(a) Upon receipt of an application for a license required by this chapter, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation to be made to determine the lawfulness of the applicant's business enterprise and to determine if the applicant or any person having a financial interest in the business enterprise has been convicted of any felony, theft-related offense, or crime involving moral turpitude. Said investigation will include, but not be limited to, a fingerprinting/fingerprint investigation of the applicant/owner.
(b) Based on such investigation, the Chief of Police shall approve or disapprove the application and shall notify the applicant by certified mail of his or her decision. If the application is approved, the Chief shall issue a license.
(c) Licenses for carrying on the business of a dealer of secondhand articles shall be issued annually and shall expire on December 31. When an application for a renewal is made upon expiration of a license, the applicant shall pay a non-refundable re-investigation license renewal fee of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00). The fee for an initial license investigation shall be prorated as of the date of issuance. The license shall contain the name under which the business is to be conducted, the name of every person with a financial interest in the business and the location at which the business is to be carried on.
(d) Licenses issued under this chapter are not transferable and the business may be conducted only at the location for which the license is issued. A change in the financial interest of the business enterprise in excess of fifty-one percent shall be deemed a transfer and require that a new application for a license be filed with the Chief of Police.
(e) The license must be so placed at the business location as to be conspicuously visible. No secondhand dealer, not licensed as a pawnbroker, shall display any sign or other device in or about the premises where such business is conducted which in any way resembles the emblem or sign commonly used by pawnbrokers, or which is intended to give the appearance that the business conducted on such premises is, or is connected with, the business of a pawnbroker and calculated to so mislead; nor shall there by any sign displayed which is calculated to deceive.
(Ord. 1998-10. Passed 4-27-98; Ord. 2015-45. Passed 12-14-15.)