For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given in this section:
AMUSEMENT DEVICE: Those devices and machines which, through the insertion of a coin, token, slug, paper currency or through an electronic transaction (e.g., bank card, credit card, etc.) will permit a person to play a game. It includes pinball machines, video games, electromechanical games, claw machines, cranes, pool tables, bowling machines, and all other devices of like kind, nature, or purpose; provided that, it does not include gambling devices. A vending machine is not an amusement device.
AUTHORIZED SPECIAL EVENT VENDOR: A vendor operating under authority of a special event business license.
BUSINESS: Includes all activities engaged in with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage to the taxpayer or to another person or class, directly or indirectly.
CARNIVAL: A business activity typically featuring a variety of mechanical rides and amusement devices for the enjoyment of customers thereof and that usually, but not necessarily, also offers food and beverage services, as well as games involving throwing, pitching or shooting skills, and sideshows.
CART: A mobile, nonmotorized conveyance capable of moving or being moved, which is intended to be pushed, pulled or otherwise similarly transported by an itinerant vendor during the normal course of business operation.
CIRCUS: A business activity typically featuring a variety of performances and exhibitions involving wild animals, feats of horsemanship, stunts, acrobatics, aquatic sports, and clowns for the enjoyment of the customers thereof, and to which a fee is charged for admission.
CITY: The city of Orting.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR: The city administrator for the city of Orting, or the city administrator's designee. The mayor shall possess the same authority to act pursuant to the provisions of this title as is granted herein to the city administrator.
CITY SPONSORED EVENT: A special event which benefits the community and is open for participation to the general community at large, and is conducted in whole or in part on public property or public rights of way, and the city, solely or in partnership with another entity, produces, manages and/or coordinates the event, or has agreed to provide in-kind services and/or other financing in support of the special event, or has agreed to lend its name in support of the special event, after determining that the special event either:
A. Provides a local commemoration of a national holiday;
B. Provides cultural or recreational experiences to city residents that are not otherwise routinely available in the community; or
C. Significantly enhances tourism or other forms of economic development to the city.
EMPLOYEE: Any person employed at any business enterprise performing any part of their duties within the city. All officers, agents, dealers, franchisees, etc., of a corporation or business trust, and partners of a partnership, except limited partners, are employees within this definition.
ENGAGING IN BUSINESS:
A. The term "engaging in business" means commencing, conducting, or continuing in business, and also the exercise of corporate or franchise powers, as well as liquidating a business when the liquidators thereof hold themselves out to the public as conducting such business.
B. This definition sets forth examples of activities that constitute engaging in business in the City, and establishes safe harbors for certain of those activities so that a person who meets the criteria may engage in de minimus business activities in the City without having to pay a business license fee. The activities listed in this definition are illustrative only and are not intended to narrow this definition of "engaging in business". If an activity is not listed, whether it constitutes engaging in business in the City shall be determined by considering all the facts and circumstances and applicable law.
C. Without being all inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the City by a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on its behalf constitutes engaging in business and requires a person to register and obtain a business license.
1. Owning, renting, leasing, maintaining, or having the right to use, or using, tangible personal property, intangible personal property, or real property permanently or temporarily located in the City.
2. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining, an office, place of business, or other establishment in the City.
3. Soliciting sales.
4. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible personal property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
5. Providing technical assistance or service, including quality control, product inspections, warranty work, or similar services on or in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf.
6. Installing, constructing, or supervising installation or construction of, real or tangible personal property.
7. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
8. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
9. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
10. Providing disinfecting and pest control services, employment and labor pool services, home nursing care, janitorial services, appraising, landscape architectural services, security system services, surveying, and real estate services including the listing of homes and managing real property.
11. Rendering professional services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, consultants, engineers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, veterinarians.
12. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
13. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the City, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
14. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
15. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to and owned by a customer, regardless of where sale and delivery of the goods took place.
16. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.
D. If a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person's behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the City but the following, it need not register and obtain a business license.
1. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
2. Meeting with government representatives in their official capacity, other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
3. Attending meetings, such as board meetings, retreats, seminars, and conferences, or other meetings wherein the person does not provide training in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf. This provision does not apply to any board of director member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
4. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the City.
5. Attending, but not participating in a "trade show" or "multiple vendor events". Persons participating at a trade show shall review the City's trade show or multiple vendor event ordinances.
6. Conducting advertising through the mail.
7. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the City.
E. A seller located outside the City merely delivering goods into the City by means of common carrier is not required to register and obtain a business license, provided that it engages in no other business activities in the City. Such activities do not include those in subsection D of this definition.
The City expressly intends that engaging in business include any activity sufficient to establish nexus for purposes of applying the license fee under the law and the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Washington. Nexus is presumed to continue as long as the taxpayer benefits from the activity that constituted the original nexus generating contact or subsequent contacts.
EVENT ORGANIZER: Any person who conducts, manages, promotes or organizes a commercial or noncommercial special event.
FOOD: Has its usual and ordinary meaning and includes all items designed for human consumption, including, but not limited to, candy, coffee, gum, popcorn, hot dogs, sandwiches, peanuts, soft drinks and dairy products.
FOOD VENDING OR FOOD VENDING SERVICES: Engaging in the business of vending food of any kind or description.
ITINERANT VENDOR: Any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee, or employee, whether a resident of the City or not, who engages in the business of providing vending services and who conducts such a business either in or about a stationary vendor unit, or from a mobile vendor unit by traveling from place to place, or customer to customer. A person, firm or corporation so engaged shall not be relieved from complying with the provisions of this chapter merely by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer, or by conducting such temporary business in connection with, as part of, or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer.
LICENSE OR BUSINESS LICENSE: As used generally in this chapter shall mean a written authorization to engage in business in the City issued by the City pursuant to the requirements of this chapter. A business license is categorized either as a general business license or a special business license. Unless otherwise provided herein, a reference to license or business license shall mean and refer to both a general and special business license.
LICENSEE: Any person issued a business license pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
LIFE AND SAFETY CODES: Building codes, fire codes, electrical codes and other codes of the city relating to health, safety and related requirements for use and occupancy of buildings.
MOBILE FOOD VENDOR: An itinerant vendor providing food vending services from a mobile vending unit.
MOBILE ICE CREAM VENDOR: A mobile vendor, either as a principal or agent, who engages in the vending of ice cream and/or frozen novelty items for immediate human consumption.
MOBILE VENDOR: An itinerant vendor providing vending services from a mobile vending unit.
MOBILE VENDOR UNIT: A vehicle, cart or other conveyance capable of moving or being moved and being used, or intended for use, by a person or persons to provide vending services while located within or upon the public rights of way.
NONCOMMERCIAL DOOR TO DOOR ADVOCATE: A person who goes door to door for the primary purpose of disseminating religious, political, social, or other ideological beliefs. For purpose of this chapter, the term door to door advocate shall fall under the term solicitor and include door to door canvassing and pamphleteering intended for noncommercial purposes.
NONPROFIT: Any business enterprise registered as a nonprofit corporation within the state of Washington or granted nonprofit status through the code of the internal revenue service of the United States.
OMC: The Orting municipal code.
PEDDLER: An individual who, on his or her own behalf or on behalf of, or as an agent, contractor or employee of another person, goes from house to house, door to door, business to business, street to street, or any other type of place to place movement, for the purpose of offering for sale, displaying or exposing for sale, selling or attempting to sell, and delivering immediately upon sale, the goods, wares, products, merchandise, or other personal property that the person is carrying or otherwise transporting. For purpose of this chapter, the term peddler shall have the same common meaning as the term "hawker".
PERSON: Any individual, receiver, administrator, executor, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust, estate, firm, copartnership, joint venture, club, company, joint stock company, business trust, municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state of Washington, corporation, limited liability company, association, society, or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit, or otherwise and the United States or any instrumentality thereof.
PHYSICAL PRESENCE: An address where the business is located. A post office box with an address in the city of Orting for a business is considered a physical presence.
PLACE OF BUSINESS: The physical location of the business.
PROMOTER OR ORGANIZER: Any person engaged in the business of providing to any vendor, directly, or indirectly, sales areas within a farmers' market, public market, or special event location for the purpose of using such location during the term of a farmers' market, public market or special event.
RESIDENCE: Means and includes every separate living unit occupied for residential purposes by one or more persons, contained within any type of building or structure.
SALES AREA: Any stall, booth, stand, space, section, unit, or specified floor area within any farmers' or public market or special event location where vending services will be provided.
SOLICITOR: An individual, on his or her own behalf or on behalf of, or as an agent, contractor or employee of another person, who goes from house to house, door to door, business to business, street to street, or any other type of place to place movement, for the purpose of obtaining or attempting to obtain orders for goods, wares, products, merchandise, other personal property, or services of which he or she may be carrying or transporting samples, or that may be described in a catalog or by other means, and for which delivery or performance shall occur at a later time. The absence of samples or catalogs shall not remove a person from the scope of this provision if the actual purpose of the person's activity is to obtain or attempt to obtain orders as discussed above. For purposes of this chapter, the term "solicitor" shall have the same meaning as the term "canvasser". The following are examples of activities of a solicitor:
A. Seeking to obtain orders for, or the sale of, goods, wares, merchandise, foodstuffs, or services of any kind, character, or description, for any kind of consideration whatsoever; or
B. Seeking to obtain prospective customers for application or purchase of insurance of any type, kind or character; or
C. Seeking to obtain subscriptions to books, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, and every other type or kind of publication; or
D. Seeking to obtain gifts or contributions of money, clothing, or other valuable things for the support or benefit of any charitable or nonprofit organization, association, or corporation.
SPECIAL BUSINESS LICENSE: A business license issued pursuant to this chapter and subject to special license requirements as set forth in this chapter and denominated as a special business license.
SPECIAL EVENT: An outside or outdoor thematic entertainment, amusement, athletic or political event, that is advertised or promoted inside or outside the city, on private property or in the exclusionary use of public property, and that is reasonably foreseeable to involve a large assemblage of vehicles and persons, and that may cause traffic congestion, impact required parking, involve sanitation and security concerns, the erection of structures or operation of rides, games or machines that may affect the city residents' or invitees' health, safety, or welfare, or that may require excessive public safety cost in responding to and/or managing the event to preserve the public peace. A special event has a specific start and stop date, and has no intervening dates of event inactivity, except for legislative or City sponsored events. A series of similar events is not considered a single event, unless conducted on consecutive days. The outdoor display or sale of merchandise or placement of vending on private property in connection with the sale of merchandise is not considered a special event. A special event can include, but is not limited to:
A. Any organized formation, parade, procession or assembly consisting of persons, and which may include animals, vehicles or any combination thereof, which is to assemble or travel in unison on any street which does not comply with normal or usual traffic regulations or controls; or
B. Any organized assemblage, not meeting the criteria for a facilities use permit, of persons at any public beach or public park which is to gather for a common purpose under the direction and control of a person; or
C. Any other organized activity conducted by a person or group for a common or collective use, purpose or benefit which involves the use of, or has an impact on, other public property or facilities and the provision of City public safety services in response thereto.
Examples of special events include filming, concerts, parades, circuses, fairs, festivals, block parties, automobile or motorcycle rallies, community events, sporting competition such as marathons and running events, bicycle races or tours, or spectator sports such as football, basketball and baseball games, golf tournaments or hydroplane or boat races.
SPECIAL EVENT VENDOR: An itinerant vendor providing vending services at a farmers' or public market or special event under authority of a special event business license.
STATIONARY FOOD VENDOR: An itinerant vendor who provides food vending services from a stationary vendor unit.
STATIONARY FOOD VENDOR UNIT: A stationary vendor unit used, or intended to be used, to provide food vending services.
STATIONARY VENDOR: An itinerant vendor who provides vending services from a stationary vendor unit.
STATIONARY VENDOR UNIT:
A. A vehicle, cart or other conveyance capable of moving or being moved, or
B. A structure that is not permanently affixed to real property, and which issued, or intended to be used, at a fixed location to provide vending services.
VENDING MACHINE: A machine which, through the insertion of a coin, token, slug, paper currency or through an electronic transaction (e.g., bank card, credit card, etc.), will return to the persona predetermined specific article of merchandise or which will install, repair, clean, alter, imprint, or improve tangible personal property of or for consumers. It includes machines which vend photographs, toilet articles, cigarettes and confections as well as machines which provide laundry and cleaning services.
VENDING OR VENDING SERVICES: Exhibiting goods or services for sale for the purpose of selling, bartering, trading, exchanging, or advertising such goods or services.
VENDOR: Any person who exhibits goods or services for sale for the purpose of selling, bartering, trading, exchanging, or advertising such goods or services. (Ord. 939, 4-30-2014; amd. Ord. 2018-1036, 9-26-2018)