Hunter
12/16/24
The Iowa City City Council formally approved new tobacco sales restrictions at their last meeting.
After a months-long discussion over zoning, the new ordinance states license applicants will not be approved if their business is within 500 feet of schools or universities or other tobacco retailers.
Current license holders will be grandfathered in; they can lose their license if it’s revoked, if the license expires and is not renewed, if sales stop for 90 days or more, and if the business changes its use.
The council lifted its temporary moratorium on issuing new licenses for tobacco sales. A hard cap on the number of licenses was originally discussed but eventually scrapped.