(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, all business permits shall be issued for one year and must be renewed annually. Renewal permit applications, along with payment of the fee, shall be filed with the director a minimum of thirty calendar days prior to expiration of any existing permit. When an applicant submits a timely business permit renewal application pursuant to this paragraph, the director shall renew the permit effective upon the expiration of the old permit.
(b) The director may accept an application for renewal after the time specified in subsection (a) of this section, if it is filed before the expiration of the existing permit, or if it is filed not later than sixty calendar days after the expiration of the existing permit and the director finds that a serious illness that required hospitalization or confinement to bed, or other unforeseen and extraordinary circumstances, prevented a timely renewal application from being filed. When an application is submitted pursuant to this section, the fee shall be equal to the renewal fee established by resolution of the city council plus a late penalty of twenty-five percent thereof. Such application shall give the applicant no greater rights than the filing of an application for a new permit. If an applicant fails to submit a timely application, or if the director does not find that circumstances existed to justify the late filing of an application for renewal pursuant to this subsection, then the applicant shall cease operation of the business activity immediately.
(c) Except as otherwise provided for in this section, the director shall not accept a renewal application for a permit which has expired, or which for any other reason is not in full force and effect, at the time the application is submitted. The applicant may apply for a new permit if not prohibited from doing so by any other provision of this chapter, accompanied by the required fee for a new permit.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the director shall review a business permit renewal application in the manner prescribed in Section 5.08.030(c) of this chapter if the city has received a request for such review from one of the departments or officers of the city. Any interested person may appeal the director’s decision to the city council in the manner prescribed in Section 5.08.030(d) of this chapter.
(Ord. 786 § 2 (part), 1999)