5.48.050 Awarding of pawnshop licenses.
When additional pawnshop licenses become available due to the growth in population or to the cancellation or termination of existing licenses, the city clerk shall notify prospective applicants for pawnbroker licenses of the time, date and place at which the city clerk or designate shall conduct a drawing for the license application(s). Notice shall be by publication in the city’s official newspaper and by first class mail to those persons who have filed with the city clerk a written request to be notified of such drawing.
1. Prospective applicants for pawnbroker licenses shall submit their entries for the drawing to the clerk on forms provided therefore on or before the entry deadline set by the clerk. Entries shall be limited to one entry per person per drawing, regardless of the number of licenses available. For purposes of this section, a prospective applicant shall be deemed to have submitted an entry for any drawing in which an entry has previously been submitted for that drawing by any person or persons who have any ownership or control in whatever manner exercised in that applicant as determined by the city clerk.
2. The winner(s) of the drawing shall receive an application form, which must be completed by the applicant listed in the entry and returned to the city clerk or designee with the license fee within one month of the date of the drawing.
3. The city clerk or designee shall review the application and notify the applicant within thirty days of receipt thereof of its decision to approve or reject it. The license may only be issued to the applicant named in the application for license.
4. If, after the application is approved, the licensee fails to obtain a business license and open for pawnbroking business within nine months of the issuance of the license, or if the business is closed or abandoned at any time after the business is opened for a period in excess of six months, the license granted under this chapter shall become null and void, and shall be awarded to another applicant according to the procedures outlined in this chapter; provided, that the licensee may be granted additional time to open or reopen for business upon a showing of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances causing the delay.
5. Notice of a denial of an application shall include a statement detailing the reasons therefore and may be appealed pursuant to the procedures of VMC Section 5.48.070.
6. Upon final denial of the original application, the city clerk or designee shall offer an application to the next successful applicant in the prior drawing. If there are not further applicants, the city clerk or designee shall hold another drawing at such time as he or she receives a request for an additional license. (Ord. M-3258 §1 (part), 1996)