(a) The City Manager shall grant or deny the application for a permit within thirty (30)days from the date of its proper filing. If thirty (30) days have passed and the permit has not been granted or denied, unless the applicant requests and is granted an extension of time, the applicant shall be issued a temporary permit and be permitted to begin operating the business for which the permit is sought, until the City Manager, notifies the applicant of a grant of a permit or denial of the application and states the reason(s) for that denial. Operators who commence operations after the thirty (30) day period (i.e., 30 days after the application is properly filed) while approval or denial is pending, do so at their own risk as to the costs involved, but shall not be subject to prosecution for failure to obtain a permit, unless the application is denied and the operation is continual thereafter. If the application is denied, the appeal process set out in Section 31 shall apply.
(b) All duties under this chapter may be assigned by the responsible party to a designee but the designee may not be a person assigned to review decisions made by the responsible party.
(c) Grant of Application for Permit.
(1) The City Manager, shall grant the application unless one or more of the criteria set forth in subsection (d), below, is present.
(2) The permit, if granted, shall state on its face the name of the person or persons to whom it is granted, the expiration date, the type of sexually oriented business approved and the address of the sexually oriented business. The permit shall be posted in a conspicuous interior location at or near the entrance to the sexually oriented business so that it can be read easily at any time by a reasonable person.
(d) Denial of Application for Permit.
(1) The City Manager shall deny the application for any of the following reasons:
A. Any applicant (other than an entity) is under eighteen (18) years of age;
B. Any applicant is overdue on his/her payment to the City of taxes, fees, fines, or penalties assessed against him/her or imposed upon him/her in relation to a sexually oriented business;
C. Any applicant has failed to provide information required by this Section or by the permit application for the issuance of the permit or has falsely answered a question or request for information on the application form;
D. Any applicant is in violation of, or is not in compliance with, any of the provisions of this chapter;
E. Granting of the application would violate a court order;
F. Any applicant has a permit under this chapter which has been suspended more than three (3) times or revoked during the five (5) year period preceding the application; or
G. Any applicant has been convicted of a “specified criminal act” for which:
1. Less than two (2) years have elapsed since the date of conviction, the date of completion of probation, or the date of release from confinement, whichever is the later date, if the conviction is of a misdemeanor offense for the “specified criminal act”;
2. Less than five (5) years have elapsed since the date of conviction, the date of completion of probation, or the date of release from confinement; whichever is the later date, if the conviction is of a felony offense, for the “specified criminal acts”;
3. Less than five (5) years have elapsed since the date of conviction,
that date of completion of probation, or the date of release from confinement whichever is the later date, if the convictions are of two or more misdemeanor offenses arising out of different incidents for “specified criminal acts” offenses occurring within any twenty-four month period.
The fact that a conviction is being appealed shall have no effect on disqualification of the applicant.
An applicant who has been convicted of the above described “specified criminal acts” may qualify for a sexually oriented business permit only when the time period required above has elapsed.
(2) If the City Manager denies the application, he/she shall promptly notify the applicant of the denial in writing and state the reasons(s) for the denial.
(3) If a person applies for a permit for a particular location within a period of twelve (12) months from the date of denial of a previous application for a permit at the same location, and there has not been an intervening change in the circumstances which could reasonably be expected to lead to a different decision regarding the former reasons for denial, the application shall be denied.
(Ord. 1225. Passed 6-11-01.)