(A) Business license and lodging permit. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, entity or corporation to operate a transient lodging facility in the city without first obtaining a valid business license in accordance with §§ 110.015 through 110.034 of this chapter and a lodging permit in accordance with this subchapter.
(B) Annual application. An application for a lodging permit shall be filed annually with the Community and Economic Development Department by each transient lodging facility. Application for a lodging permit shall be filed on the forms provided by the city. Initial applications for a lodging permit by a new transient lodging facility or such facilities that have not previously held a lodging permit shall be filed concurrently with a business license application or business license renewal application. Thereafter, annual application shall follow the procedures outlined herein. The deadline for submitting the application for the renewal of a lodging permit shall be 60 days prior to the date of expiration of a current lodging permit, or if this date falls on a weekend or holiday, on the next business day. All required inspections shall be scheduled to be completed not less than 30 days prior to the date of expiration of a current lodging permit. The lodging permit shall be issued or denied within 60 days upon receipt of a completed application. In the event a transient lodging facility is denied a lodging permit, the Community and Economic Development Department shall provide written notice stating the reason(s) for the denial.
(C) Permit. The lodging permit application must provide the following:
(1) The name, address and registered agent of the person, corporation or other entity that owns or operates the transient lodging facility;
(2) The name and 24-hour telephone number for the representative of the transient lodging facility that will be available to interact with the police and/or emergency responders to the transient lodging facility;
(3) A copy of any citation, violation, notice, warning or other similar correspondence issued to the transient lodging facility by any governmental agency (state, federal or local) other than the city in the past 36 months relating to any alleged dangerous or unlawful condition at the transient lodging facility;
(4) A copy of the building plans for the transient lodging facility, where available, in a form acceptable to the Chief Building Official and Fire Chief (unless such plans are already on file with the city in an acceptable format);
(5) Confirmation of the number of rooms/units within the transient lodging facility;
(6) The current names and telephone numbers for any person employed as a manager of the transient lodging facility; and
(7) Such other information as shall be deemed necessary by the City Community and Economic Development Department.
(D) Misrepresentation. Any material misrepresentation in a lodging permit application or failure to provide the required information are grounds for denial.
(E) Authorization and consent.
(1) The submission of a lodging permit application hereunder shall constitute the consent of the applicant, its owners and managers to an annual inspection of the entire premises by any authorized personnel of the city in accordance with this subchapter.
(2) An applicant or licensee’s refusal to grant access to the premises for an inspection may constitute grounds for denial of a pending application or renewal of a lodging permit.
(F) Scheduling inspections.
(1) Transient lodging facility licensees and lodging permit applicants shall schedule written inspections with the Community and Economic Development Department not less than 60 days prior to the date in which their then-current business license or lodging permit expires, and shall provide written notification of the pending room inspection to all persons who are then-currently renting or who will be renting a room/unit at the transient lodging facility on the scheduled date(s) of inspection.
(2) The transient lodging facility shall reasonably cooperate with the city and its agents and employees, in gaining access to every room, including, but not limited to, requiring tenants to change rooms to permit inspection of every room at the earliest possible time.
(G) Violations revealed during inspection. In the event an inspection reveals the violation of any applicable standard, ordinance, state or federal law, the violation shall be documented in writing and submitted to the transient lodging facility. The transient lodging facility shall be responsible for correcting the violation(s) within the timeline specified by the city. If, upon subsequent inspection, the violation has not been corrected, then the city may deny a lodging permit, issue a citation to the transient lodging facility for any violation or enter into a compliance agreement whereby the transient lodging facility agrees to correct the violation and/or pay a specified fine to the city in lieu of issuance of a citation.
(H) Franchise inspection. The Community and Economic Development Department may accept inspections conducted by a third party pursuant to the transient lodging facility’s franchise requirements in lieu of an annual inspection performed by the city. However, acceptance of franchise inspections is contingent upon the transient lodging facility making available its inspection specifications and requirements, a copy of the inspection findings, written certification that the inspection is performed at least annually and that the franchise inspection complies with the requirements of this subchapter.
(I) License term. Business licenses and lodging permits shall be valid for a period of one year commencing on the date of issuance. The holders of a business license and lodging permit shall re-apply for additional periods of one year.
(J) Legal expenses. In the event that the city is compelled to pursue legal or administrative action based upon any actual or alleged violation and the city prevails in such action, the city shall also be entitled to recover the costs incurred by the city in providing personnel to investigate, process, prosecute or testify at any hearing to such legal action, which cost shall be consistent with the costs associated with the process of reinspection (cost plus 5%), and the transient lodging facility shall be responsible for such costs.
(Prior Code, § 14.16.020) (Ord. 20-20, passed 11-5-2020) Penalty, see § 114.999