(A) Within 20 days of receipt of any completed application, either original or renewal, the Director shall grant or deny the requested permit and give written notice to the applicant as to the decision.
(B) The Director shall issue a permit to the applicant unless one or more of the following conditions exist:
(1) The applicant’s enterprise is located within 2,500 feet of any school, regular place of religious worship, residential neighborhood, licensed day care center or park. Measurements shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest point on the property line of the applicant’s enterprise to the nearest point on the property line of such school, regular place of religious worship, residential neighborhood, licensed day care center or park;
(2) The applicant’s enterprise is located within 2,500 feet of any other enterprise for which there is a permit. Measurements shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest point on the property line of the applicant’s enterprise to the nearest point on the property line of any other enterprise;
(3) Seventy-five percent or more of the tracts within a circular area, as described in this division (B)(3), are residential in character. The radius of such circular area shall be 2,500 feet, and the center of such circular area shall correspond to the midpoint of a line joining the two most distant points on the boundary of the tract on which the enterprise is located;
(4) The applicant failed to supply all of the information requested on the application;
(5) The applicant gave materially false, fraudulent or untruthful information on the application;
(7) The application or the enterprise does not meet any other requirement of this chapter;
(8) The applicant has not fully complied with all state, federal and local laws or regulations affecting the conduct of its business; or
(9) The operator has had a permit revoked for the same enterprise within the 180-day period next preceding the date that the application was filed.
(C) Property uses and distances for original applications shall be determined as of the time that the application is filed. If a renewal application is timely filed as provided in § 117.04 of this chapter, the property uses and measurements for the renewal application shall be determined as of the time that the original application for the enterprise was filed. If not timely filed, renewal applications shall be subject to the same fees and shall be treated in the same manner in all respects as original applications.
(D) If the Director determines that an applicant is not eligible for a permit (in accordance with divisions (B)(1) through (B)(9) above), the applicant shall be given notice in writing of the reasons for the denial within 20 days of the receipt of its application by the Director. An applicant may appeal the decision of the Director regarding such denial by filing a written request for a hearing with the Director within 15 days after he or she is given notice of such denial. The Director’s decision on the application shall be final unless an appeal is timely filed. An appeal shall not stay the Director’s decision on the issuance of a permit. The applicant’s written request for a hearing shall set out the grounds on which the denial is challenged. The hearing shall be conducted by a Hearing Official to be designated by the Director. The Hearing Official shall not have participated in any investigation or decision relating to the denial of the permit. At the hearing, the Hearing Official shall receive oral and written testimony regarding the application. Hearings shall be conducted under rules issued by the Director, which shall be consistent with the nature of the proceedings and shall ensure that each party may present evidence, cross-examine witnesses and be represented by legal counsel.
(E) The Hearing Official shall conduct the hearing within 30 days after receipt of the applicant’s written request for a hearing, unless the applicant requests an extension in writing. The Hearing Official shall render a written decision and issue notice thereof to the applicant within five days after the conclusion of the hearing. The written decision of the Hearing Official shall be final unless an appeal is filed to the City Commission pursuant to division (F) below.
(F) The applicant may appeal the decision of the Hearing Official to the City Commission by filing a written notice of appeal with the City Secretary within 30 days after the applicant is given notice of the Hearing Official’s decision. The notice of appeal shall be accompanied by a memorandum or other writing which sets forth fully the grounds for such appeal and all arguments in support thereof. The Director may submit a memorandum in response to the appeal filed by the applicant on appeal to the City Commission. After reviewing such memoranda, as well as the Hearing Official’s written decision and the exhibits introduced at the hearing before the Hearing Official, the City Commission shall vote to either uphold or overrule the Hearing Official’s decision. Such vote shall be taken within 30 calendar days after the date on which the City Secretary receives the notice of appeal. However, all parties shall be required to comply with the Hearing Official’s decision during the pendency of the appeal. The decision of the City Commission shall be final.
(G) Failure of the Director to give timely notice of his or her action on an application, or failure of the Hearing Official to timely conduct or give notice of his or her decision on an appeal from the Director’s decision, or failure of the City Commission to vote on an appeal from the decision of the Hearing Official within the limitations of time specified in division (F) above, shall entitle the applicant to the issuance of a temporary permit, upon written demand therefor filed by the applicant with the Director. Such a temporary permit shall only be valid until the third day after the Director gives notice of his or her action on the application or the Hearing Official gives notice of his decision on the appeal or the City Commission votes on the appeal, as applicable.
(1998 Code, § 26-65) (Ord. 94-10, passed 6-8-1994)