HomeMy WebLinkAbout3091 Amending 6.04 Business Licenses
ORDINANCE NO. 3
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AMC CHAPTER 6.04, BUSINESS
LICENSES
Annotated to show deletions and additions to the code sections being modified. Deletions are
bold lined through and additions are bold underlined.
WHEREAS, Article 2. Section 1 of the Ashland City Charter provides:
Powers of the City. The City shall have all powers which the constitutions,
statutes, and common law of the United States and of this State expressly or
impliedly grant or allow municipalities, as fully as though this Charter specifically
enumerated each of those powers, as well as all powers not inconsistent with the
foregoing; and, in addition thereto, shall possess all powers hereinafter
specifically granted. All the authority thereof shall have perpetual succession.
WHEREAS, the Ashland Municipal Code, §6.04.010, with regard to business licenses, states,
"The business license taxes imposed by the terns of this Chapter are for revenue purposes only,"
and further states "Neither the acceptance of the prescribed tax nor the issuance of the applicable
license shall be constructed to constitute a regulation or approval of any business activity or a
permit to engage in any activity otherwise prohibited by law or ordinance;" and
WHEREAS, the Ashland Municipal Code, §6.04.100, in contrast to the assertion of revenue
purposes only in §6.04.010, states, "If the City has knowledge that the applicant is engaging in,
or proposes to engage in an unlawful activity, the City shall return the fee to the applicant, along
with the reason for so doing, and shall refuse to issue a license;" and
WHEREAS, the inconsistency between the revenue purpose declared in §6.04.010 and the
regulatory purpose implicit in §6.04.100 is confusing to business license applicants as well as
issuers, especially when there are discrepancies between state and federal laws;
THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.04 is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 6.04.100 Issuance of License
Upon receipt of an application duly signed and executed as hereinabove prescribed, together with
the required fee, the Finance Department shall issue a business license to any applicant desiring
to conduct any lawful business activity within the City. if the City has knowledge that the
appliefint is engfi-i - i I Ds to engage in an unlawful netivity, the City shall retufff
the fee to the appliennt, along with the reason for so doing, and shall refuse to issue it
lieeasplssuance of a business license shall not preclude enforcement against the licensee of
any City ordinance, state statute, federal law or any other applicable law.
Ordinance No. Page 1 oft
SECTION 2. Severability. The sections, subsections, paragraphs and clauses of this ordinance
are severable. The invalidity of one section, subsection, paragraph, or clause shall not affect the
validity of the remaining sections, subsections, paragraphs and clauses.
SECTION 3. Codification. Provisions of this Ordinance shall be incorporated in the City Code
and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "code", "article", "section", "chapter" or another
word, and the sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered, or re-lettered, provided however
that any Whereas clauses and boilerplate provisions (i.e. Sections 2-3) need not be codified and
the City Recorder is authorized to correct any cross-references and any typographical errors.
The foregoing ordinance was first read by title only in accordance with Article X, Section 2(C)
of the City Charter on the ~_dayof i V 2014, and duly
PASSED and ADOPTED this day of 2014.
Barbara M. Christensen, City Recorder
SIGNED and APPROVED this day of '2014.
John Stromberg, Mayor
Re e ed as to for
W. ~4fu..r,
id H. Lohman, dtYATtorncy
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