Prince George's County approves new fees on liquor, gun, tobacco businesses

Prince George’s County approved a bill that will make liquor stores, gun retailers, tobacco shops and self-storage operators pay a new $5,000 use-and-occupancy fee, a move that turned the County Council into a fight over who gets to shape the county’s business landscape. The fee will rise each year, and the new law was pushed by Council Chair Krystal Oriadha.

The legislation was listed by the county legislative branch as CB-017-2026, AN ACT CONCERNING USE AND OCCUPANCY PERMIT FEES, and the public hearing was set for Tuesday, April 21, 2026. County materials said the bill would create a nonlapsing Quality of Life Improvement Fund, with the new revenue directed to youth programs, child care services, senior assistance, education and public health programs.

The council chambers were packed with mostly immigrant business owners, and opponents said the county was targeting them by classification instead of applying a broad business rule. Bruce Bereano, testifying for the storage industry, argued the bill was “blatantly unconstitutional and illegal.” Prince George’s County already requires a use-and-occupancy certificate before a business can begin operating, except in the City of Laurel, so critics said the new measure layered a selective fee on top of an existing permit system.

Oriadha defended the bill as a judgment call about what kinds of businesses Prince George’s County wants to attract and keep. The clash reflects a broader county debate that has been building since at least July 2025, when leaders began studying what they described as an oversaturation of tobacco and liquor stores, and residents complained that too many 24-hour convenience stores and tobacco shops were tied to crime in their neighborhoods. At the same time, the council introduced a separate package in April 2026 aimed at making it easier to attract better restaurants and help residents open and run businesses, underscoring the tension between revenue-raising regulation and a pro-growth pitch to the private sector.