(A) City license required. Except as otherwise provided for by this chapter, no person shall conduct business as either a peddler, mobile food unit or a transient merchant without first having obtained a license from the city. Solicitors need not be licensed but are still required to register pursuant to § 113.07.
(B) Application. Application for a city license to conduct business as a peddler, mobile food unit or transient merchant shall be made at least 14 regular business days before the applicant desires to begin conducting business. 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) Applicant's full legal name;
(2) Proposed place of business;
(3) The kind of business proposed to be conducted;
(4) The length of time desired to do business, number of days conducting business in the city (maximum 21 consecutive days, unless an annual license is obtained from the city);
(5) Applicant’s residence and business address along with telephone numbers for a prior two-year period;
(6) Type of business applicant was engaged in during previous two years;
(7) Name and address of salesperson who will conduct the sale. No such sale shall be conducted in the name of a person other than the bona fide owner of the merchandise;
(8) An itemized list of merchandise to be offered for sale, with a description including the serial number if any, the owner’s actual cost and a designation by number corresponding with a number to be affixed to each item by a tag until the item is sold, shall be attached to the application; this shall not apply to mobile food units licensed by the Department of Health.
(9) 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 or mobile food unit intends to set up business;
(10) 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 violation of any state or federal statute or any local ordinance, other than traffic offenses;
(11) Written permission of the property owner or the property owner’s agent for any property to be used by a transient merchant or mobile food unit;
(12) The applicant's driver's license number or other acceptable form of identification; and
(13) The license plate number, registration information and vehicle identification number for any vehicle to be used in conjunction with the licensed business and a description of the vehicle.
(C) Fee. All applications for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied by the fee established in the city's fee schedule as adopted from time to time by a resolution passed by the City Council.
(D) Procedure. An application shall be determined to be complete only if all required information is provided to the City Clerk, who within two regular business days of receipt shall determine if the application is complete. If the City Clerk determines that the application is incomplete, the City Clerk shall inform the applicant of the required necessary information which is missing. Upon receipt of the completed application, bond or certificate of insurance and the license fee, the City Clerk shall then issue the license based upon the application.
(E) Duration. All licenses granted under this chapter shall be valid only during the time period indicated on the license.
(F) Display of license. A "door-to-door" peddler shall be required to have license from the city on his or her person and shall display it when requested by the homeowner. A mobile food unit shall have displayed the license from the City of Worthington when in operation.
(G) License exemptions.
(1) No license shall be required for any person, whether at a farmers’ market or otherwise, to sell or to take orders for any product grown, produced, cultivated or raised on a farm or in a garden within a 100-mile radius of the City of Worthington.
(2) No license shall be required of any person going from house-to-house, door-to-door, business-to-business, street-to-street or other type of place-to-place when such activity is for the purpose of exercising that person's state or federal Constitutional rights such as the freedom of speech, press, religion and the like, except that this exemption does not apply if the person's exercise of Constitutional rights is merely incidental to a commercial activity.
(3) Professional fundraisers working on behalf of an otherwise exempt person or group shall not be exempt from the licensing requirements of this chapter.
(Am. Ord. 931, passed 12-26-01; Am. Ord. 974, passed 11-8-04; Am. Ord. 1073, passed 8-12-13; Am. Ord. 1165, passed 11-9-20; Am. Ord. 1180, passed 6-13-22) Penalty, see § 113.99