(a) In reviewing a license application, the commissioner shall determine whether a proposed business activity is an emerging business type or a non-traditional business activity that falls outside the parameters of any existing regulated business license under Chapter 4-6 or other specific license type under Title 4, and whether the proposed business activity presents potential risks to the public health, safety and welfare such that, for the protection of the public, the activity must be subject to more intense regulation than would be associated with a limited business license.
(b) If the commissioner so determines, the commissioner may disapprove the license application. The applicant may seek a hearing on the disapproval pursuant to the procedures of Section 4-4-060.
(c) In the alternative, the commissioner is authorized to grant an emerging business permit to the applicant to engage in the proposed business activity on an experimental basis.
(d) The emerging business permit shall be non- renewable and valid for a maximum of two years. The emerging business permit shall be a personal privilege and not property. The emerging business permit shall not be transferrable to another location, person or business entity. If the officers or owners of the business change, the emerging business permit shall immediately terminate unless the change has been approved in advance by the commissioner.
(e) The commissioner may attach conditions to the emerging business permit as are reasonably required to protect the public health, safety and welfare from risks including, but not limited to: adverse impact on public health, public safety, increased demand on city services, increased environmental impacts, or increased traffic or congestion in the public way. The commissioner may attach any such conditions when the emerging business permit is issued, or the commissioner may attach, remove or modify conditions at any time during the term of the permit, upon reasonable notice to the permit holder.
(f) The commissioner may make a determination at any time during the term of the emerging business permit that the permitted business activity as conducted presents an unreasonable risk to the public health, safety and welfare which cannot be mitigated, and may rescind the emerging business permit, with or without prior notice. If an emerging business permit is rescinded, the permit holder shall be given the opportunity to appear before the commissioner to contest the permit rescission before the rescission is effective or no later than ten days after the rescission is effective.
(g) At the end of the term of the emerging business permit, the permit holder's permission to engage in the permitted business activity shall terminate unless (1) the City Council has established a new license category or amended an existing license category under which the permitted business activity may be licensed; and (2) the permit holder has applied for and obtained the necessary license.
(h) When issuing an emerging business permit, and when attaching, removing or modifying conditions on an existing emerging business permit, the commissioner shall make a report to the license review advisory group and to the chairman of the city council committee on license and consumer protection or its successor committee describing the permitted business activity and the conditions imposed upon that activity.
(i) After three-fourths of the emerging business permit term has elapsed, the permit holder may submit a report to the commissioner and to the chairman of the city council committee on license and consumer protection or its successor committee requesting that a license category be created or amended to license the permitted business activity. The report shall describe the permitted business activity, the history of its operation under the emerging business permit, any disciplinary, legal or law enforcement problems that arose out of the permitted business activity, any positive or negative impacts of the permitted business activity on the public health, safety and welfare, and the public benefit derived from the permitted business activity. The city council may, in its discretion, elect to establish a new license category or amend an existing license category on the same or different terms as the emerging business permit.
(j) Each application for an emerging business permit shall be considered independently. The issuance of an emerging business permit to an applicant, or the conditions imposed on a permit by the commissioner, shall not be precedent for the issuance of, or imposition of permit conditions upon, a similar emerging business permit to any other applicant or permit holder.
(k) Operation of a business under an emerging business permit shall constitute acceptance of the terms and conditions of this ordinance, any applicable rules and regulations, and any special conditions of the permit.
(l) The commissioner may issue rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section.
(Added Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 14)