), any retailer selling tobacco products must first obtain and then maintain a TRL issued by the City. At its March 26, 2025, meeting, the City Council directed staff to create an exemption from the TRL requirement allowing retailers who only display and sell cigars from a single small display case to operate without obtaining a traditional TRL as required by the OCC Section 7.92.1(a)(1). The City Council's direction to create this exemption was based on concerns that the existing TRL requirement may impose disproportionate administrative burdens on small-scale specialty retailers selling only cigars from limited displays, while providing limited additional public health benefit given the low risk of youth access. The proposed exemption is intended to maintain core youth-access safeguards while allowing City enforcement resources to remain focused on higher-risk tobacco retail activity.
The proposed amendment would allow such an exemption only if the retailer complies with certain, narrow restrictions. First, the retailer may only sell cigars having a pre-tax price of $12 or more per cigar. Second, the cigar display case must be limited in size so that it does not exceed 16 inches in any dimension. This dimension is recommended based on field observations of the display cases associated with the types of retailers to be exempted. Finally, no tobacc...
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