(A) No license may be issued until the Police Department, or the county Sheriff, if the city has no Police Department, has conducted an investigation of the representations set forth in the application, the applicant’s moral character, and the applicant’s financial status. All applicants must cooperate this investigation.
(B) No license, except for a renewed license, may be issued for a sexually oriented business until the Council has held a public hearing. Notice of the hearing must be made in the same manner for a zoning ordinance amendment affecting district boundaries. The Council must grant the license unless the applicant or the location does not meet the requirements of the city code, the application was incomplete, or the application contained false information or a material omission. If the application is denied, the city must notify the applicant with the reason(s) stated for denial. Notification must be sent certified, United States mail, return receipt requested, to the address provided on the license application. If the Council fails to act on the application within 45 days after receipt of a complete application, the application will be deemed approved. An applicant wishing to appeal the action of the City Council may seek a writ of certiorari before the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
(C) (1) The City Council may issue a license before an investigation, notice and public hearing for an applicant who:
(a) Had a license within the previous five years for the establishment that is specified in the application and that is continuing to operate under a license;
(b) Wishes to resume operation of the business without sufficient time, through no fault of his or her own, to meet the normal procedural requirements;
(c) Had no criminal license convictions, or license suspensions or revocations during the prior licensed period; and
(d) Otherwise qualifies and meets the requirements for a license.
(2) In this situation, the City Council may immediately issue an interim license to the applicant for a period of no longer than 90 days. The applicant must then proceed through the specified requirements for an investigation, notice, and public hearing. At the public hearing the Council will decide whether the license should continue in effect or be revoked. The applicant has no greater right to continuation of the license than he or she would have had to issuance of a new license following the normal procedure without the interim license.
(D) A license will be issued only to the applicant and for the premises described in the application. No license may be transferred to another person or place without application in the same manner as an application for a new license. Transfer of 25% or more of the stock of a corporation or of a controlling interest of it, whichever is less, will be deemed a transfer of the license. If the licensee is a corporation that is wholly owned by another corporation, the same provisions about the transfer of a stock or a controlling interest will apply to that parent corporation, any second parent corporation that wholly owns the parent corporation, and all other similarly situated parent corporations up through the chain of ownership. Transfer of this amount of stock without prior Council approval is a ground for revocation or suspension of the license. In addition, each day the licensee operates under the license after a transfer has taken place without obtaining Council approval will be a separate violation of this chapter.
(E) In the case of the death of a licensee, the personal representative of a licensee may continue operation of the business for not more than 90 days after the licensee’s death.