(A) City license required. Except as otherwise provided for by this chapter, no person shall conduct business within this jurisdiction as a peddler or a transient merchant without first obtaining a city license. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are required to register with the city pursuant to § 115.07.
(B) Application. An application for a city license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made at least 14 regular business days before the applicant desires to begin conducting a business operation within the city. Application for a license shall be made on a form approved by the City Council and available from the office of the City Administrator. All applications shall be signed by the applicant. All applications shall include the following information:
(1) Name and physical description of the applicant;
(2) A brief description of the proposed activity, its location, and the merchandise or service involved;
(3) The dates and hours of the day during which the activity will be conducted;
(4) Whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime other than petty traffic violations, the nature, time and location of the offense and the punishment or penalty imposed;
(5) The last cities or other localities, not exceeding five, where the applicant conducted the proposed activity immediately preceding the date of the application and where within those areas the activity took place;
(6) Make, model, year, color, and state license number of each motor vehicle to be used in connection with the proposed activity;
(7) The name, address, and phone number of the person or company employing the individual; and
(8) A copy of all documents to be used by the applicant in the regulated activity.
(C) Fee. All applications for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied by the fee established in the city licensing fee schedule as it may be amended from time to time.
(D) Procedure. Upon receipt of the application and payment of the license fee, the City Administrator will, within two regular business days, determine if the application is complete. An application will be considered complete if all required information is provided. If the City Administrator determines that the application is incomplete, the City Administrator must inform the applicant of the required, necessary information that is missing. If the application is complete, the City Administrator must order any investigation, including background checks, necessary to verify the information provided with the application. Within ten regular business days of receiving a complete application the City Administrator must issue the license unless grounds exist for denying the license application under Section 4, in which case the Administrator must deny the request for a city peddler or transient merchant license. If the City Administrator denies the license application, the applicant must be notified in writing of the decision, the reason for denial and the applicant's right to appeal the denial by requesting, within 20 days of receiving notice of rejection, a public hearing before the City Council. The City Council shall hear the appeal with 20 days of the date of the request for a hearing. The decision of the City Council following the public hearing can be appealed by petitioning the Minnesota Court of Appeals for a writ of certiorari.
(E) Duration. An annual license granted under this chapter shall be valid for one calendar year from the date of issuance. All other licenses granted to peddlers and transient merchants under this chapter shall be valid only during the time period indicated on the license.
(F) Professional fundraisers not exempt. A professional fundraiser working on behalf of an otherwise exempt group or person shall not be exempt from the licensing requirements of this chapter.
(G) License exemptions.
(1) No license shall be required for any person to sell or attempt to sell, or to take or attempt to take orders for, any product grown, produced, cultivated, or raised on any farm.
(2) No license shall be required for any person going from house-to-house, door-to-door, business-to-business, street-to-street, or any other type of place-to-place movement for the primary purpose of exercising that person's state or federal constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the like.
(Ord. 301, passed 8-1-2016)