(A) If the City Council finds that the applicant is the owner of the vehicles for which a certificate has been applied and that such vehicles are fit and safe for the transportation of passengers and conform to the requirements of this article and to such other requirements as the City Council may make under authority conferred on it by this chapter, it may issue the applicant the certificate provided for in this article.
(B) Such certificate shall not be transferable unless its transfer shall have first been approved by the City Council, but the person to whom the certificate is issued may, by an appropriate endorsement made thereon by the City Council, substitute another vehicle in the place of that for which the certificate is granted; provided, however, that should the City Council find that public convenience and necessity require additional taxicabs or vehicles for hire, preference may be given to operators operating existing service, should they be in a position to furnish it.
(1989 Code, § 7-370)