San Leandro Municipal Code Art. 2 Permit

(Legislative History: Ordinance No. 86-02, 1/20/86)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of fortunetelling within the City of San Leandro without first obtaining a permit therefor as provided herein and obtaining a business license as provided in Title II, Chapter 2.

Applicants for permits under this Chapter must file with the Finance Officer a sworn application in writing (in duplicate) on a form to be furnished by the Finance Officer which shall give the following information:

(a) Name and description of the applicant;

(b) Permanent home address and full local address of applicant;

(c) The address at which the applicant proposes to conduct the business;

(d) The fingerprints of the applicant on a form provided by the Police Department; and

(e) A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted within the last five years of any crime, including violation of any municipal ordinance, involving moral turpitude or the elements of fraud.

The application and any renewal application shall be accompanied by a fee in such amount or amounts, as designated by the City Council by resolution, to cover administrative costs. No part of such fees shall be refunded whether such permit is issued or not.

The City Manager shall examine all applications and shall make or cause to be made such further investigation of the application and the applicant as the Manager shall deem necessary in order to perform his or her duties under this Chapter.

Within 30 days of receipt of the application for a permit, the City Manager shall issue the permit unless he or she finds that the applicant has not complied with the provisions of this Chapter or has been convicted or a crime involving moral turpitude or the elements of fraud within the last five years.

The term of the permit shall be for one year. A renewal application shall be filed no later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the permit and shall be processed in the same manner is a new application.

Whenever it shall be shown that any person to whom a permit has been issued has violated any of the provisions of this Chapter, Title II, Chapter 2 of the Municipal Code or the provisions of the San Leandro Zoning Code, the City Manager shall immediately suspend the permit and give the permit holder a written notice in person or by mail of the suspension and of a hearing to be held by the City Manager within three working days of such suspension, to determine whether or not the permit should be revoked. The notice must contain a statement of the facts upon which the City Manager has acted in suspending the permit.

Any applicant who is denied a permit or whose permit has been revoked, may appeal in writing by filing his or her appeal with the City Clerk within seven days after receipt of notification that his or her application for a permit has been denied, or that his or her permit has been revoked. Such appeal shall be heard by the Charitable Solicitations Appeals Board established in Section 4-22-240 of this Code at a time and place to be set by the City Clerk. The Board shall hear the appeal within seven days from the date of filing such appeal. The Board shall, conditionally or otherwise, either grant, deny, reinstate or refuse to reinstate such permit.

(a) Entertainment. The provisions of this Article shall not apply to any person engaged solely 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 all other persons in attendance, 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) Religious Practice. 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 or 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 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.

Any permit issued under this Article shall be nontransferable.