(a) If the number of applications filed by qualified individual applicants as defined under Sections 205 and 209 equals or is less than the number of new licenses authorized for individual use in a 2-year period, the Director must issue a license to each qualified applicant. If the number of applicants from qualified individuals exceeds the number of new individual licenses authorized for that period, the Director must conduct a lottery among each group of qualified individuals with an equal number of years’ experience regularly driving a taxicab in the County to determine the priority of issuance.
(b) Licenses issued by lottery must be awarded under the procedures of this Section and Section 205.
(c) The Director may conduct a separate lottery for:
(1) licenses for accessible taxicabs;
(2) other new licenses that become available; and
(3) any other authorized license that become available.
(d) A lottery must be conducted so that each qualified applicant has an equal probability of receiving a license, subject to the seniority ranking required by Section 205(c).
(e) A lottery may be conducted in 2 separate phases. Phase 1 would determine the recipients of available individual licenses and continue until all available licenses have been awarded. Phase 2 would create an eligibility list for issuance of individual licenses that later become available. The drawing in Phase 2 must continue until twice the number of available licenses have been drawn, or a smaller number if sufficient applicants did not apply for an individual license. The eligibility list created under Phase 2 is valid for the remainder of the 2 year period, or until the next lottery is conducted if longer than 2 years.
(f) As licenses become available for reissuance, the Department must notify the applicant highest on the eligibility list that a license is available and of the applicable acceptance procedures and deadlines. The Department must send notice by mail to the address listed by the applicant on the application or to any updated address provided by the applicant in writing to the Department. If the taxicab is not placed in service within 90 days after the license is issued, the Director must revoke the applicant’s eligibility and notify the next applicant on the eligibility list. The Director may extend the time to place a taxicab in service to permit the taxicab to be retrofitted for use as an accessible taxicab. (2004 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1.)
Editor’s note—2017 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1, and 2015 L.M.C., ch. 39, § 2, state: Not later than January 1, 2016, the Director must issue 100 new licenses following the procedures in Sections 53-205 and 53-210 as follows:
(a) 25 to individuals who do not hold a license under this Chapter, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles;
(b) 25 to fleets that hold fewer than 100 licenses, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles; and
(c) 50 accessible vehicle licenses to a driver-owned cooperative fleet that the Director determines is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53.
2017 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1,also states: Sec. 3.
(a) A license approved for issuance under Section 2, but for which a taxicab vehicle was not placed in service, must be issued if the applicant:
(1) notifies the Department of its intention to place a taxicab vehicle in service under this Section;
(2) is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53; and
(3) places a taxicab in service not later than January 31, 2019.
(b) If any of the 50 accessible licenses allocated to a driver-owned cooperative under Section 2 are not issued to the cooperative by January 31, 2019, either because the Director determines that the cooperative is not a qualified applicant under Chapter 53, or because the cooperative otherwise declines to obtain them, the licenses may be issued to individuals who do not currently hold licenses under this Chapter.
2015 L.M.C., ch. 39, § 3, states: If any of the 50 accessible licenses allocated to a driver-owned cooperative under Section 2 are not awarded to the cooperative by June 1, 2016, either because the Director determines that the cooperative is not a qualified applicant under Chapter 53, or because the cooperative otherwise declines to obtain them, the licenses must be issued to individuals who do not currently hold licenses under this Chapter.