(a) License Required. No person shall operate a bicycle upon any street, sidewalk or other public place in the City without having secured a license therefor.
(b) License Application.
(1) An application for bicycle license shall be made by the owner in writing, in duplicate, upon blank forms furnished by the Chief of Police.
(2) Such application shall be signed by the owner and if the owner is a person under eighteen years of age, the signature shall be witnessed by a parent of the owner, or if no parent is living, then by the legal guardian of the owner. The application shall state the full name and address of the owner of the bicycle, the name of the manufacturer, the serial number of the frame thereof, the approximate date when the owner obtained title thereto, and if not new, when obtained, the name and address of the person from whom it was obtained.
(c) Inspection of Bicycle Prior to License Issuance. The bicycle to be licensed shall be brought to the police station at the time of presenting the application for the purpose of examination and the Chief of Police shall examine the bicycle, and if he finds the mechanical condition thereof such that it can be safely operated, and further finds that the statements made in the license application are true, he shall issue the applicant a license card and a metal plate containing the license number for the bicycle.
(d) License Fee. The Chief of Police shall not issue a bicycle license to any person unless that person pays a fee of one dollar ($1.00) to the City.
(e) License Term. The license required by this article shall be valid as long as the licensee owns the bicycle; provided, however, that such license shall in any event expire three years after its issuance.
(f) Loss of License Plate. A bicycle licensee shall report immediately to the Chief of Police the loss or destruction of his license plate, and the circumstances surrounding the loss or destruction thereof. The Chief of Police shall issue a duplicate license plate upon payment of a fee of one dollar ($1.00).
(g) Surrender of License Upon Loss or Sale of Bicycle. When any bicycle which has been registered and licensed, as herein provided, is sold, or is otherwise disposed of, or destroyed, the licensee shall immediately surrender to the Chief of Police the license card and plate issued therefor, with the name and address of the new owner, if any, written on the face of the license. The Chief of Police shall immediately make proper endorsements thereof on his records and issue a new license card and plate to the new owner for a fee of one dollar ($1.00). The number of any license surrendered as provided in this section shall not be reissued.
(h) Inspection. Any member of the Police Department is hereby authorized to inspect any bicycle, at any reasonable time, for the purpose of making a checkup of the license plate and license number, serial number and for the purpose of determining its mechanical condition.
(i) Removal or Destruction of License Plate. No person shall remove from the bicycle, destroy, mutilate or alter any bicycle license plate issued pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(j) Removal or Destruction of Serial Number. No person, willfully or maliciously, shall remove, destroy, mutilate or alter the serial number of any bicycle licensed pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(k) Reports to Chief of Absence of Serial Number. No person residing in the City, or any dealer in bicycles operating in the City, shall purchase, receive in trade or otherwise acquire any bicycle from which the serial number on the frame has been removed, destroyed, mutilated or altered, without first reporting the same to the Chief of Police.
(l) Chief Authorized to Affix Serial Number. The Chief of Police is hereby authorized to stamp numbers on the frame of a bicycle in a legible manner for identification purposes, upon which no serial number can be found, or upon which the serial number is illegible or insufficient for identification purposes.
(m) Violations. After a hearing affording due process, the Chief of Police may revoke or suspend for a period of thirty days any bicycle license for any violation of any provisions of this section or any applicable provision of the statutes relating to bicycles; in addition, the Chief of Police may impound the bicycle of any such violator for a period not exceeding thirty days.
(1977 Code Secs. 4-1 to 4-13.)