(a) In order to be eligible for a scooter sharing license:
(1) an applicant shall be in compliance with all applicable City, State of Illinois and federal laws;
(2) an applicant shall have a place of business in the City:
(i) with respect to any corporate or limited liability company applicant, the company shall be organized or qualified to do business under the laws of the State of Illinois and have a place of business in the City of Chicago; or
(ii) with respect to any partnership applicant, the partnership shall have a place of business in the City of Chicago; or
(iii) with respect to any individual applicant, the applicant shall be a citizen or legal resident of the United States, residing and domiciled in the City.
(3) an applicant does not owe debt to the City as the term "debt" is defined in Section 4-4-150 of this Code.
(4) an applicant must comply with the application requirements provided in Section 9-103-040.
(5) an applicant must have its own Internet-enabled application or digital platform that is not supported by another applicant's Internet-enabled application or digital platform for running the applicant's scooter sharing business.
(6) an applicant shall meet the following requirements:
(i) The applicant must be of good character and repute;
(ii) The applicant must have procured, prepared and have ready at least 2,000 scooters on the first day of the first month of deployment;
(iii) The applicant must attest to their staffing ability to manage deployed scooters throughout the term of the license and to be responsive to concerns from the public, the City and sister agencies;
(iv) The applicant must attest to their commitment to take steps to identify, train, and employ City residents that have been historically disadvantaged in participating in the local economy;
(v) The applicant must attest to their commitment to reduce danger and inconvenience to non-riders caused by scooters and rider behavior by steps including, but not limited to, deploying lock-to scooters on their entire fleet and to implementing sidewalk riding detection technology on their entire fleet;
(vi) The applicant shall make scooter service accessible to people with disabilities and deploy a fleet comprised of at least 5 percent seated scooters at all times;
(vii) The applicant shall help meet the City’s goal of effectively improving mobility and accessibility for residents who face elevated economic, health, social, mobility and accessibility barriers through, at minimum, geographic distribution of scooters and provision of reduced cost programs for those with financial barriers:
(viii) The applicant must attest to their commitment to citywide education, engagement, outreach, rider safety, operations, and technology and innovation plans;
(ix) The applicant must have deployed a fleet of scooters in a city within the United States with a population over 1 million for a minimum of 12 months;
(x) The applicant must be able to meet the operational requirements provided in this chapter; and
(xi) The applicant must have the technological ability to meet the requirements of this chapter.
(b) No applicant is eligible for a license if: (1) any city scooter sharing license or permit held by the applicant, or by any officer or director of a corporate applicant or partner of a partnership applicant or manager or managing member of a limited liability company applicant, has been revoked within the previous three years, or has been denied, rescinded, within the 12-month period preceding the date of application; or (2) if the applicant, or any officer or director of a corporate applicant or partner in a partnership applicant, within the three years immediately preceding the date of the applicant's application, has been either convicted, or in custody, under parole or under any other noncustodial supervision resulting from a conviction in a court of any jurisdiction for the commission of any felony as defined by Article 2 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012, codified at 720 ILCS 5/2-0.5 et seq., or its equivalent under federal or other jurisdictional law. Provided, however, any conviction for a minor cannabis offense, as defined in Section 4-4-005, shall not disqualify an applicant.
(c) If an application for the issuance or renewal of a license is denied, the applicant may within 10 days of the mailing of notice of the denial make a written demand upon the Commissioner for a hearing. Upon receipt of a timely written demand for a hearing, the Commissioner shall within 30 days conduct a hearing. If at such a hearing the applicant establishes through competent evidence that the denial was based upon incorrect findings, the Commissioner shall consider the applicant for issuance or renewal of a license subject to the requirements provided in this chapter. If at such a hearing the denial is found to have been based upon correct findings, the denial shall become final. After entry of a final denial, the applicant shall be ineligible to make a new application for a period of 12 months.
(Added Coun. J. 10-14-21, p. 37486, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-17-24, p. 11061, § 4)