Subd. 1. Issuance and renewal. No person shall operate a rental dwelling without first having obtained a license to do so from the City Council as hereinafter provided. Each license shall be valid for three years and shall expire on December 31 following the issuance thereof. Application for license renewals for the following years shall be filed on or before November 1 prior to the license expiration date.
Subd. 2. Conformance to laws. No license shall be issued or renewed unless the rental dwelling and its premises conform to the Shorewood City Code and the laws of the state.
Subd. 3. License fees. Applications and fees for license renewals shall be due on November 1 immediately prior to the license expiration date. In cases of new unlicensed dwellings, license fees shall be due upon application for a license.
a. The licensee shall not be entitled to a refund of any license fee upon denial, revocation or suspension of the license.
b. The fees and charges for the license application required by this chapter are set forth in the City of Shorewood Fee Schedule.
Subd. 4. License not transferable. No license shall be transferable to another person or to another rental dwelling. Every person holding a license shall give notice, in writing, to the Compliance Official within 72 hours after having legally transferred or otherwise disposed of the legal control of any licensed rental dwelling. The notice shall include the name and address of the person succeeding to the ownership or control of the rental dwelling or dwellings. If rental activity is proposed to continue under the new owner, a new license application shall be required immediately upon notice of the property transfer.
Subd. 5. Owner or agent to apply.
a. Application. License application or renewal shall be made by the owner of the rental units or its legally constituted agent. Application forms may be acquired from and subsequently filed with the Compliance Official.
b. Required information. The applicant shall supply:
(1) Name, address and telephone number of dwelling owner, owning partners if a partnership, and corporate officers if a corporation;
(2) Name, address and telephone number of designated resident agent, if any;
(3) Name, address and telephone number of management representative;
(4) Name, address and telephone number of vendee, if the dwelling is being sold through a contract for deed;
(5) Legal address of the dwelling;
(6) Type of dwelling;
(7) Type and number of dwelling units within the building;
(8) Description of procedure through which tenant inquiries and complaints are to be processed;
(9) Test results for domestic water supplied by a private well from a lab certified by the Minnesota Department of Health;
(10) Test results (within 30 days) for the furnace performed by a certified mechanical contractor bonded with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry; and
(11) Chimney report for operational wood-burning fireplaces.
c. Zoning compliance. Upon application for a license the applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Compliance Official that the rental dwelling complies with one of the following:
(1) The property is currently zoned for the intended use pursuant to Chapter 1201 of this code;
(2) The structure was granted a special use permit for a two-family dwelling between January 21, 1965 and September 24, 1973; or
(3) The structure has been continually and lawfully used as a two-family dwelling since January 21, 1965.
Subd. 6. Resident agent required. No license shall be issued or renewed for a nonresident owner of rental dwelling units (one who does not reside within the counties of Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Scott or Washington) unless the owner designates, in writing, to the Compliance Official the name of its resident agent (a person who does reside within the aforesaid referred counties) who is responsible for maintenance and upkeep and who is legally constituted and empowered to receive service of notice of violation of the provisions of the city ordinances, to receive orders and to institute remedial action to effect the orders and to accept all service of process pursuant to law. The Compliance Official shall be notified, in writing, of any change of resident agent.
Subd. 7. Posting of license. Every licensee of a multiple rental dwelling shall cause to be conspicuously posted in the main entryway or other conspicuous location therein the current license for the respective multiple rental dwelling. Licenses for one- and two-family rental dwellings shall be conspicuously posted near the electrical service box for each unit.
Subd. 8. Inspection access.
a. No license shall be issued or renewed unless the owner of a rental unit agrees in its application to permit inspections as provided in § 1004.05 of this chapter.
b. Whenever necessary to make an inspection to enforce any of the provisions of this code, or whenever the Compliance Official or his or her authorized representative has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any building or upon any premises any condition or code violation which makes the building or premises unsafe, dangerous or hazardous, the Compliance Official or his or her authorized representative may enter the building or premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same or to perform any duty imposed upon the Building Official by this code; provided, that if the building or premises are occupied, he or she shall first present proper credentials and request entry; and if the building or premises are unoccupied, he or she shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other persons having charge or control of the building or premises and request entry. If the entry is refused, the Compliance Official or his or her authorized representative shall have recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry.
Subd. 9. Occupancy register required.
a. Every owner of a licensed rental dwelling unit in Shorewood shall keep, or cause to be kept, a current register of occupancy for each dwelling unit which provides the following information:
(1) Dwelling unit address;
(2) Number of bedrooms in dwelling unit;
(3) Names of adult occupants and number of adults and children (under 18 years of age) currently occupying each dwelling unit; and
(4) Dates renters occupied and vacated each dwelling unit.
b. The register shall be made available for viewing or copying by the Compliance Official at all reasonable times.
Subd. 10. Denial, suspension, revocation or non-renewal of license.
a. The Compliance Official may revoke, suspend, deny, or decline to renew any license for all or part of a building issued under this chapter upon any of the following grounds:
(1) The license applicant has not submitted all the required materials or requested an inspection of the premises within 30 days of the initial application;
(2) False statements made on the license application or any other information required by this section;
(3) The Compliance Official has not been permitted to inspect the premises proposed to be licensed;
(4) The license applicant has failed to correct deficiencies listed in a violation or correction notice in the time specified;
(5) The license applicant has not met the requirements of the International Property Maintenance Code or City Code or other applicable state laws;
(6) The City of Shorewood has previously suspended or revoked a rental license for the same property and all the conditions of suspension or revocation have not been corrected;
(7) The license applicant or their agent has violated any requirement of this chapter;
(8) Granting the license would be contrary to public health, safety or general welfare so as to create a public nuisance; or
(9) The license applicant, licensee, their agent or tenant(s) has/have failed to conform to other applicable requirements of City Code, state statute or criminal code.
b. If an application for a license is denied, a written statement specifying the reasons for the denial will be transmitted to the applicant.
Subd. 11. Appeal. If the City of Shorewood denies a license application, the applicant may file a written appeal to the City Council (acting as a Board of Appeals) requesting a hearing before the City Council. The appeal must be received within ten days of the denial notice and would be processed as outlined in § 1004.07 Subd. 6. of this Chapter. The City Council may affirm, modify or reverse the decision and state the reasons for such action.
(1987 Code, § 1004.03) (Ord. 272, passed 4-12-1993; Am. Ord. 546, passed - -2017; Am. Ord. 598, passed 4-10-2023)