On October 9th, 2025 the City of Brentwood’s Tobacco Retail Licensing ordinance will go into effect. All business selling tobacco must obtain a Tobacco Retail License, or if unable to meet location requirements, a Wind Down Permit, giving the establishment 12 months to sell off all tobacco products from their business. Businesses that are able to obtain a Tobacco Retail License will also be issued a Wind Down Permit to allow the business to sell off any tobacco products prohibited by the City’s ordinance. It shall be unlawful for any Person to act as a Tobacco Retailer in the City without first obtaining and maintaining a valid Tobacco Retailer’s License pursuant to this Chapter for each location at which Tobacco Retailing is to occur. Tobacco Retailing without a valid Tobacco Retailer’s License is a nuisance as a matter of law.

Application

The maximum number of Tobacco Retail Licenses that can exist within the City is currently set at 41. The Department shall begin accepting applications for Tobacco Retailer’s Licenses from new businesses thirty-one (31) calendar days from the start of the original application period. The Department shall reject any applications from any applicant that is not an existing Tobacco Retailer if the application is received by the Department prior to the thirty-first (31st) calendar day from the start of the original application period.

Applications can be obtained by contacting the City of Brentwood Community Enrichment group at communityenrichment@brentwoodca.gov or 925-516-5424

Inspection Information

Each License shall be prominently displayed in a publicly visible location at the Licensed Location.

No Person engaged in Tobacco Retailing shall sell a Tobacco Product or Tobacco Paraphernalia to another Person without first verifying by means of government-issued photographic identification that the recipient is at least the minimum legal age required under state law to purchase Tobacco Products.

Tobacco Retailing by means of a Self-Service Display is prohibited. All tobacco products and/or tobacco paraphernalia shall be secured so that only Tobacco Retailer employees have immediate access to these items.

It shall be a violation of this Chapter for any Tobacco Retailer or any of the Tobacco Retailer’s agents or employees to Deliver Tobacco Products or Tobacco Paraphernalia or to knowingly or recklessly Sell Tobacco Products or Tobacco Paraphernalia to any Person that intends to Deliver the Tobacco Product or Tobacco Paraphernalia to a Consumer in the City.

Multiple compliance checks will be conducted each year, including possible decoy operations.

False and Misleading Advertising Prohibited. A Tobacco Retailer without a valid Tobacco Retailer’s License or a Proprietor without a valid Tobacco Retailer’s License, including, for example, a Person whose License has been suspended or revoked:

1. shall keep all Tobacco Products and Tobacco Paraphernalia out of public view. The public display of Tobacco Products or Tobacco Paraphernalia in violation of this provision shall constitute Tobacco Retailing Without a License under Section 5.76.180; and
2. shall not display any advertisement relating to Tobacco Products or Tobacco Paraphernalia that promotes the Sale or distribution of such products from the Tobacco Retailer’s location or that could lead a reasonable Consumer to believe that such products can be obtained at that location.

Drug Paraphernalia. It shall be a violation of this Chapter for any Licensee or any of the Licensee’s agents or employees to violate any local, state, or federal law regulating controlled substances or Drug Paraphernalia, such as, for example, California Health and Safety Code section 11364.7, as that section may be amended from time to time.

Signage. All signage must comply with the City’s “Sign Ordinance” as listed in Chapter 17.640 of the Brentwood Municipal Code. In the course of Tobacco Retailing or in the operation of a business or maintenance of a location for which a License issued, it shall be a violation of this Chapter for a Licensee, or any of the Licensee’s agents or employees, to cover more than 15 percent of the area of each window and clear door of the location with signs of any sort, excluding signage mandated by local, state, or federal law. The area covered shall be computed to include (i) all clear areas within signs; and (ii) signs that are not attached to windows or clear doors, but are visible from exterior public rights of way in the same manner as if they were attached to windows or clear doors.

All signs shall be placed and maintained to ensure law enforcement personnel have a clear and unobstructed view of the interior of the premises, including the area in which the cash registers are maintained, from exterior public rights of way or from the entrance. However, this subsection shall not apply to premises where there are no windows, or where the design or location of windows or landscaping precludes a view of the interior of the premises from exterior public rights of way or from the entrance.

Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products Prohibited.

It shall be a violation of this Chapter for any Tobacco Retailer or any of the Tobacco Retailer’s agents or employees to Sell or offer for Sale, or to possess with intent to Sell or offer for Sale, any Flavored Tobacco Product.

The sale of Shisha Tobacco Product for immediate on-site consumption via Hookah by a Tobacco Retailer holding a valid Tobacco Retailer’s License shall not be considered a Flavored Tobacco Product, so long as the Tobacco Retailer complies with all other requirements of this Chapter and California Labor Code section 6404.5 and California Penal Code section 308(a). It shall be a violation of this Chapter to allow any unused Shisha Tobacco Product, that but for this exemption would be considered a Flavored Tobacco Product, to be allowed to be removed from the Licensed Location.

Sale of Electronic Smoking Devices Prohibited.

It shall be a violation of this Chapter for any Tobacco Retailer or any of the Tobacco Retailer’s agents or employees to Sell or offer for Sale, or to possess with intent to Sell or offer for Sale, any Electronic Smoking Device that delivers natural or synthetic nicotine or any other substance(s), which may or may not include nicotine, to the person inhaling from the device. This includes any component, part, or accessory intended or reasonably expected to be used with the electronic device, whether or not sold separately.

Tobacco Product Pricing and Packaging. No Tobacco Retailer shall Sell any Tobacco Product to any Consumer unless such product: (1) is sold in the original Manufacturer’s Packaging intended for Sale to Consumers; and (2) conforms to all applicable California and federal Labeling requirements.

Display of Price. The price of each Tobacco Product offered for Sale shall be clearly and conspicuously displayed to indicate the price of the product.

Prohibition of Tobacco Coupons and Discounts. Honor or redeem, or offer to honor or redeem, a Coupon to allow a Consumer to purchase a Tobacco Product for less than the Full Retail Price;

Sell any Tobacco Product to a Consumer through a multiple-Package discount or otherwise provide any such product to a Consumer for less than the Full Retail Price in consideration for the purchase of any Tobacco Product or any other item; or

Provide any free or discounted item to a Consumer in consideration for the purchase of any Tobacco Product.

Minimum Package Size for Little Cigars and Cigars.  No Tobacco Retailer shall Sell to a Consumer: any Little Cigar unless it is sold in a Package of at least twenty Little Cigars; or

any Cigar unless it is sold in a Package of at least six Cigars; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to a Cigar that has a price of at least $10.00 per Cigar, including all applicable taxes and fees.

Minimum Prices for Cigarettes, Little Cigars, and Cigars. No Tobacco Retailer shall Sell to a Consumer:

1. Cigarettes at a price that is less than $10.00 per Package of 20 Cigarettes, including all applicable taxes and fees;
2. Little Cigars at a price that is less than $10.00 per Package of Little Cigars, including all applicable taxes and fees; or
3. Cigars at a price that is less than $10.00 per Cigar, including all applicable taxes and fees.

Mobile Vending. No License may issue to authorize Tobacco Retailing at other than a fixed physical location, including, but not limited to, Tobacco Retailing by Persons on foot or from vehicles or for delivery services.

Licensed Cannabis Businesses. No License may be issued, and no License may be renewed, to authorize Tobacco Retailing at a location licensed for Commercial Cannabis Activity by the State of California in accordance with the Business and Professions Code Division 10. In the course of Tobacco Retailing or in the operation of the business or maintenance of the location for which a License issued, it shall be a violation of this Chapter for a licensee, or any of the licensee’s agents or employees, to engage in Commercial Cannabis Activity.

Proximity to Youth-Oriented Establishment. No License may be issued, and no License may be renewed, to authorize Tobacco Retailing within five hundred (500) feet of a Youth-Oriented Establishment as measured by a straight line from the nearest point of the property line of the parcel on which the Youth-Oriented Establishment is located to the nearest point of the property line of the parcel on which the Licensee’s business is located.

At any time a Youth-Oriented Establishment moves within five hundred (500) feet of a licensed Tobacco Retailer, the existing License shall remain valid and may be renewed upon expiration pursuant to all other requirements of this Chapter.

Bars and Restaurants. No License may be issued, and no License may be renewed, to authorize Tobacco Retailing at any location that is (i) licensed under state law to serve alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises or (ii) offering food for sale for consumption on the premises. For example, and without limitation, Tobacco Retailing is prohibited in bars and restaurants.

Smoking on Premises. No License may be issued, and no License may be renewed, to authorize Tobacco Retailing at any location where Smoking is permitted inside the premises or in any adjacent outdoor area owned, leased, or operated by the Person to be licensed. In addition, no License may be issued, and no License may be renewed, to authorize Tobacco Retailing at any location where Smoking is permitted within twenty-five (25) feet of any doorway, window, opening, or other vent into the licensed premises. For purposes of this subsection, “Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted, heated, or ignited cigar, cigarette, cigarillo, pipe, electronic device, or any other device that delivers nicotine or other substances to a person. This prohibition on the issuance of a License shall not apply to any Tobacco Retailer that sells Shisha Tobacco Products for the sole purpose of immediate and on-site consumption via a Hookah, and that is in compliance with all requirements of this Chapter and California Labor Code section 6404.5 and California Penal Code section 308(a).

Frequently Asked Questions