Burlingame bans all future tobacco retailer permits

This marks a change from some elements of the original permit program, which restricted new storefronts from being within 500 feet of existing stores or 1,000 feet from youth-populated areas.

“The sale of the business can also take place any time for the future, and the relocation is going to have that two-year limit,” Assistant City Attorney Scott Spansail said.

A previously controversial element of Burlingame’s tobacco ordinance was the choice to allow up to two exemptions for flavored hookah to be sold in the city. Regular flavored tobacco permits have already been banned.

One business has taken advantage of the permitting allowance, Spansail said, but one hookah permit remains. If a retailer has not successfully applied for that permit by the time the updates go into effect, it will become null and void.

Councilmember Stephanie Lee said she was originally conflicted on the City Council’s choice to limit retailer permits out of empathy for mom-and-pop shops and those addicted to nicotine, but ultimately found that having tobacco sellers in limited quantities and further away can help addiction issues.

“My sense is, because it’s a very low smoking community, that constituents would want to do this limitation,” she said.

The changes are being made to accommodate the needs of businesses who may have had plans to move while also accounting for the city’s desire to be a largely tobacco-free space. Should a business with a tobacco retailer permit cease to exist, that permit will also no longer exist.

“Down the road, if a gas station goes out of business and a housing project goes up and a tobacco permit goes away, I have no issue with that,” Mayor Donna Colson said. “For people who have more of a business surrounding [tobacco] … I think we’ve given them the opportunity to transition that.”

That’s a decision with which retailers seem to agree.

“I think this is a very nice compromise and achieves a lot of things for both parties,” Don Gross, owner of Burlingame Tobacconist, said. “I appreciate it.”