Gas station, tobacco retailer sues Elk Grove over license suspension
Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen is employed as a lobbyist for an association that represents convenience stores and tobacco retailers.
A local gas station convenience store is asking a judge to overturn the City of Elk Grove’s decision to suspend its tobacco-retailer license, arguing the city relied on “inconsistent and contradictory” standards and retaliated when the shop appealed.
The petition was filed on June 17 in Sacramento County Superior Court by A&M Gas 4 Inc., which operates at 8999 Elk Grove Boulevard, and is seeking an immediate stay of the suspension. The store’s lawyer, Eliel Chemerinski, says Elk Grove officials failed to follow state law when they cited the shop on March 12 for selling “FRE Sweet” nicotine pouches the city deemed a flavored product.
According to the complaint, a different Elk Grove police officer inspected the store three months earlier and “observed, but took no action against” the same product. The petition alleges that during the March visit an officer told employees to “Google” whether the pouches were legal and provided no official guidance.
The city later imposed a 60-day suspension and, after the retailer filed a timely appeal on April 11, extended the penalty to 90 days without citing any new evidence, a move the lawsuit calls an “improper retaliatory penalty.”
A&M Gas contends the city’s enforcement is premature because Assembly Bill 3218, which classifies tobacco products as flavored unless they appear on a state “Unflavored Tobacco List,” took effect before the list was published. The company says the manufacturer markets FRE Sweet as unflavored and that publicly available sources confirm it contains no “characterizing flavor” as defined by state law.
The petition asks the court to set aside the suspension, arguing the city abused its discretion, lacked substantial evidence, and violated due-process protections by shifting standards without laboratory testing or state confirmation. It also claims that the harsher penalty imposed after the appeal discourages retailers from exercising their legal rights.
As a matter of policy, the City of Elk Grove does not comment on pending litigation. Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen is employed as a lobbyist for an association that represents convenience stores and tobacco retailers.
A&M Gas says the 90-day suspension, if allowed to take effect, would cause “irreparable harm” and seeks a court order allowing the store to continue selling tobacco products while the case proceeds. A hearing date for the stay request has not yet been set.
