El Dorado County Municipal Code Ch. 5.04 General Provisions

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 5080, § 1(Exh. A), adopted Mar. 13, 2018, amended ch. 5.04 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former ch. 5.04, §§ 5.04.010—5.04.050, pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Prior Code, §§ 6211, 6215; Ord. No. 3311, § 2, adopted 1982; Ord. No. 3515, §§ 2, 4, 5, adopted 1985; and Code 1997, §§ 5.04.010—5.04.050.

This title shall be known and may be referred to in all proceedings as the County Business License Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 5080, § 1(Exh. A), 3-13-2018)

The ordinance from which this title is derived is enacted pursuant to Business and Professions Code § 16100 for the purpose of regulating all kinds of lawful businesses transacted and carried on within the unincorporated territory of the County. Those occupations regulated by the State are regulated in this title pursuant to the California Constitution, Article 11, Section 7. The regulation of cardrooms shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter 9.45.

(Ord. No. 5080, § 1(Exh. A), 3-13-2018)

The Treasurer-Tax Collector will hereafter collect the following business license fees:

The authority for the fees established herein is found in the California Business and Professions Code §§ 16100 and 16101 and Government Code §§ 66016 and 66018.

(Ord. No. 5152, § 3, 7-14-2020; Ord. No. 5176, § 3, 6-27-2023; Ord. No. 5237, § 3, 8-19-2025)

This title shall apply to all businesses being operated and conducted within the unincorporated territory of the County including the soliciting of orders or the delivery of merchandise in vehicles owned or operated by the seller within such territory whose principal place of business is not within the unincorporated territory of the County.

(Ord. No. 5080, § 1(Exh. A), 3-13-2018)

The following words and phrases, when used in this title, shall be construed as follows, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:

Business shall have the same meaning as the phrase "any kind of business not prohibited by law," as it is used and interpreted in Business and Professions Code § 16100, and shall include any occupation, trade, profession, pursuit, employment or enterprise regularly engaged in, either exclusively or not.

Carnival means any circus, sideshow or amusement arcade; and the operation of any two or more of the following devices within 500 feet of each other: merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, and carnival-type ride, shooting gallery or pony ride.

Contractor and contracting shall have the same meaning as those terms are defined and used in Chapter 9, Division 3 (commencing at Business and Professions Code § 7000) of the Business and Professions Code.

Fixed place of business means any permanent warehouse, building or structure owned in fee or leased for a term of one year or more at which the owner or lessee carries on a legitimate permanent business in good faith and at which stocks of merchandise are produced, stored or kept in quantities usually carried and reasonably adequate to meet the requirements of the business, or, if the business is one of performing services, where the services are performed. The term "fixed place of business" does not mean tents, temporary stands or other temporary structures, or permanent structures occupied pursuant to a temporary arrangement or lease for a term of less than one year.

Fortunetelling means engaging in the business of foretelling or pretending to foretell future events or the prophecy of the future.

Itinerant business includes the soliciting or negotiating the sale or purchase of any merchandise at any place other than a fixed place of business, including, but not limited to, sales from tents, temporary stands, or other temporary structures, either in person or by telephone, such as a traveling merchant, hawker, peddler, traveling photographer, magazine or book salesmen, or any person who solicits business for persons engaged in such occupations. The term "itinerant business" also includes the business of cleaning cesspools or septic tanks for hire, the installation or removal of tire chains for compensation at any place other than the fixed place of business which is owned by, or whose owner employs, the person who is installing or removing tire chains; the soliciting of alms, donations or gifts for the solicitor's own use; the soliciting of any kind of business from door to door; and the soliciting of business of any kind at the residence of the customers, either in person or by telephone.

Merchandise means any goods, wares, merchandise, products or chattels of any description. The term "secondhand merchandise" is limited to, and includes, any of the following property which has been used:

A. Any firearms;

B. Jewelry, including watches and cameras;

C. Tangible personal property as defined in Business and Professions Code § 21627 and means any secondhand personal property which bears a serial number or personalized initials or inscription, including any such property which at the time it is acquired by the secondhand dealer bears evidence of having had a serial number or personalized initials or inscription, excluding, however, motor vehicles and used merchandise traded in upon new merchandise of the same kind, purchased at retail.

Pawnbroker means a person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on the business of pawnbroking, or the business of lending money for himself or herself or for any other person upon personal property, pawns or pledges, or the business of purchasing articles from the vendors or their assignees at prices agreed upon at or before the time of such purchase.

State Law reference— Similar provision, Financial Code § 21000.

Secondhand dealer means and includes any person who buys, sells, trades, takes in pawn, accepts for consignment, accepts for auctioning or auctions any secondhand merchandise.

Sell or sale includes offer for sale, solicit a sale, expose for sale, have in possession for sale, exchange, barter, trade, or any transaction in which merchandise is given for joining or making a contribution to any organization or business.

Special business license means a license issued by the Sheriff and required pursuant to the provisions of Chapters 5.14 and 5.34 for specific types of business which are potentially injurious to the public interest, are not regulated by the State in such a manner as to preempt local regulation, and which the health, safety and welfare of the community demand be operated by responsible persons in compliance with all laws, including any special regulations applicable to such businesses.

Transact or operate means the ownership, management or receipt of all or part of the profits of commissions by a person from a business, or the solicitation, negotiation or engaging by a person in any itinerant business.

(Ord. No. 5080, § 1(Exh. A), 3-13-2018)