Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 4 Service Licenses

No person who does not have or is not employed by a fixed place of business which holds a current, valid license to operate issued pursuant to Chapter 1 of Division 1 of Title 7, or who does not hold a current, valid business license issued by any city within the County of San Joaquin, shall, without first obtaining a service license issued pursuant to this Chapter, provide or attempt to provide services within the City.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) "Services" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as any act of assistance or benefit, any work or labor or any installation, maintenance or repair of real or personal property, whether or not performed in conjunction with the sale of goods, materials or property, which services are performed or offered on a regular, rather than occasional, basis and constitute or are intended to constitute a principal source of income for the service provider or itinerant service provider.

(b) "Person" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as any person or persons age sixteen (16) or over, or any partnership, trust, corporation, or other entity, who renders services for a specified recompense for a specified result, under the control of the person contracting for such services as to the result of the work only, and not as to the means by which such result is accomplished.

(c) "Service provider" is defined for the purposes of this Chapter as any person who has a permanent residence in the City.

(d) "Itinerant service provider" is defined for the purposes of this Chapter as any person who does not have a permanent residence in the City.

(e) "Permanent residence" is defined for the purposes of this Chapter as a dwelling within the State of California where an applicant for a license has resided continuously for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of his application, and within the City continuously for at least one hundred twenty (120) days immediately preceding the filing of his application.

(f) "Fixed place of business" is defined for the purposes of this Chapter as a business house or premises separate and distinct from any other business or residence, regularly kept open with an agent acting exclusively for such business in attendance, or an outdoors location where a business is regularly carried on.

(g) "Chief of Police" means the City Manager or their designee.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

No license to provide services is required of any person who is specifically exempted from local licensing requirements by Section 7032 of the Business and Professions Code or by any other provision of law; or who holds a current, valid license to operate issued pursuant to Chapter 1 of Division 1 of Title 7 of this Code, or who holds a current, valid business license issued by any city within this City.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Any duly licensed service provider or itinerant service provider shall, while operating in the City, carry on his or her person at all times an identification card to be furnished by the Administrative Services Director's office at the time the license required by this Chapter is issued. Said card will state and serve as notice to the public that said person is duly licensed by the City, and said card must be shown to anyone to whom services are provided prior to providing such services. The fee for said card shall be set by resolution of the City Council.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The truth of the matter contained in each application must be verified by the oath of the applicant in the same manner as pleadings in civil actions in this State are required to be verified.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Before the Administrative Services Director may issue a license under this Chapter, the applicant must file with the Administrative Services Director a bond in the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) executed by an established surety company or by two responsible freeholders residing in the City, or in lieu thereof shall make a cash deposit with the Administrative Services Director in the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), conditioned that upon the failure to comply with any of the conditions or provisions of this Chapter, the applicant or his sureties will pay any fine of not more than the amount of bond that may be imposed upon the applicant for such failure, and conditioned further, that anyone aggrieved by the action of any person providing or agreeing to provide services under this Chapter shall have a right of action on the bond for the recovery of money or damages or both. Said bond shall remain in effect for thirty (30) days after the expiration of a license or any renewal thereof issued pursuant to this Chapter.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Upon the filing of and application for license, the posting of the required bond, the investigation of the information contained in the application, including the applicant's business background and moral character, and the Chief of Police's favorable report thereon to the Administrative Services Director, the Administrative Services Director shall issue a license to the applicant. Should the Chief of Police report that any of the information in such application is untrue, or that the applicant's character or business responsibility is unsatisfactory, the Administrative Services Director shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no license will issue.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Any duly licensed service provider or itinerant service provider shall, while operating in the City, carry on his person at all times an identification card to be furnished by the Administrative Services Director's Office at the time the license required by this Chapter is issued. Said card will state and serve as notice to the public that said person is duly licensed by the City, and said card must be shown to anyone to whom services are provided prior to providing such services. The fee for said card is $5.00, to be paid at the time of issuance.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The fee for each license shall be set by resolution of the City Council. The full amount of the fee shall be paid upon the submission of the license application. License fees will not be prorated nor will refunds be granted upon the termination of a business.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Persons providing services who are employed by a nonprofit charitable or fraternal organization and who do not themselves profit from the provision of such services are exempt from the fees provided for in Section 7-1-408 of this Chapter and from the bond required by Section 7-1-405. To establish a claim of exemption, such person must file with the Administrative Services Director, in addition to the application provided for in Section 7-1-407 of this Chapter, a written, notarized affidavit disclosing the following information: a list of all corporate officers of said organization; a financial statement for the business for the most recent fiscal year; the name of the applicant's immediate supervisor; and any other information the Chief of Police or Administrative Services Director may require. No such person is entitled to operate within the City unless and until said organization has obtained the license required by this Chapter.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) Any failure to comply with the provisions of this Chapter, including failure to obtain a service provider's license, is a misdemeanor punishable by revocation of the misdemeanant's service license, by a fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00), by imprisonment in the County jail for a term not to exceed three (3) months, or by such revocation and/or fine and/or imprisonment.

(b) Any person who intentionally or negligently violates this Chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) for each day in which such violation occurs.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

A license issued pursuant to this Chapter may be revoked after hearing by the City Council upon proof that the applicant has been convicted during the term of such license of a crime or civil violation prosecuted in the name of the People of the State of California, provided such conviction is related to the applicant's conduct of his business.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)