(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. Ch. 329, as it may be amended from time to time.
(B) City license required. Except as otherwise provided for by this chapter, no person shall conduct business as a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant without first having obtained a license from the City. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are still required to register pursuant to § 113.07 of this chapter.
(C) Application.
(1) Application for a City license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made at least 14 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 Administrator. All applications shall be signed by the applicant. All applications shall include the following information:
(a) The full legal name and date of birth of the applicant. Applicants shall provide a current driver’s license or identification card issued by the state or other state, which license or card must include a picture of the person to whom it was issued;
(b) The business and residence address(es) and telephone number(s) of the applicant, including a street or rural route address, the City or town, and the state. A post office box number shall not be accepted as an address for the applicant. Address information shall include both the applicant’s permanent address and, if different, the applicant’s temporary address in the vicinity of the City;
(c) The address to which all notices required under this chapter shall be sent;
(d) The age, sex, weight, height and color of eyes and hair of the applicant;
(e) A description of any vehicle and license number to be used in the regulated activity;
(f) The name, phone number and address of the person, firm, association or corporation that the applicant represents or is employed by, or whose merchandise is being sold, and the name, phone number and address of the manager or supervisor to whom the applicant reports to during the course of undertaking the regulated activity. The address information shall indicate a street or rural route address, the City or town, and the state at which the firm is located. A post office box number shall not be accepted as an address for the business entity. Address information shall include both the business entity’s permanent address and, if different, the business entity’s temporary addresses in the vicinity of the City;
(g) A description of the kind and nature of the property, goods, wares, merchandise or services sold or solicited for sale by the applicant, and an itinerary identifying the intended dates and areas of the City in which the applicant will be undertaking any regulated activity along with the proposed method of delivery;
(h) The signature of the applicant;
(i) Whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of a violation of any ordinance of the City or any other municipality; and if so, a description of the nature of the violation, the date of the conviction, and the name of the City involved;
(j) Whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of a violation of any statute of the United States, the State of Minnesota or any other state; and, if so, a description of the nature of the violation, the date of the conviction and the name of the sate or other jurisdiction involved;
(k) The length of time during which the regulated activity is to be conducted, but no event is to exceed 14 days from the date of registration; and
(l) The names of other municipalities, not to exceed three, where the applicant has carried on a similar business and the addresses from which the business was conducted in those municipalities.
(2) At the time of filing the application, a non-refundable fee shall be paid to the City Administrator cover administrative fees and the cost of investigation of the facts stated therein.
(3) Each application shall be referred to the City’s Police Department for investigation, the results of which shall be reported to the City Clerk-Treasurer. The peace officer shall have ten business days within which to investigate and make a recommendation thereon.
(D) Procedure. Upon receipt of the completed application and payment of the license fee, the City Administrator, within two 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 Administrator determines that the application is incomplete, the City Administrator must inform the applicant of the required necessary information that is missing. If the application is complete, the City Administrator must order any investigation, including background checks, necessary to verify the information provided with the application. Within ten regular business days of receiving a complete application, the City Administrator must issue the license unless there exist grounds for denying the license under § 113.04 of this chapter, in which case the City Administrator must deny the license. If the City Administrator 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 state’s Court of Appeals for a writ of certiorari.
(E) Duration. An annual license granted under this chapter shall be valid for one calendar year form the date of issue. All other licenses granted under this chapter shall be valid only during the time period indicated on the license.
(F) License exemptions. This section does not apply to:
(1) The sale of the products of the farm or garden occupied or cultivated by the seller;
(2) Persons 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, that this exemption may be lost if the person’s exercise of Constitutional rights is merely incidental to a commercial activity;
(3) Sales of personal property at wholesale to dealers in the articles;
(4) The sale of newspapers;
(5) The acts of merchants or their employees in delivering goods in the regular course of business;
(6) A sale required by statute or by order of any court, or the conduct of a bona fide auction sale pursuant to law; and
(7) An organization that desires to use a solicitor to solicit money, donations of money or property or financial assistance of any kind, or that desires to sell or distribute any item of literature or merchandise for which a fee is charged or solicited, for a charitable, religious, patriotic, political or philanthropic purpose is exempt from the provisions of this section; provided, the organization files the following information with the City Administrator:
(a) The organization’s name and the specific cause for which an exemption is sought;
(b) The names and addresses of the officers and directors of the organization;
(c) The period during which the solicitation is to be carried out; and
(d) Whether any commission, fee or wage will be expended in connection with the solicitation and the amount thereof.
(G) Issuance.
(1) Upon being satisfied that the organization is acting for a charitable, religious, patriotic, political or philanthropic purpose, the City Administrator shall issue a license without fee to the organization.
(2) The organization shall furnish credentials to all of its members, agents or representatives participating in solicitation.
(3) The credentials shall state the name of the organization, the name of the agent and the purpose of the solicitation.
(Prior Code, § 1103.03)