(A) No person shall engage in or practice in any manner, within the corporate limits of the city, fortune-telling as defined herein unless such person files an application and obtains a Zoning Use Certificate and a city business tax receipt from the Development Services Director or his designee.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this section the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) FORTUNE-TELLING.
Telling of fortunes, forecasting of future events or furnishing of any information not otherwise obtainable by the ordinary process of knowledge, by means of any occult or psychic power, faculty or force, including, but not limited to clairvoyance, clairaudience, cartomancy, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves or other such reading, mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mind-reading, telepathy, crystal gazing; magic; or other craft art, cards, talisman, charm, potion, magnetized article, or substance.
(2) FORTUNE-TELLING PERMIT OR PERMIT.
A permit to operate fortune-telling within the city.
(3) PUBLIC.
The immediate presence of at least ten people not associated with the entertainer or hosting establishment.
(4) ZONING USE CERTIFICATE.
A certificate issued and provided for in accordance with the standards in City of Pompano Beach Zoning Code § 155.2414.
(C) No Zoning Use Certificate to engage in the occupation of fortune-telling shall be issued to any person unless such person first holds a valid fortune-telling permit issued by the city. Application for said permit shall be on a form supplied by the Business Tax Receipt Division. The applicant shall furnish all the information required by the form, and shall also meet the following conditions:
(1) Each applicant shall file the following to the Business Tax Receipt Division with the application;
(a) Two passport size photographs, which photographs shall be a good likeness of such applicant and shall have been taken within 30 days immediately proceeding the date of the application, with proof of same being furnished; and
(b) A complete and legible set of fingerprints, which shall have been taken at a law enforcement agency within 30 days immediately proceeding the date of the application, with proof of same being furnished.
(2) The photographs and fingerprints provided by the applicant will then be utilized by the Business Tax Receipt Division and city’s Law Enforcement Agency to investigate the applicant.
(a) All applicants under this section shall cooperate with the Business Tax Receipt Division and provide requested information for the investigation. Failure to so cooperate with, or engaging in conduct which impedes, said investigation shall result in the denial of the issuance of the permit.
(b) Information to be provided by applicant shall include applicant’s location for the last seven years.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to provide false information in any application for a permit as required by this section or to knowingly make a false statement or conceal a material fact regarding one’s prior criminal history, or to otherwise commit a fraud in any such application.
1. Violations of this subsection shall result in the denial of the issuance of the permit.
2. Violations of subsection (C)(2)(c) above shall also be subject to punishment from conviction by a fine of not more than $500 or up to 60 days in the county jail or by both.
3. Violations of this subsection may subject the permit to revocation of the Zoning Use Certificate under the procedures as set forth in Zoning Code § 155.8402(B)(2)(b).
(3) The City’s Business Tax Receipt Division and Law Enforcement Agency shall expeditiously conduct its investigation within 30 days. Should said investigation reveal one or more of the following, then the applicant shall be denied a permit:
(a) Conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere in the past seven years of any felony, under the laws of any state, local government or the United States.
(b) Conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere within the last five years of a misdemeanor involving a violation of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act [F.S. Ch. 893].
(c) Conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of guilty, which involved theft, fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude, within the past five years under the laws of any state, local government or the United States.
(d) An unsatisfied civil judgment, for fraud or based on dishonesty, or for breach of contract (whether written, oral or implied) for services of the same or similar nature as for which a permit is sought, or arising out of a contract (whether written, oral or implied) for services of the same or similar nature as for which a permit is sought, against the applicant or any corporation or other entity in which the applicant was an officer or director or owner of more than a 10% interest in that entity.
(e) The provisions of subsections (C)(3)(a), (b) and (c) above are applicable notwithstanding suspension of sentence or withholding of adjudication sentencing.
(f) The provisions of subsection (C)(3)(d) above are applicable even if the judgment against the applicant or corporation or other entity was discharged in bankruptcy.
(4) After issuance of the permit required by this section, such permit and Zoning Use Certificate must be surrendered and shall be removed if at any time it is discovered that:
(a) There was a false statement or concealment of a material fact in the application for a permit required by this section;
(b) There has been a conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere to a felony under the laws of any state or local government or the United States subsequent to the submission of the application;
(c) There has been a conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere to a misdemeanor or municipal ordinance which involved, theft, fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude, under the laws of any state or local government or the United States subsequent to the submission of the application;
(d) There has been a conviction, a finding of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere to a misdemeanor involving a violation of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (F.S. Ch. 893), subsequent to the submission of the application;
(e) There is an unsatisfied civil judgment for fraud or grounded in dishonesty, or for breach of contract (whether written, oral or implied) for services of the same or similar nature as for which the permit was issued, or arising out of a contract (whether written, oral or implied) for services of the same or similar nature as for which the permit was issued, against the applicant or any corporation or other entity in which the applicant was an officer or director or owner of more than a 10% interest in that entity: but the permit shall not be revoked if the holder satisfied the judgment within 30 days after it is rendered, or posts a supersedes bond within 30 days after the judgment is rendered; or
(f) The applicant has violated any of the provisions of this section.
(5) The application shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $125 to cover the reasonable cost of processing the permit.
(6) A permit, when issued, shall pertain only to an individual fortune-teller for use at a particular location. Separate permits shall be required for a fortune-teller to conduct any of the activities under this section, at any other location; and separate permits shall be required for each fortune-teller conducting fortune-telling or any other activity listed in this section at the same location.
(7) It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator, manager or permit holder in charge of or in control of a fortune-telling establishment to employ any person who is not in possession of a valid, unrevoked, permit to practice fortune-telling within a fortune-telling establishment.
(8) It shall be unlawful for any individual owner, managing partner, officer or other person in charge of any fortune-telling establishment to employ any person who is not at least 18 years of age.
(9) No permit holder shall operate under any name or conduct his or her business under any designation or at any location not specified in the permit.
(10) No person engaged in fortune-telling shall prohibit any client from making an audio recording or taking written notes of the information conveyed by the fortune-teller. (F.S. Ch. 934, requires notice of use of certain electronic devices in certain circumstances, and said notice is not waived for the purposes of this section.)
(D) Appeal.
(1) The denial of the issuance of a permit or Zoning Use Certificate under this section may be appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with the procedures in Zoning Code § 155.2424, Appeal.
(2) Revocation of a permit or a Zoning Use Certificate under the provisions of Zoning Code § 155.8402(B)(2)(b) shall be appealable to Broward Circuit Court.
(E) Exceptions.
(1) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person solely by reason of the fact that he or she is engaged in the business of entertaining the public by demonstrations of mind reading, mental telepathy, thought conveyance, or the giving of horoscopic readings at public places and in the presence of, and within the hearing of, other persons and at which no questions are answered as part of such entertainment except in a manner to permit all persons present at such public place to hear such answers.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who is a Practitioner of the Healing Arts, as defined by F.S. § 456.32, or has a State of Florida license or permit for the specific type of activity the person is engaging in.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who practices hypnosis under the supervision, direction, prescription, and responsibility of a Practitioner of the Healing Arts, as defined by F.S. § 456.32.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a permit for practicing the religious tenets of any religious institutions as defined by F.S. § 205.022.
(‘58 Code, § 31.20) (Am. Ord. 99-5, passed 11-10-98; Am. Ord. 2007-57, passed 7-10-07; Am. Ord. 2015-07, passed 11-10-14) Penalty, see § 10.99