(A) County license required. No person shall conduct business as a peddler, solicitor, or transient merchant within the city limits without first having obtained the appropriate license from the county as required by M.S. Chapter 329, as it may be amended from time to time, if the county issues a license for the activity.
(B) City license required. Except as otherwise provided for by this chapter, no person shall conduct business as either a peddler or a transient merchant without first having obtained a license from the city. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are still required to register pursuant to § 114.07.
(C) Application. Application for a city license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made at least 14 regular business days before the applicant desires to begin conducting business. Application for a license shall be made on a form approved by the City Council and available from the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer. All applications shall be signed by the applicant. All applications shall include the following information:
(1) Applicant’s full legal name;
(2) All other names under which the applicant conducts business or to which applicant officially answers;
(3) A physical description of the applicant (hair color, eye color, height, weight, distinguishing marks and features, and the like);
(4) Full address of applicant’s permanent residence;
(5) Telephone number of applicant’s permanent residence;
(6) Full legal name of any and all business operations owned, managed or operated by applicant, or for which the applicant is an employee or agent;
(7) Full address of applicant’s regular place of business (if any);
(8) Any and all business related telephone numbers of the applicant;
(9) The type of business for which the applicant is applying for a license;
(10) Whether the applicant is applying for an annual or daily license;
(11) The dates during which the applicant intends to conduct business, and if the applicant is applying for a daily license, the number of days he or she will be conducting business in the city (maximum 14 consecutive days);
(12) Any and all addresses and telephone numbers where the applicant can be reached while conducting business within the city, including the location where a transient merchant intends to set up business;
(13) A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted within the last 5 years of any felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor for violation of any state or federal statute or any local ordinance, other than traffic offenses;
(14) A list of the 3 most recent locations where the applicant has conducted business as a peddler or transient merchant;
(15) Proof of any requested county license;
(16) Written permission of the property owner or the property owner’s agent for any property to be used by a transient merchant;
(17) A general description of the items to be sold or services to be provided;
(18) All additional information deemed necessary by the City Council;
(19) The applicant’s driver’s license number or other acceptable form of identification; and
(20) The license plate number, registration information and vehicle identification number for any vehicle to be used in conjunction with the licensed business and a description of the vehicle.
(D) Fee. All applications for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied by the fee established by City Council.
(E) Procedure. Upon receipt of the completed application and payment of the license fee, the City Clerk/Treasurer, within 2 regular business days, must determine if the application is complete. An application is determined to be complete only if all required information is provided. If the City Clerk/Treasurer determines that the application is incomplete, the City Clerk/Treasurer must inform the applicant of the required necessary information that is missing. If the application is complete, the City Clerk/Treasurer must order any investigation, including background checks, necessary to verify the information provided with the application. Within 10 regular business days of receiving a complete application the City Clerk/Treasurer must issue the license unless there exist grounds for denying the license under § 114.04, in which case the Clerk/Treasurer must deny the license. If the City Clerk/Treasurer denies the license, the applicant must be notified in writing of the decision, the reason for denial, and of the applicant’s right to appeal the denial by requesting, within 20 days of receiving notice of rejection, a public hearing before the City Council. The City Council shall hear the appeal within 20 days of the date of the request. The decision of the City Council following the public hearing can be appealed by petitioning the Minnesota Court of Appeals for a writ of certiorari.
(F) Duration. An annual license granted under this chapter shall be valid for 1 calendar year from the date of issue. All other licenses granted under this chapter shall be valid only during the time period indicated on the license.
(G) License exemptions.
(1) No license shall be required for any person to sell or attempt to sell, or to take or attempt to take orders for, any product grown, produced, cultivated, or raised on any farm.
(2) No license shall be required of any person going from house-to-house, door-to-door, business-to-business, street-to-street, or other type of place-to-place when the activity is for the purpose of exercising that person’s state or federal constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, press, religion, and the like, except that this exemption may be lost if the person’s exercise of constitutional rights is merely incidental to a commercial activity.
(3) Professional fund raisers working on behalf of an otherwise exempt person or group shall not be exempt from the licensing requirements of this chapter.