San Mateo tightens rules around tobacco

The switch to tobacco aims to reduce youth access to tobacco products and make more efficient enforcement through the county’s help. The county has said it will administer the permit program if cities adopt the same language, according to city staff.

“Aligning our ordinance language makes perfect sense, and we absolutely rely on the county to do the implementation,” Mayor Amourence Lee said of the tobacco ordinance.

The updated language targets synthetic nicotine and flavored tobacco and restricts where new retailers may be located. No new permits will be allowed within 1,000 feet of a youth-populated area and within 500 feet of a location already occupied by another tobacco retailer. Selling tobacco products would require being 21 and having fines of $500 for the first violation and up to $1,000 for all future violations within 60 months. Currently, anyone who sells tobacco must have a tobacco retailer permit that is renewed annually. It also requires two inspections per year and permits suspended if the business sells products to people under 21. The changes come after the county tightened its rules to reduce youth access.

San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini said very few businesses would fall under the new location requirements, with most stores operating in commercial business areas. The San Mateo Police Department recently seized thousands of flavored vape cartridges from a smoke shop. The random compliance check occurred at Magic Theatre Smoke Shop on South El Camino Real. California voters last November banned the sale of flavored tobacco products like e-cigarettes, e-liquids, pods or any other vape device.

“Thank you to the San Mateo Police Department for its recent success, as has been discussed, extracting hundreds of flavored tobacco cartridges from our city,” Councilmember Adam Loraine said. “May this make your work simpler and smoother.”

The council voted to introduce the tobacco ordinance Aug. 21, with adoption scheduled for Sept. 5 and the effective date 30 days later. The council was interested in increasing permit costs to deincentivize use, but it decided to follow state guidelines on the advice of the city staff.

For alcohol, the code adjustments would address ambiguity around drinking in transit areas and some public property areas. Transit stops can be difficult to enforce because jurisdiction is handled by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Caltrain, with habitual offenders often drinking in public, according to San Mateo police. According to the code changes proposed in the city staff report, it will be illegal to have an open container of alcohol at a transit station, stop, or platform, along with parking facilities owned by the city. It also includes any private parking lot open to the public, including shopping center parking lots. The ordinance would not include restaurant public dining in downtown, according to city staff. It would also be scheduled for adoption at the Sept. 5 meeting.