Any person owning and operating one or more taxicabs or vehicles for hire in the city on the date of the adoption of the ordinance from which this section derives who can comply with the requirements of this article shall, upon application therefore, be entitled to a certificate for the number of such vehicles as such person shall be actually operating on such date without further proof of public convenience and necessity. No additional certificate, however, shall be issued unless the City Council determines that the public convenience and necessity require such additional service.
(1989 Code, § 7-371)