A. County License Required: No person shall conduct business as a peddler, solicitor, or transient merchant within City limits without first obtaining the appropriate license from the county, if the county issues a license for the activity, as may be required by Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 329.
B. City License Required: Except as provided for by this Chapter, no person shall conduct business within this jurisdiction as a peddler or transient merchant without first obtaining a City license. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are required to register with the City pursuant to Section 3-3-7 of this Chapter. Except as required herein, all license applications are subject to the provisions of Title 3, Chapter 1.
C. Application: An application for a City license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made on a form available from the office of the City Clerk and at least fourteen (14) days before the applicant desires to begin conducting a business operation within the City. All applications shall be signed by the applicant or authorized representative and shall include the requisite information under Section 3-1-2 of the City Code and any of the following information:
1. The dates the applicant intends to conduct business.
2. A general description of the items to be sold or services to be provided.
3. List of the three (3) most recent locations where the applicant has conducted business as a peddler, solicitor, or transient merchant.
4. Proof of any required County license.
5. Any additional information as may be deemed necessary by the City.
D. Procedure: Upon receipt of the application and payment of the license fee, the City Clerk will determine if the application is complete. An application will be considered complete if all required information is provided. If the City Clerk determines that the application is incomplete, the City Clerk must inform the applicant of the information that is missing. If the application is complete, the City Clerk must order an investigation, including background checks, to verify the information provided with the application pursuant to City Code Section 3-1-2.B. The City Clerk must issue the license unless grounds exist for denying the license. If the City Clerk denies the license application, the applicant must be notified in writing of the decision, the reason for denial, and the applicant’s right to appeal pursuant to City Code Section 1-3-4.
E. Duration: A license granted under this Chapter to a peddler shall be valid for the remainder of the calendar year from the date of issuance unless a shorter period of time is requested. A license granted under this Chapter to a transient merchant shall be valid for a maximum of fourteen (14) consecutive days unless a shorter period of time is requested; no more than one (1) transient merchant license may be issued to any applicant or for any business location in a calendar year.
F. License Exemptions:
1. No license shall be required for a noncommercial advocate. This exemption will not apply if those activities falling under the definition of a “noncommercial advocate” are merely incidental to what would properly be considered a commercial activity.
2. No license shall be required for any child under the age of eighteen (18) attempting to sell products or services when the child represents a school, church, or other civic organization to which they belong.
3. No license shall be required for any person to sell or attempting to sell, or to take or attempt to take orders for, any product grown, produced, cultivated, or raised on any farm or garden occupied and cultivated by themselves.
4. No license shall be required for a transient merchant whose activity is regulated under an interim conditional use permit from the City or whose activity is a permitted use in a commercial zoning district.
5. No license shall be required for any person going from house-to-house, door-to-door or any other type of place-to-place movement for the primary purpose of exercising that person’s State or Federal constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the like. This exemption will not apply if the person’s exercise of their constitutional rights is merely incidental to what would properly be considered a commercial activity.
6. A mobile food unit as defined in City Code Section 3-12-2 shall not be required to obtain a license as a transient merchant under this Chapter. All mobile food units must comply with Title 3, Chapter 12 of the City Code in order to operate within the City.