(A) County license required. No person shall conduct business as a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant within the city limits without first having obtained the appropriate license from the county as required by M.S. Ch. 329 as it may be amended from time to time, if the county issues a license for the activity.
(B) City license required. Except as otherwise provided for by this chapter, no person shall conduct business as either a peddler or a transient merchant without first having obtained a license from the city. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are still required to register pursuant to § 111.07.
(C) Application. Application for a city license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made before the applicant desires to begin conducting business. Application for a license shall be made on a form approved by the City Council and available from the office of the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer. All applications shall be signed by the applicant. All applications shall include the following information:
(1) Applicant's full legal name.
(2) All other names under which the applicant conducts business or to which applicant officially answers.
(3) A physical description of the applicant (hair color, eye color, height, weight, distinguishing marks and features, and the like).
(4) Full address of applicant's permanent residence.
(5) Telephone number of applicant's permanent residence.
(6) Full legal name of any and all business operations owned, managed or operated by applicant, or for which the applicant is an employee or agent.
(7) Full address of applicant's regular place of business (if any).
(8) Any and all business related telephone numbers of the applicant.
(9) The type of business for which the applicant is applying for a license.
(10) The dates during which the applicant intends to conduct business, and if the applicant is applying for a daily license, the number of days he or she will be conducting business in the city.
(11) Any and all addresses and telephone numbers where the applicant can be reached while conducting business within the city, including the location where a transient merchant intends to set up business.
(12) A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted within the last five years of any felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor for violation of any state or federal statute or any local ordinance, other than traffic offenses.
(13) A list of the three most recent locations where the applicant has conducted business as a peddler or transient merchant.
(14) Proof of any requested county license.
(15) Written permission of the property owner or the property owner's agent for any property to be used by a transient merchant.
(16) A general description of the items to be sold or services to be provided.
(17) All additional information deemed necessary by the City Council.
(18) The applicant's driver's license number or other acceptable form of identification.
(19) The license plate number, registration information and vehicle identification number for any vehicle to be used in conjunction with the licensed business and a description of the vehicle.
(D) Fee. All applications for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied by the fee established by Council resolution from time to time.
(E) Procedure. Upon receipt of the completed application and payment of the license fee, the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer, within two regular business days, must determine if the application is complete. An application is determined to be complete only if all required information is provided. If the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer determines that the application is incomplete, the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer must inform the applicant of the required necessary information that is missing. If the application is complete, the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer may order any investigation, including background checks, necessary to verify the information provided with the application. If the Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer denies the license, the applicant must be notified in writing of the decision, the reason for denial, and of the applicant's right to appeal the denial by requesting, within 20 days of receiving notice of rejection, a public hearing before the City Council. The City Council shall hear the appeal within 20 days of the date of the request. The decision of the City Council following the public hearing can be appealed by petitioning the Minnesota Court of Appeals for a writ of certiorari.
(F) License exemptions.
(1) No license shall be required of any person going from house-to-house, door-to-door, business-to-business, street-to-street, or other type of place-to-place when the activity is for the purpose of: fundraising for non-profit, educational, or religious entities, or if exercising that person’s State or Federal Constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, press, religion and the like, except that this exemption may be lost if the person’s exercise of Constitutional rights is merely incidental to a commercial activity.
(2) Fund raisers working on behalf of an otherwise exempt person or group shall not be exempt from the licensing requirements of this chapter.
(Am. Ord. 2007-1, passed 1-22-2007) Penalty, see § 10.99