Salinas City Council voted 7-0 to approve a temporary 45-day moratorium on new tobacco retailer licenses, aiming to curb the increase of smoke and vape shops near schools, parks and other youth-centered areas.
The moratorium is effective immediately, after the council made the decision on Tuesday, June 30.
“In the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of standalone retail establishments, such as smoke shops and vape shops,” said Ernesto Lizaola, assistant to the city manager. “These tend to have the highest violation rate of tobacco sales to minors.”
Lizaola emphasized that existing and renewing licenses will not be affected. Instead, the moratorium places a temporary freeze on new licenses while the City develops a broader regulatory framework governing tobacco retailers.
He also shared that in California, anyone under the age of 21 is prohibited from purchasing or using tobacco products, where the age limit was increased from 18 to 21 back in 2016.
“In 2015 the City of Salinas adopted an ordinance requiring all tobacco retailers to obtain tobacco retail licenses in order to operate within city limits. This license is provided by the Monterey County Health Department and is in coordination with the police department," Lizaola said. “The ordinance did not include any limits on the number of licenses that could be issued.”
As of March 2026, there are 124 active tobacco retailers operating within Salinas, according to Lizaola.
The issue will be brought back to the council on Aug. 4 where the council may extend the temporary ordinance for an additional 10 months and 15 days, and later for another year, while permanent regulations are considered.
“I think the one thing that really hit me hard was smoke shops and vape shops have the highest statewide violation rates of tobacco sales to minors. I think that's number-one reason to get this thing put to bed, because that is not the population that we want to be providing tobacco,” Councilmember Margaret D'Arrigo said.