(a) Assignment or Transfer Approval Required. A Certificate of Registration shall not be assigned or transferred, either in whole or in part, other than to an affiliate, without the prior written consent of the City, which consent shall not be reasonably withheld. Any assignment or transfer of Certificate of Registration including an assignment or transfer by means of a fundamental corporate change, requires the written approval of the City.
(b) Procedure to Request Assignment or Transfer Approval. The parties to the assignment or transfer of Certificate of Registration shall make a written request to the City for its consent in the form of the Certificate of Registration application. The City shall reply in writing within sixty (60) calendar days of actual receipt of the request and shall indicate its approval of the request or its determination that a public hearing is necessary. The City may conduct a public hearing on the request within thirty (30) calendar days of such determination if it determines that a sale or transfer of the Certificate of Registration adversely affects the City.
(c) Notice and Hearing. Notice of a hearing shall be given fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the hearing by publishing notice thereof on the City's website, by printing it once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City, or by posting it in three (3) public places within the City. The notice shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing and shall briefly state the substance of the action to be considered by City.
(d) Review by City. The City will review the qualifications (including, but not limited to, legal, technical and financial where appropriate) of the proposed assignee or transferee and terms of the existing Certificate of Registration. The City will make its decision in writing setting forth any conditions for assignment or transfer. Within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days of actual receipt of the request for assignment or transfer, the City shall approve or deny such assignment or transfer request in writing.
(e) Fundamental Corporate Change. For purposes of this section, fundamental corporate change means the sale or transfer of a controlling interest in the stock of a corporation or the sale or transfer of all or a majority of a corporation's assets, merger (including a parent and its subsidiary corporation), consolidation or creation of a subsidiary corporation. For the purposes of this section, fundamental partnership change means the sale or transfer of all or a majority of a partnership's assets, change of a general partner in a limited partnership, change from a limited to a general partnership, incorporation of a partnership, or change in the control of a partnership.
(f) Certificate of Registration and Assignee/Transferee Replacement Issuance Required. In no event shall a transfer or assignment of ownership or control be ultimately acceptable to the City without transferee or assignee requesting and being issued a replacement Certificate of Registration within ninety (90) calendar days of transfer or assignment.
(g) Not a Transfer. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no such consent or approval shall be required for a transfer or assignment to any person controlling, controlled by or under the same common control of the original holder of the Certificate of Registration.
(Ord. 2022-46. Adopted 12/08/22; Ord. 2023-35. Adopted 12/14/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)