Title
Amending Chapter 409 of the Legislative Code to eliminate petition requirements, reference and incorporate uniform license procedures as outlined in Section 310 of the Legislative Code and update gender specific language and other outdated terms.
Body
SECTION 1
WHEREAS, current individual City Licensing Ordinances contain notification, hearing, and petition requirements for specific business license types; and
WHEREAS, different license processes in different City Licensing Ordinances have created confusion among city staff and prospective license applicants as to the proper process to follow; and
WHEREAS, some of these requirements also unnecessarily increase the time it takes individuals to open a business; and
WHEREAS, the city seeks to improve the process by which community members learn about and provide input to support Council decision making related to business licenses; and
WHEREAS, time costs entrepreneur’s money and impacts their interest and ability to open a business in Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, throughout the life cycle of a license, the City Council has the same rights, requirements, and abilities to take Adverse License Action (e.g., imposing conditions on a license); and
WHEREAS, after community listening sessions a stakeholder workgroup discussed business and administrative needs and brainstormed/researched solutions; and
WHEREAS, the workgroup recommended uniform license procedures, the removal of petition requirements, a shortened notification process, elimination of the license renewal public hearing provision and retaining the requirement that all Class N License Applications be put before City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney has determined, based on the opinion of other legal experts, that laws that exclude references to gender do not promote gender equality, and advises that gender-specific words should be replaced with gender-neutral words that have the same meaning when possible; and
WHER...
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