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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,
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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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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
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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:
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(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.
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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.
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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'. ~
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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
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'City Clerk of the City of Arcadia
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