(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 may be required by Minnesota Statutes Chapter 329, if the county issues a license for the activity.
(B) City License Required. Except as otherwise provided for by this ordinance, no person shall conduct business within this jurisdiction as a peddler or a transient merchant without first obtaining a City license. Solicitors need not be licensed, but are required to register with the City pursuant to § 114.07.
(C) Application. An application for a City license to conduct business as a peddler or transient merchant shall be made at least 14 regular business days before the applicant desires to begin conducting a business operation within the City. Application for a license shall be made on a form approved by the City Council and available from the office of the City Clerk. All applications shall be signed by the applicant. All applications shall include the following information:
(1) The applicant’s full legal name.
(2) Any and all other names under which the applicant has or does conduct business, or to which the applicant will officially answer to.
(3) A physical description of the applicant (hair color, eye color, height, weight, any distinguishing marks or features, and the like) together with a recent photo of the applicant not less than 2” x 2” in size.
(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 an agent.
(7) Full address of applicant’s regular place of business, if any exists.
(8) Any and all business-related telephone numbers of the applicant, including cellular phones and fax machines.
(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.
(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 his or her 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 violating any State or Federal statute or any local ordinance, other than minor 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 required county license.
(15) Written permission of the property owner or the property owner’s agent for any location to be used by a transient merchant.
(16) A general description of the items to be sold or services to be provided.
(17) Any and all additional information as may be 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, vehicle identification number (VIN) and physical description for any vehicle to be used in conjunction with the licensed business operation.
(D) Fee. All applications for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied by the fee as established in Chapter 34 of this Code.
(E) Procedure. Upon receipt of the application and payment of the license fee, the City Clerk will, within two regular business days, determine if the application is complete. An application will be considered complete if all required information is provided. If the City Clerk determines that the application is incomplete, the City Clerk must inform the applicant of the required, necessary information that is missing. If the application is complete, the City Clerk must order any investigation, including background checks, necessary to verify the information provided with the application. Within ten regular business days of receiving a complete application the City Clerk must issue the license unless grounds exist for denying the license application under § 114.04, in which case the Clerk must deny the request for a City peddler or transient merchant license. If the City Clerk denies the license application, the applicant must be notified in writing of the decision, the reason for denial and 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 for a hearing. 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) Duration. All licenses granted to peddlers and transient merchants under this ordinance shall be valid only during the time period indicated on the license.
(G) License Exemptions.
(1) No license shall be required for any person to sell or attempt to sell, or to take or attempt to take orders for, any product grown, produced, cultivated, or raised on any farm.
(2) No license shall be required for any person going from house-to-house, door- to-door, business-to-business, street-to-street, or any other type of place-to-place movement for the primary purpose of exercising that person’s State or Federal constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the like. This exemption will not apply if the person’s exercise of constitutional rights is merely incidental to what would properly be considered a commercial activity.