§ E. Tobacco product sales permit.

A. 

No person shall sell or otherwise distribute tobacco products, as defined herein, within the Town of Deerfield without first obtaining a tobacco product sales permit issued annually by the Deerfield Board of Health. Only owners of establishments with a permanent, non-mobile location in Deerfield are eligible to apply for a permit and sell tobacco products, as defined herein, at the specified location in Deerfield.

B. 

As part of the tobacco product sales permit application process, the applicant will be provided with the Deerfield regulation. Each applicant is required to sign a statement declaring that the applicant has read said regulation and that the applicant is responsible for instructing any and all employees who will be responsible for tobacco product sales regarding federal, state and local laws regarding the sale of tobacco and this regulation.

C. 

Each applicant who sells tobacco products is required to provide proof of a current tobacco retailer license issued by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, when required by state law, before a tobacco product sales permit can be issued.

D. 

A separate permit, displayed conspicuously, is required for each retail establishment selling tobacco products, as defined herein, the fee for which shall be determined by the Deerfield Board of Health annually.

E. 

A tobacco product sales permit is nontransferable. A new owner of an establishment that sells tobacco products, as defined herein, must apply for a new permit. No new permit will be issued unless and until all outstanding penalties incurred by the previous permit holder are satisfied in full.

F. 

Issuance of a tobacco product sales permit shall be conditioned on an applicant's consent to unannounced, periodic inspections of his/her retail establishment to ensure compliance with this regulation.

G. 

A tobacco product sales permit will not be renewed if the permit holder has failed to pay all fines issued and the time period to appeal the fines has expired and/or the permit holder has not satisfied any outstanding permit suspensions.

H. 

A tobacco product sales permit will not be renewed if the permit holder has sold a tobacco product to a person under the MLSA (§ 242-4A) three times within the previous permit year and the time period to appeal has expired. The violator may request a hearing in accordance with § 242-17, Violations, Subsection D.

I. 

Maximum number of tobacco product sales permits.

(1) 

At any given time, there shall be no more than eight tobacco product sales permits issued in Deerfield [reduced by the number of permits not renewed pursuant to Subsection I(2) below]. No permit renewal will be denied based on the requirements of this subsection, except any permit holder who has failed to renew his or her permit within 30 days of expiration will be treated as a first-time permit applicant. New applicants for permits who are applying at a time when the maximum number of permits have been issued will be placed on a waiting list and will be eligible to apply for a permit on a "first-come, first-served" basis as issued permits are either not renewed, revoked, or are returned to the Board of Health.

(2) 

As of January 1, 2017, any permit not renewed either because a retailer no longer sells tobacco products, as defined herein, or because a retailer closes the retail business, shall be returned to the Deerfield Board of Health and shall be permanently retired by the Board of Health and the total allowable number of tobacco product sales permits under Subsection I(1) shall be reduced by the number of the retired permits.

(3) 

A tobacco product sales permit shall not be issued to any new applicant for a retail location within 500 feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school as measured by a straight line from the nearest point of the property line of the school to the nearest point of the property line of the site of the applicant's business premises.

(4) 

Applicants who purchase an existing business that holds a current tobacco product sales permit at the time of the sale of said business must apply within 60 days of such sale for the permit held by the seller if the buyer intends to sell tobacco products, as defined herein.