The City Council is looking to require a license and annual fee for retailers in Fresno to sell tobacco in an effort to curb black market sales of things like flavored vapes, especially to minors.
The bill was up for final approval on Thursday, but the council voted to table the item to the next scheduled meeting in order to mull over potential amendments with legal counsel and consider feedback from local tobacco retailers.
Fresno is currently the largest city in the state without such a license.
The license is sponsored by Fresno City Councilmembers Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell and Mike Karbassi, who say it creates a proactive system that makes it harder for bad actors to keep selling things not FDA-authorized or on California’s unflavored tobacco list.
The fees, which will likely require a study to determine the cost, would go toward enforcement.
“For too long, Fresno’s been the biggest city in California without this basic tool… We protect our kids, and we back our honest small businesses,” Esparza said at a press conference announcing the introduction of the bill in July. “We finally put accountability behind every single tobacco sale in the city.”
Based on comments at the last meeting, it appears all council members could get on board with some version of the bill.
A handful of representatives spoke during public comment on behalf of retailer groups that sell tobacco, such as gas stations and convenience shops, which already pay a state fee to sell tobacco products.
Most said they are behind the city council bringing this forward to protect the community, but would like to see stakeholders involved in the creation of the bill, and expressed the many restrictions they already face.
“The issue at hand is the fact that business members around the community have not been able to give input on how this will affect businesses and how they run,” Balwinder Singh, president of the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association Fresno Chapter, said.
Several residents and Fresno health advocates also spoke out on Thursday in support of the license.
“I understand no one likes additional fees,” Bao Xiong, a member of the Fresno County Tobacco Free Coalition, said. “But when selling products that are addicting and make people sick, having a program in place helps establish and coordinate processes that ensure retailers operate responsibly and provide accountability when they do not.”
The new bill is not to be confused with the Smoke Shop Ordinance passed by the council last year. That ordinance caps the total number of permitted retail smoke shops citywide and prohibits new smoke shops from operating within 1,000 feet of sensitive areas such as schools and parks.
Rows of flavored tobacco vape juice, including varieties banned by Proposition 31, are displayed on the wall of a central Fresno smoke shop as seen on Oct. 18, 2023. MAREK WARSZAWSKI marekw@fresnobee.com
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