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Adopting the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Recommendation submitted by the Administrative Law Judge, with exceptions, concerning the Tobacco Products Shop license (License ID #140001994) held by White Bear Tobacco Market Place Inc d/b/a White Bear Tobacco for the premises located at 1662 White Bear Avenue North and imposing the recommended presumptive matrix penalty and the costs of the contested case hearing before the Administrative Law Judge. (Licensee will speak to Council on their own behalf.)
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WHEREAS, White Bear Tobacco Market Place Inc d/b/a White Bear Tobacco (“Licensee”) holds a Tobacco Products Shop license (License ID #140001994). The Licensee was notified in a letter from the City Attorney’s Office dated May 14, 2025, titled Notice of Violation and Request for Imposition of $1,000 Matrix Penalty for a Second Underage Buyer Failure (“Notice”) (Exhibit #1), that the Department of Safety and Inspections (“Department”) would recommend the imposition of a $1,000 matrix penalty for the Licensee’s failure of the state-mandated underage buyer compliance check within 24 months; and
WHEREAS, the Notice explained that on April 22, 2025, the Department conducted an underage buyer tobacco compliance check during which an eighteen-year-old underage buyer entered the Licensee’s business located at 1662 White Bear Avenue North (“Licensed Premises”) to purchase a tobacco product. The clerk failed to ask the underage buyer for their age or for identification. Nevertheless, the clerk sold the underage buyer a pack of Camel Crush Menthol cigarettes, which is a violation of Saint Paul Legislative Code § 324.07(i); and
WHEREAS, the Department determined that this was the Licensee’s second violation within two years based on the Department’s records, which showed that the City Council imposed upon the Licensee a $500 matrix penalty after failing a previous underage buyer tobacco compliance check on August 23, 2023, and the presumptive mat...
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