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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1817 ORDINANCE NO. 1817 (Emergency) AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE ARCADIA MUNICIPAL CODE AS IT RELATES TO FORTUNE- TELLING REGULATIONS AND FEES BY AMENDING ARTICLE VI, CHAPTER 4, PART 1, BY ADDING DIVISION 6 (6416- 6416.7), AMENDING SECTION 6220.34 AND REPEALING SECTIONS 4700 AND 470l OF THE ARCADIA MUNICIPAL CODE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. That Article VI, Chapter 4, Part 1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding a Division 6 to read as follows: DIVISION 6- FORTUNE-TELLING 6416. DEFINITIONS. "Board" shall mean the City Business Permit and License Review Board. "For Pay" shall mean for a fee, reward, donation, loan or receipt of anything of value. "Fortune-telling" shall mean telling of fortunes, forecasting of futures, or furnishing of any information not otherwise obtainable by the ordinary process of knowledge, by means of any occult, psychic power, faculty, force, clairvoyance, clairaudience, cartomancy, psychology, psychometry, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves or other such reading, mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mind-reading, telepathy, or other craft art, science, cards, talisman, charm, -1- 1817 potion, magnetism, magnetized article or substance, gypsy cunning or foresight, crystal gazing, oriental mysteries or magic, of any kind or nature. 6416.1. PERMIT AND COMPLIANCE WITH CONDITIONS REQUIRED. (a) No person shall conduct, engage in, carryon, pa~ticipate in, or practice fortune-telling or cause the same to be done for pay without having first obtained a permit from the Board and without having posted and maintained in full force and effect a surety bond as required in Arcadia Municipal Code Section 6616.5 (c) (2). (b) No person shall violate any of the terms and conditions of a permit issued pursuant to this Article, nor any of the regulations and provisions within this Article. Each day such a violation or violations occur shall constitute a separate offense. 6416.2. PERMIT APPLICATION. Every natural person who, for pay, actively conducts, engages in, carries on, or practices fortune-telling shall file a separate verified application for a permit with the Board. The application shall contain: (a) The name, home and business address, and home and business phone number of the applicant. (b) The record of conviction for violations of the law, excluding minor traffic violations. (c) The fingerprints of the applicant on a form provided by the Arcadia Police Department. -2- 1817 (d) The address, city and state, and the approximate dates where and when the applicant practiced a similar business, either olone or in conjunction with others. 6416.3. INVESTIGATION. Upon the filing of the application, it shall be referred by the Board to the Police Department for investigation, report and recommendation. The investigation shall be conducted to verify the facts contained in the opplication and any supporting data. The investigation shall be completed and a report and recommendation made in writing to the Board within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the opplication, unless the applicant requests or consents to an extension of the time period. If the report recommends denial of the permit to the applicant, the grounds for the recommended denial shall be set forth. At the time of the filing of the report and recommendation with the Board, a copy thereof shall be served personally or by certified mail by the Board on the applicant, accompanied by a notice to the applicant may request to be heard when the Board considers the application and report. 6416.4. HEARING AND DECISION BY THE BOARD. (a) The Board shall consider the application and the report and recommendation at a hearing held at a regularly scheduled meeting on or before the seventh (7th) day after the filing of the report and recommendation referred to in Arcadia Municipal Code Section 6416.3. (b) Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given to all parties by the Board at least three (3) days prior to the hearing. -3- 1817 (c) Any interested party shall be heard upon a reasonable request. (d) City shall have the burden of proof to show the permit should be denied. (e) The decision of the Board to grant or deny the permit shall be in writing, and if adverse to the applicant, shall contain findings of fact and a determination of the issues presented. (f) Unless the applicant agrees in writing to an extension of time, the Board shall make its order denying or granting the application within twenty-four (24) hours after completion of the hearing on the application for a permit and shall notify the applicant of its action by personal service or certified mail. (g) Any member of the Board who is absent from the hearing or has not read or heard the record of the proceeding shall not vote on the decision. 6416.5. ISSUANCE OF PERMIT. (a) The Board shall approve the issuance of the permit if they find: (1) All the information contained in the application and supporting date is true. (2) The applicant has not, within the previous six (6) months, been convicted of any violation of this Article or any law relating to fraud or moral turpitude. (3) The applicant appeared in person at the hearing. (4) The applicant agrees to abide by and comply with all conditions of the permit and this Article. -4- 1817 (b) The Board shall deny the permit only if it cannot make each of the findings set forth above. (c) If the Board approves the permit, the City Business License Officer shall thereafter issue the permit when: (1) The fee required by Arcadia Municipal Code Section 6220.34 has been paid. (2) The applicant has posted with the City Clerk, surety bond in the principal sum amount of $10,000.00 executed as surety by a good and sufficient corporate surety authorized to do a surety business in the State of California and as a principal by the applicant. The form of the bond shall have been approved by the City Attorney and shall have been given to insure good- faith and fair dealing on the part of the applicant and as a guarantee of indemnity for any and all loss, damage, theft, or other unfair dealings suffered by any patron of the applicant within the City during the term of the permit. (d) The term of the permit subject to this Emergency Ordinance shall be six (6) months and shall constitute an interim permit pending adoption of a permanent ordinance. A renewal application shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the interim permit and shall be processed as a new application subject to the terms and provisions of the permanent ordinance which shall allow a permit term of one (l) year subject to renewal. 6416.6. PERMIT REVOCATION. Upon the discovery of any false or misleading statement in the application or any misrepresentation by the applicant in procuring the permit or -5- 1817 upon the termination of the bond required hereunder or upon the applicant's violation of any provision of this Article, the Board may conduct a hearing upon five (5) days written notice to the applicant to determine whether the permit should be revoked. 6416.7. EXCEPTIONS. (a) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to any person solely by reason of the fact that he or she is engaged in the business of entertaining the public by demonstrations of mind-reading, mental telepathy, thought conveyance, or the giving of horoscopic readings, at public places and in the presence of and within the hearing of other persons and at which no questions are answered, as part of such entertainment, except in a manner to permit all persons present at such public place to hear such answers. (b) No person shall be required to pay any fee or take out any permit for conducting or participating in any religious ceremony or service when such person holds a certificate of ordination as a minister, missionary, medium, healer, or clairvoyant, hereinafter collectively referred to as minister, from any bona fide church or religious association maintaining a church and holding regular services and having a creed or set of religious principles that is recognized by all churches of like faith; provided that: -6- 1817 (1) Except as provided in (3) hereof, the fees, gratuities, emoluments, and profits thereof shall be regularly accounted for and paid solely to or for the benefit of the bona fide church or religious association, as defined in this subsection (b). (2) The minister holding a certificate of ordination from such bona fide church or religious association, as defined in this subsection (b), shall file with the Board a certified copy of the minister's certificate of ordination with the minister's name, age, street address, and phone number in this City where the activity set forth in this subsection (b) is to be conducted. (3) Such bona fide church or religious association, as defined in this subsection (b), may pay to its ministers a salary or compensation based upon a percentage basis, pursuant to an agreement between the church and the minister which is embodied in a resolution and transcribed in the minutes of such church or religious association. SECTION 2. That Section 6220.34 of the Arcadia Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 6220.34. FORTUNE-TELLING, ETC. Those engaged in fortune- telling as defined in Section 6616 of the Arcadia Municipal Code shall pay an annual fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00). SECTION 3. That Sections 4700 and 4701 of the Arcadia Municipal Code are hereby repealed in their entirety. -7- 1817 SECTION 4. Pursuant to Section 415 of the Arcadia City Charter this Ordinance is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health, and safety for the following reasons: (a) The City presently prohibits the business of fortune- telling. Several parties have expressed interest in conducting fortune-telling in Arcadia; some have retained legal counsel to seek Federal Court orders to allow fortune-telling. (b) Recent Federal Court decisions in this district have resulted in the issuance of injunctions prohibiting the enforcement of such prohibitions in other Southern California cities. This could result in the allowance of fortune-telling in Arcadia without appropriate regulations, except for zoning which would allow such a use in a C-2 Zone only. (c) The issue has not finally been resolved by the California Supreme Court, however, the ability of the City to prohibit such business is in doubt, and the City desires to avoid the expense and problems of litigation and allowance of fortune- telling without regulatory power. -8- 1817 SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Emergency Ordinance and shall cause a copy of the same to be published in the official newspaper of said City within fifteen (15) days of the adoption hereof. This Emergency Ordinance is effective immediately upon its adoption. Passed approved and adopted this 6th day of August , 1985. ATT"T'. ~ ~ ~ Uld~~ C1ty Cler of the City of Arcad1a STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES SS: CITY OF ARCADIA I, CHRISTINE VAN MAANEN, City Clerk of the City of Arcadia, hereby certify that the foregoing Emergency Ordinance No. 1817 was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Arcadia, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk at a regular meeting of said council held on the 6th day of August, 1985, and that said Emergency Ordinance was adopted by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Councilman Gilb, Hannah, Lojeski, Young and Pellegrino NOES: None ABSENT: None .. / 'City Clerk of the City of Arcadia . ,,' '~.";:~ -~f? ~.~'." . II'~ - -9- 1817