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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 2282 ORDINANCE NO. 2282 4AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF AZUSA AMENDING SECTION 8. 52. 060 AND ADDING SECTION 5. 12. 130 OF THE AZUSA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO FORTUNE-TELLING AND RELATED PRACTICES THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS : SECTION 1. Section 8. 52. 060 of the Azusa Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 8. 52. 060 FORTUNE-TELLING. No person shall conduct, engage in, carry on, participate in, or practice fortune- telling or cause the same to be done for pay without having first obtained a permit therefor and without having posted and maintained in full force and effect a surety bond as required by this Section. A. Definitions. 1. "Fortune-telling" shall mean and include telling of fortunes, forecasting of future events or furnishing of any information not otherwise obtainable by the ordinary process of knowledge, by means of any occult or psychic power, faculty or force, including, but not limited to clairvoyance, clairaudience, cartomancy, psychology, psychometry, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves or other such reading, mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mind-reading, telepathy, or other craft, art, science, cards, talisman, charm, potion, magnetism, magnetized article or substance, crystal gazing, oriental mysteries or magic, of any kind or nature. 2. "For Pay" shall mean for a fee, reward, donation, loan or receipt of anything of value. B. Permit Application. Every natural person who, for pay, actively conducts, engages in, carries on, or practices fortune-telling shall file a separate verified application for a permit with the Business License Officer. The application shall contain: 1. The name, home and business address, and home and business telephone number of the applicant. 2. The record of conviction for violations of the law, excluding minor traffic violations. 3. The fingerprints of the applicant on a form provided by the Police Department. 4. The address, city and state, and the approximate dates where and when the applicant practiced a similar business, either alone or in conjunction with others. 5. An application fee of $100 .00 . PMT/ORD1341 - 1 - C. Investigation. Upon the filing of the application, it shall be referred to the Police Department for investiga- tion, report and recommendation. The investigation shall be conducted to verify the facts contained in the application and any supporting data. The investigation shall be com- pleted and a report and recommendation made in writing to the Business License Officer within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the application, unless the applicant requests or consents to an extension of the time period. If the report recommends denial of the permit to the applicant, the grounds for the recommended denial shall be set forth therein. At the time of the filing of the report and recom- mendation with the Business License Officer, a copy thereof shall be served personally or by certified mail on the applicant, accompanied by a notice to the applicant that he or she may request to be heard when the Business License Officer considers the application and report. D. Hearing and Decision by Business License Officer . The Business License Officer shall consider the application and the report and recommendation at a hearing held on or before the seventh (7th) day after the filing of the report and recommendation referred to in Subsection C. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given to all parties by the Business License Officer at least three ( 3) days prior to the hearing. The applicant for the permit shall be required to attend the hearing. Any interested party shall be heard upon a reasonable request. City shall have the burden of proof to show the permit should be denied. The decision of the Business License Officer to grant or deny the permit or conditionally grant the permit shall be in writing, and if adverse to the applicant, shall contain findings of the fact and a determination of the issues presented. Unless the applicant agrees in writing to an extension of time, the Business License Officer shall make its order denying or granting or conditionally granting the permit within twenty-four ( 24) hours after completion of the hearing on the application for a permit and shall notify the applicant of its action by personal service or certified mail. E. Granting of Permit . The Business License Officer shall grant the permit if he or she makes all the following findings: 1 . all the information contained in the applica- tion and supporting data is true; 2. the applicant has not, within the previous six (6) months, been convicted of any violation of this Article or any law relating to fraud or moral turpitude; 3 . the applicant appeared in person at the hearing; and 4. the applicant agrees to abide by and comply with all conditions of the permit and applicable laws. F. Issuance of the Permit. If the Business License Officer grants the permit, he shall thereafter issue said permit only after the applicant has paid the license fee required by Subsection B above and has posted with the City Clerk a surety bond in the principal amount of $15,000 executed as surety by a good and sufficient corporate surety business in the State of California and as a principal by PMT/ORD1341 - 2 - the applicant. The form of the bond shall have been approved by the City Attorney and shall have been given to insure good faith and fair dealing on the part of the applicant and as a guarantee of indemnity for any and all loss, damage, theft, or other unfair dealings suffered by any patron or customer of the applicant within the City during the term of the permit. The license fee and term of bond shall be prorated between date of issuance and January 31, 1986. G. Term of Permit. The term of the permit shall be for no more than the term of a regular business license or January 31, 1986, whichever is earlier . A renewal application shall be filed no later than thirty ( 30) days prior to the expiration of the permit and shall be processed in the same manner as a new application. H. Exception-Entertainment. The provisions of this Section 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. I. Exception-Religious Practice. No person shall be required to pay any fee or take out any permit for conduct- ing or participating in any religious ceremony or service when such person holds a certificate or ordination as a minister, missionary, medium, healer, or clairvoyant (here- inafter 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: 1. Except as provided in 3. hereof, 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, as defined in this Subsection I. 2. The minister holding a certificate of ordination from such bona fide church or religious association, as defined in this Subsection I , shall file with the Business License Officer a certified copy of the minister ' s name, age, street, address, and telephone number in this city where the activity set forth in this Subsection I is to be conducted. 3. Such bona fide church or religious association, as defined in this Subsection I, may pay to its ministers a salary or compensa- tion based upon a percentage basis, pursuant to an agreement between the church and the minister which is embodied in a resolution and transcribed in the minutes of such church or religious association. PMT/ORD1341 - 3 - J. The issuance of this permit shall be subject to the applicable provisions and procedures of Title 5 of this Code. SECTION 2. Section 5. 12.130 is hereby added to the Azusa Municipal Code to read: "Fortune-telling, as defined in Section 8. 52.060, $500 per year. " SECTION 3. This Ordinance shall expire on January 31, 1986 and after said date shall be of no further force and effect. Any rights granted by this Ordinance are temporary and shall expire as of January 31, 1986. SECTION 4. Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Sections 36934 and 36937, the City Council of the City of Azusa declares this Ordinance to be an urgency Ordinance requiring the immediate enactment thereof because the same is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health safety and general welfare of the City and its citizens, and accordingly, the provisions of this Ordinance shall become effective at once as an urgency ordinance. On August 15, 1985, the California Supreme Court declared Section 8. 52 . 060 of the Azusa Municipal Code prohibiting fortune-telling for consideration, unconstitutional. This decision in Spiritual Psychic Science Church of Truth Inc.v. City of Azusa will be final on September 14, 1985. On that date, the City will need an ordinance regulating fortune- telling in compliance with the Court ' s decision. The City is studying how best to comply with the decision and, there- fore, has made this ordinance effective only until January 31, 1986. SECTION 5 . This Ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its adoption. SECTION 6. the City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance as an urgency ordinance. PASSED AND APPROVED this 3rd day of September, 1985. MAYOR PMT/ORD1341 - 4 - STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss. CITY OF AZUSA ) I, ADOLPH SOLIS, City Clerk of the city of Azusa, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2282 as duly adopted and passed as an urgency ordinance at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 3rd day of September 1985, by the following vote to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: CRUZ, COOK, CAMARENA, LATTA, MOSES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE Z/4/46/:/4 ////' 4 ADOLPH S• CITY CLERK PMT/ORD1341 - 5 -