(A) License required.
(1) Every person without a permanent place of business in the city who engages in the business of hawking, peddling, or vending goods, wares, merchandise, pictures, foodstuffs, services, or advertising from door to door, house to house, or building to building, or from or upon the streets, alleys, parks, or other public places of the city, or from any hotel, motel, rooming house, or trailer house on foot, or from or in any vehicle of any nature whatever, either by sample or by taking or soliciting orders for immediate delivery or for delivery in the future, shall comply with the provisions of this section. Every person without a permanent place of business in the city who engages in the business of photography, portraiture, photochromography, operating a photograph studio, taking pictures or any other branch of the photographic art whatever, whether from door to door, house to house, or building to building, or from or upon the streets, alleys, or other public places of the city, or from any hotel, motel, rooming house, or trailer house on foot, or from or in any type of vehicle whatever, shall comply with the provisions of this section.
(2) Every person without a permanent place of business in the city engages in the business of soliciting orders for photographs, peddling tickets, certificates, or other documents intended to apply in whole or in part as payment for photographs, frames, or other photographic merchandise or other material, or in any other manner whatever engages in the business of, or soliciting orders for, any branch of the photographic art in any respect, including copying, retouching, enlarging, or coloring of photographs or photographic negatives and prints shall comply with the provisions of this section.
(3) No person shall be relieved from the provisions of this section by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer having a fixed place of business in the city or by conducting a temporary, transient, or itinerant business in connection with, or as a part of or in the name of, any such local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer having a fixed place of business within the city.
(B) Application.
(1) Every person desiring to conduct, carry on, manage, or engage in any of the businesses set forth in subsection § 6-1.53(A) of this section shall apply for a license for such business to the License Tax Collector of the city upon forms to be provided by the License Tax Collector, which forms shall require the following information from the applicant:
(a) The full name, permanent business address, local business address, and residence address of the applicant if an individual, or its authorized representative if other than an individual; the nature of the applicant, that is, whether individual, partnership, firm, corporation, or otherwise; the full names, ages, addresses, and occupations of each person who shall actually vend, sell, solicit, or otherwise engage in any act whatever within the city herein required to be licensed on behalf of, or for, the applicant, whether as principal, agent, servant, employee, associate, partner, representative, or otherwise; and
(b) A specific description of the article or service proposed to be sold, vended, or performed, whether for immediate or future delivery or performance, and the proposed method of delivery and performance, including information as to whether such sales will be made by quantity, weight, quality, package, or otherwise, and whether delivery or performance will be made personally or by mail, or in what other manner.
(2) In the event any form, contract, order blank, warranty, agreement, or other written or printed document is to be signed by the purchaser or person receiving property or service or is involved in any manner otherwise in the business of the applicant, the application form must be accompanied by a copy of such form, contract, order blank, warranty, agreement, or other written or printed document.
(3) Each application must be accompanied by two prints of a recent photograph of each individual person who will actually engage in vending, selling, soliciting, peddling, or doing any other act required under the provisions of this section to be licensed, whether as principal, agent, servant, employee, associate, partner, representative, or otherwise, which photographs shall not exceed one square-inch in size and shall be full front views of the face and head only of such persons.
(4) In each case where it appears that the applicant will or may demand, accept, or receive payments or deposits of money or property in advance of final delivery or performance of services, the application shall be accompanied by a cash deposit of $1,000, or by a bond to the city in the penal sum of $1,000, issued by a surety company authorized to do business within the state. Such bond shall be conditioned for making final delivery of goods, wares, or merchandise ordered or for final performance of services to be performed in accordance with the order, agreement, or contract entered into, and failing therein, the advance payment or deposit on such order shall be refunded or returned. Any person aggrieved by the action of any such applicant shall have a right of action on the deposit or bond for the recovery of money or damages, or both. The cash deposit or bond, as the case may be, shall remain in full force and effect and be retained by the city for a period of 90 days after the expiration of any such license or the termination of any action upon the bond or deposit, of which the License Tax Collector shall have been notified, unless sooner released by the License Tax Collector.
(5) Each application shall be accompanied by the following license fee unless exemption therefrom is approved by the License Tax Collector in the manner hereinafter provided: the sum of $600 for payment for the calendar-year , or portion thereof, in advance, unless such applicant desires to obtain a license for less than a calendar-year in which case the minimum charge shall be $50 for any month period or any portion thereof, payable in advance.
(6) At the time of making such application, each individual person, whether as principal or agent, servant, or employee, who shall actually engage in selling, soliciting, vending, or doing any other act covered under the provisions of this section, shall present himself or herself at the office of the Police Chief for the purpose of being fingerprinted and supplying routine information required on the fingerprint forms provided at no expense by the city, including the physical characteristics of each such person, identifying marks or scars, age, name, address, and signature. Such fingerprint records are to be taken in triplicate, and each such individual is advised that the city reserves the right to retain one of such fingerprint records in its files for permanent safekeeping, and to send one such fingerprint record to the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice, and to the Criminal Investigation Department of the State Department of Justice for the purpose of filing. No fingerprint records will be returned in the event the license applied for is not issued or is subsequently suspended or revoked.
(C) Exemptions. The following individual applicants shall be exempted from the payment of the license fees required by this section but must fully comply otherwise with the requirements hereof as to applications, fingerprinting, bonds, and pictures:
(1) Every honorably discharged veteran who meets the requirements of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 16001. Such exemption shall apply only to an individual applicant engaged in peddling, vending, or soliciting for, and by, himself or herself alone, and shall not apply to any individual applicant otherwise entitled to such exemption who employs agents, servants, or employees in such activities, nor to any other type of applicant of which a person otherwise entitled to such an exemption is an officer, member, agent, or employee. All claims for such exemption shall be referred to the County Service Officer for investigation and recommendation.
(2) Every individual person selling and vending farm fruits and vegetables grown and produced by his or her own labor on real property belonging to, or possessed by, the individual. All claims for such exemption shall be referred to the County Agricultural Commissioner for investigation and recommendation.
(3) Every applicant claiming to be entitled to exemption from the payment of any license provided for in this section upon the ground that such license casts a burden upon his or her right to engage in commerce with foreign nations or among the several states, or conflicts with the regulations of the Congress respecting interstate commerce, shall file a verified statement with the License Tax Collector disclosing the interstate or other character of his or her business entitled to such exemption. Such statement shall state the name and address, the company or firm for which the orders are to be solicited or secured, the name of the nearest local or state manager, if any, and his or her address, the kind of goods, wares, or merchandise to be delivered, the place from which the same is to be shipped or delivered, the method of solicitation or taking orders, the location of any warehouse, factory, or plant in the state, the method of delivery, the name and address of the applicant, and any other facts necessary to establish such claim exemption. All claims for such exemption shall be referred to the City Attorney for investigation and recommendation.
(4) This section shall not apply to persons under the age of 14 years soliciting the sale or subscription of magazines or newspapers; nor shall it apply to peddlers, solicitors, or agents of trade supply houses calling upon specific trades.
(D) Issuance of license and identification cards. Upon the receipt of the application accompanied by the required documents and appropriate fees, the License Tax Collector shall issue a business license to the applicant and individual identification cards to all persons who shall actually solicit for, and on behalf of, the applicant, whether as principal or otherwise. Such identification card shall have affixed to it one of the pictures filed by the applicant and shall contain a reference to the issuance of the license, a description of the individual to whom issued, date of expiration, and the signature of the individual to whom issued. In the event the applicant claims an exemption from the payment of license fees under the provisions of subsection § 6-1.53(C) of this section, the License Tax Collector shall issue the license only after he or she has reviewed the report and recommendations of the County Service Officer, the Agricultural Commissioner of the County, or the City Attorney, as the case may be, and is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to such exemption.
(E) Use of license and identification cards. Each applicant, or if other than an individual, its representative, must at all times retain in his or her possession the business license issued by the License Tax Collector, and each person issued an identification card pursuant to this section must retain the same in his or her personal possession at all times while engaged in the business so licensed within the city and must produce and show the same upon the demand of any person solicited or of any Police Officer or official of the city. No licensee or person issued an identification card shall alter, remove, or obliterate any entry made upon such license or card or deface such license or card in any way. Each license and card shall be personal and not assignable or transferable, and no license or card may be used by any person other than the licensee or the person for whom issued.
(F) Conditions and regulations. The following conditions and regulations shall also apply to the exercise of the privileges granted by licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter in addition to those set forth in other sections of this chapter or by other laws of the city:
(1) Every licensee or holder of an identification card, upon the request of any police officer or other officer of the city, shall sign his or her name for comparison with the signature upon the license or card or the signature upon the license application.
(2) Any person acting under authority of any license issued who solicits orders for future delivery shall write each order at least in duplicate, plainly stating the quantity of each article or commodity ordered, the price to be paid therefor, the total amount ordered, and the amount to be paid on, or after, delivery. One copy of such order shall be given to the customer.
(G) Suspension and revocation. In the event the License Tax Collector has reasonable cause to believe, and does believe, that any licensee or other person employed by, or representing, such licensee is violating any of the provisions of this chapter, or any other law relating to the business of the licensee, the License Tax Collector shall have power to, and shall be authorized to, suspend such license and all identification cards so issued. If no written appeal is filed with the City Clerk protesting such suspension within two days of the date of such suspension, such suspension shall be deemed permanent and all such licenses or identification cards issued thereunder shall be deemed revoked.
(H) Appeals. In the event any applicant desires to appeal from any order, denial of exemption, order of suspension, or other ruling made under the provisions of this section, such applicant, or any other person aggrieved thereby, shall file written notice of such appeal with the City Clerk, and such matter shall be heard upon the next regular meeting of the Council, at which time the Council shall hear and receive evidence, written and oral, upon all matters involved. The decision of the Council shall be final upon all parties concerned.
(I) Denial of access. It shall be unlawful for any peddler, or person pretending to be a peddler, for the purpose of selling or pretending to sell or peddle any goods, wares, merchandise, or any article, material, or substance, or any solicitor, or any person pretending to be a solicitor, for the purpose of soliciting orders for any goods, wares, or merchandise or any article, material, or substance of whatsoever kind, to ring the bell or knock at the door of any residence or dwelling whereon a sign bearing the words "no peddlers," or words of similar import, is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view, or to peddle or pretend to peddle, or to solicit or pretend to solicit, orders for any goods, wares, or merchandise or any article, material, or substance in any building whereon or wherein a sign bearing the words, "no peddlers," or words of similar import, is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view.
('61 Code, § 6-1.53) (Ord. 228 N.S., passed - - ; Am. Ord. 423 C.S., passed 4-2-84; Am. Ord. 657 C.S., passed 6-19-96; Am. Ord. 709 C.S., passed 9-15-99)