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ATTY/ORD.0002/CC ORD AMENDING MUNI CODE CH.15 (TOBACCO RETAIL PERMIT) REV: 04-21-26 VR Page 1 of 13 ORDINANCE NO. 2561 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDWOOD CITY AMENDING REDWOOD CITY MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 15 (SMOKING REGULATIONS) TO (1) REPEAL IN THEIR ENTIRETY ARTICLE III (TOBACCO RETAIL PERMIT) AND ARTICLE V (PROHIBITING THE SALE OF FLAVORED TOBACCO, ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES, AND THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN PHARMACIES), (2) ADOPT BY REFERENCE TITLE 4, CHAPTER 4.98 OF THE SAN MATEO COUNTY ORDINANCE CODE IN ARTICLE III, AND (3) AMEND ARTICLE I, SECTION 15.2(DEFINITIONS) WHEREAS, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, as codified in Labor Code Section 6404.5, prohibits the smoking of tobacco products in all (100 percent of) enclosed places of employment in the state, thereby eliminating the need of local governments to enact workplace smoking restrictions within their respective jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, in 1989, the California Tobacco Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health established the California Tobacco Prevention Program to protect Californians from the tobacco industry; and WHEREAS, on November 8, 2022, the voters of the State of California upheld SB 793, as codified in Health & Safety Code Section 104559.5, which prohibits tobacco retailers in the State of California from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, most flavored tobacco products and flavor enhancers, in retail locations; and WHEREAS, data from the California Tobacco Prevention Program released in August 2025 show that 18.9% of licensed tobacco retailers made sales to youth and young adults aged 16-20 in 2024 and that, despite the ban on flavored tobacco products being sold statewide, about 84.5% of California youth who used tobacco products reported using flavored tobacco products, with vapes remaining the most used flavored tobacco product at 89.5% and hookahs at 75.6%;1 and WHEREAS, local governments have broad latitude to regulate activities that are injurious to the public’s health and safety; and WHEREAS, on June 22, 2009, the City Council adopted Ordinance 2343 to require Tobacco Retail Permits, finding that there was a substantial interest in regulating tobacco retailers to, among other reasons, reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to persons under 18, and that the requirement for a tobacco retailer’s permit program would not 1 https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DCDIC/CTCB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Researchan dEvaluation/FactsandFigures/CaliforniaTobaccoFactsAndFigures_2025.pdf