(a) Registration. No business which is subject to licensure by the State shall commence operations or activity within the corporate limits of this Municipality without first registering said business with the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall maintain on file the registration of each business operating within this Municipality, which registration shall set forth the full name and purpose of such business and its address or addresses, and it shall be the responsibility of each business to promptly update and/or amend its registration information with the City Clerk as required. All businesses in operation before the effective date of this section and provided at least thirty days’ notice by this Municipality are also required to register with the City Clerk pursuant to this section, and must be so registered before the 1st day of July, 1991, or face a civil penalty as hereinafter set forth.
(b) Business. “Business” shall include all activities engaged in or caused to be engaged in with the object of gain or economic benefit, either direct or indirect, that are subject to licensure by the State. “Business” shall not include a casual sale by a person who is not engaged in the business of selling the type of property involved in such casual sale. “Business” shall include the production of natural resources or manufactured products which are used or consumed by the producer or manufacturer and shall include the activities of a banking business or financial organization.
(c) Civil Penalties.
(1) Pursuant to the provisions of West Va. Code 8-13-14, any person engaging or continuing to engage in any business without properly registering the business with the City Clerk as herein required may be assessed a civil penalty by the City Clerk, which penalty shall be not more than the general penalties for each such violation. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense.
(2) A civil penalty shall be assessed by the City Clerk only after the City Clerk shall have given at least ten days’ notice to the affected business. Notice shall be in writing, shall state the reason for the proposed civil penalty and the amount thereof, and shall designate a time and place for the affected business to appear before the City Clerk and show cause why the civil penalty should not be imposed. Notice shall be sent by certified mail to the address under which the registration was made.
(3) Any person adversely affected by a decision of the City Clerk imposing a civil penalty shall have the right of judicial review thereof by the Municipal Court of this Municipality. The affected business may, at the time designated for hearing by the Municipal Court, produce evidence in his or her behalf and be represented by counsel. Any person adversely affected by an order entered following such hearing shall have the right of judicial review thereof by the Circuit Court of Hancock County.
(Ord. 91-002. Passed 6-3-91.)