(A) Upon receipt of a complete application, the City Manager or the City Manager's designee shall circulate the application to all affected service areas and departments of the city to determine whether the application is in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. No license shall be sufficient for the city's governing body consideration until after the City Manager or the City Manager's designee has caused the proposed premises to be inspected to determine compliance of the premises with all applicable requirements of this chapter and the City of Vermillion Code of Ordinances, and with the plans and descriptions submitted as part of the application. No license shall be approved by the city's governing body until after the City Manager or the City Manager's designee has completed a background check of the owners or entity members, managers, officers, directors, volunteers, partners or associates and proposed employees of the proposed establishment. The city's governing body or designee shall deny any application that does not meet the requirements or limitations of this chapter, and shall deny any application that contains any false, misleading, or incomplete information.
(B) If the city's governing body or designee has determined that all requirements for an establishment license are met and upon payment of the application fee in advance by the applicant, the city's governing body or designee may, in their discretion, approve the issuance of a license if the city's governing body or designee believes the issuance to be in the public's best interest. When the city's governing body or designee considers an establishment application, they may consider all contents and proposals within the application, the observations and results of any inspection undertaken pursuant to § 123.13, the impact to the public that may result, whether the proposed establishment is located in a zone that permits its operation, the manner in which the applicant previously operated an establishment or other business licensed by the city, and history of compliance with city ordinances and state law.
(C) Within 30 days after the completion of the investigation of the application, the city's governing body or designee shall issue a written decision approving or denying the application for licensure, which decision shall state the reason(s) for the decision and be sent via first-class U.S. mail and via certified mail to the applicant at the address shown in the application.
(D) If approved, the City Manager or City Manager's designee shall issue to the applicant a cannabis license certificate specifying the date of issuance, the period of licensure, the name of the licensee, the physical address of the licensed premises, and a sworn statement certifying that the licensed establishment as proposed does not violate the city's enacted zoning regulations as required under SDCL § 34-20G-55(1)(d). The City Manager or City Manager's designee shall also promptly transmit a copy of the license certificate to the South Dakota Department of Health to satisfy SDCL § 34-20G-55(1)(e).
(Ord. 1435, passed 6-7-2021; Am. Ord. 1451, passed 12-20-2021)