(A) License eligibility.
(1) Prior to requesting of the City Council a certificate of public convenience and necessity or the use and operation of any vehicle or replacement thereof under the provisions of this chapter, such vehicle as desired to be operated shall be thoroughly examined and inspected by the Police Department and found to be sanitary, mechanically sound and to comply with such reasonable rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the City Council. These rules and regulations shall be promulgated to provide safe transportation and shall specify such safety equipment and regulatory devices as the City Council shall deem necessary therefor.
(2) When the Police Department has determined that a vehicle has met the standards established by the City Council, the Police Department shall issue to the City Clerk a statement of eligibility for license, which shall also state the authorized seating capacity of such vehicle.
(B) Periodic inspections. Every vehicle operating under this chapter shall be periodically inspected by the Police Department at such intervals as shall be deemed necessary to insure the continued maintenance and upkeep of each vehicle. If during the course of such an inspection any vehicle should be found to be unsafe or unfit for operation, notice shall be given by the Police Department to the holder of the certificate of convenience and necessity issued under this chapter and such vehicle shall not thereafter be operated as a vehicle for transporting persons for hire until the vehicle has been placed back into a safe condition for such operation. Nothing herein shall be construed to relieve any owner or operator of any vehicle from all or any duties imposed by law nor relieve such owner or operator from liability resulting from the unfitness of such vehicle or the negligent operation thereof.
(C) Vehicles must be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. Every vehicle operating under this chapter shall be kept in a sanitary condition and a daily state of cleanliness according to the rules and regulations promulgated by the City Council. In an effort to advance the clean and sanitary environment of each vehicle's interior, a minimum of two no smoking signs shall be visibly posted inside each taxicab, the provision of which shall be enforced to the best of each operator's ability.
('70 Code, § 24-5) (Ord. 1977-51, passed 10-24-77) Penalty, see § 10.99