PITTSBURG – Pittsburg is beefing up its ordinances in an effort to create a healthier community by limiting underage use and access to tobacco, cannabis, and alcohol.
Unanimously approved on first reading by the City Council this week and expected to be formally approved at a later date, all tobacco retailers will be required to obtain a tobacco retailer’s license. The move is a shift from the current code which requires such a license only for retailers that are found guilty of tobacco-related violations.
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Kelsey Gunter, an associate planner with the city, said when the new rules take effect in January 2026, tobacco retailers who obtain licensing would also be subject to proximity requirements.
The rule would prohibit the establishment of new tobacco retailers within 600 feet of a school, day care, club or lodge used exclusively as a youth center, city-owned park space open to the public, religious assembly, or library.
The ordinance also establishes a smoke-free buffer zone and prohibits smoking in public areas and multi-unit housing; however, this is not applicable to single-family homes unless it’s used as a health care facility, mobile home park, hotel or motel, campground or a single-family home with an accessory dwelling unit.
Gunter said Pittsburg has consistently received an “F” from the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control report, which tracks progress on tobacco policies and assigns grades based on a jurisdiction’s specific control and reforms.
“The grades are issued on an academic scale, from A to F, with an A representing an exceptional municipality and an F representing a jurisdiction that may need improvement,” said Gunter. “While the city of Pittsburg has historically scored an F, the ordinances before you this evening present an effort to raise that grade.”
Once formally approved, starting January 2026, new and expanding businesses that serve or sell alcohol will be required to have a conditional use permit. A limit also will be placed on when alcoholic beverages can be sold – from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Gunter said a full-service restaurant that sells alcohol can continue to do so past the proposed ordinance’s operating hours to “further economic development for small businesses and restaurants.”
Pittsburg also is looking to establish standards for commercial cannabis businesses in the city and is looking to expand the social host ordinance, which currently regulates the consumption of alcohol by minors at social gatherings, to include cannabis consumption.
“The social host ordinance holds the person or persons responsible for such violations, such as underage consumption of alcohol or cannabis and holds them accountable, and violations of the ordinance include criminal citations, administrative citations, or injunctions,” said Gunter.
Brian Davis, a member of the Contra Costa Tobacco Prevention Coalition and project director of the LGBTQ Minus Tobacco project, said underage youth are getting tobacco products from retailers in the city.
“In 2022, nine of the 30 stores visited by state inspectors sold tobacco to an underage decoy. Pittsburg stores commonly sell two and five packs of unflavored cigarillos, like the one I bought today, five for $1.49,” said Davis. “So, minimum pack size requirement of two will not stop the sale of super cheap tobaccos to kids in Pittsburg, and neither will a five-pack minimum.”
Pittsburg Mayor Jelani Killings said it was alarming to hear that nine out of 30 retailers sold tobacco to underage youths.
“That is something that has to be addressed from a policy level, so if we have within our community, actors that are selling (tobacco) to youth, this gives us a mechanism to say ‘hey, no, now your license is revoked and you can’t operate in our city,’” said Killings.
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