The purpose of this chapter is to provide the
municipal officers a reasonable medium for regulation of the businesses
and purposes listed in Table 1. This chapter is enacted pursuant to the constitutional
and statutory home rule power of the Town of Wells and Chapter 134
of the Private and Special Laws of Maine, 1965.
[Amended 4-28-2006]
The municipal officers of the Town of Wells
are authorized to grant licenses for the businesses and purposes specified
herein or to delegate to the Town Clerk the authority to issue such
licenses as are specified in the schedule provided in Table 1 hereof and to make such amendments to the schedule set
forth in Table 1 as they deem necessary after notice and hearing.
The municipal officers may specify the inspections and background
investigations that are required prior to issuance of a license. The
municipal officers are authorized to set license fees, including but
not limited to application fees, publication fees, background investigation
fees and inspection fees, after notice and hearing. All fees shall
be paid at the time the application is filed and no license shall
be issued until all fees incurred during the licensing process are
paid in full. All licensing fees are nonrefundable. A copy of the
license fee schedule shall be on file in the Town Clerk’s office.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ADULT CARE CENTER
An establishment providing day care for five or more adults
which charges for the care of the adults, whether in a private home
or a separate establishment and whether or not licensed by the State
of Maine.
ALARM SYSTEM
A system, including any mechanism, equipment or device, designed
to automatically transmit a signal, message or warning from a private
or public facility to any alarm answering service and shall include
telephonic alarm systems designed to operate automatically through
the use of public telephone facilities.
AMUSEMENT CASINO
A business establishment providing indoor recreation in the
form of mechanical, electronic or video games without alcohol sales.
AUCTION
The public sale of property or goods to the highest bidder.
AUCTIONEER
A licensed agent who conducts an auction.
AUTOMOBILE GRAVEYARD
A yard, field or other area used to store three or more unserviceable, discarded, worn out or junked motor vehicles as defined in 29-A M.R.S.A. § 101, Subsection
42, and/or 30-A M.R.S.A.§ 3752, or parts of such vehicles, including an area used for automobile dismantling, salvage and recycling operations. Exemption: "Automobile graveyard" does not include an area used for temporary storage by an establishment or place of business which is primarily engaged in doing auto body repair work to make repairs to make the vehicle operational.
[Amended 11-7-2000]
AUTOMOBILE REPAIR
An establishment in the business of servicing and repairing
motor vehicles.
BANK
See "financial institution."
BARBERSHOP
A business of cutting and dressing hair and shaving and trimming
beards.
BEAUTY SHOP
An establishment where haircutting, hairdressing, facials
and manicures are done.
CAMPGROUND/RECREATIONAL PARK
A business establishment operated as a recreational site
for trailers, recreational vehicles or other forms of temporary shelter.
CHILD CARE CENTER
An establishment providing day care for five or more children
under the age of 16 which charges for the care of the children, whether
in a private home or a separate establishment and whether or not licensed
by the State of Maine.
CLOSEOUT SALE
The offering for sale of a stock of goods, wares or merchandise
under the designation of "Closing Out Sale," "Going Out of Business
Sale," "Entire Stock Must Go," "Must Sell to the Bare Walls" or any
other designation which states, directly or by implication, an intent
to dispose of the entire stock of goods to permanently terminate further
business as per state statute.
CLUB
Any voluntary association of persons organized for fraternal,
social, religious, benevolent, recreational, literary, patriotic,
scientific or political purposes whose facilities are open to members
but not the general public and which is principally engaged in activities
which are not customarily carried on for monetary gain.
COMMERCIAL SCHOOL
A place of business, including but not limited to a dance
studio, musical instrument instruction and martial arts class, where
classes are taught for a profit.
DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES
The solicitation or sale of goods, wares, merchandise or
services by a seller or the seller's employee's direct contact accomplished
by means of a visit or phone call to a residence without the consumer
soliciting the initial contact, including home repair services.
[Amended 11-7-2000]
ENTERTAINMENT
Includes any amusement, performance, exhibition or diversion
for patrons or customers on licensed premises, whether provided by
professional entertainers or by full-time or part-time employees of
the licensed premises whose duties include activities with an entertainment
value.
FARM STAND
A roadside stand not exceeding 450 square feet in floor area
selling only farm, gardening, greenhouse or nursery products, cut
Christmas trees, garland, wreaths, wreath materials and loam on the
premises.
FISH MARKET
A business where seafood products are sold.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
A place of business which includes banks, credit unions,
savings and loans and financial advisors.
FOOD TRUCK
A vehicle or cart primarily providing food and drink for
members of the public, in parking lots, outside the traveled way of
a public or private street, or on private property pursuant to a properly
approved site plan, which is not stationary but is capable of moving
from site to site. The term "food truck" does not include ice cream
trucks.
[Added 1-16-2018]
FUNCTION HALL
A business in which a room or rooms may be rented out to
a variety of different groups for public and private meetings, gatherings,
dances, conferences or parties.
GAME OF CHANCE
A game, contest, scheme or device in which a person stakes
or risks something of value for an opportunity to win something of
value and in which the outcome depends in a material degree upon an
element of chance, notwithstanding that skill of the contestant or
participant may also be a factor therein.
GAMING
Games of chance such as bingo.
GAS STATION
A business that sells motor fuels and may do automobile repairs.
HEALTH INSTITUTION
A hospital, nursing home, clinic, boarding care facility
or other place for the treatment or diagnosis of human ailments, excluding
professional offices.
HOME BUSINESS
An accessory use of a dwelling unit for gainful employment as permitted under Chapter
145, Land Use.
HOME REPAIR SERVICES
To fix, replace, alter, convert, modernize, improve or make
an addition to real property. "Home repair services" includes, but
is not limited to, the construction, installation, replacement, improvement
or cleaning of driveways, swimming pools, porches, kitchens, chimneys,
chimney liners, garages, fences, fallout shelters, central air conditioning,
central heating, boilers, furnaces, hot water heaters, electric wiring,
sewers, plumbing fixtures, storm doors, storm windows, siding or awnings
or other improvements to structures within the residence or upon the
land adjacent to the residence, including tree trimming, when such
services are not solicited initially by the consumer thereof.
ICE CREAM TRUCK
A vehicle, not to exceed 20 feet in length and eight feet
in width, from which the operator vends only pre-packaged frozen dairy
or frozen water-based food products, soft serve, or hand-dipped frozen
dairy products or frozen water-based food products, and pre-packaged
beverages. No trailer or other such wheeled extension may be attached
to an ice cream truck.
[Added 1-16-2018]
INNKEEPER
A person, persons, company, partnership, association or other
entity that keeps a lodging facility to provide temporary lodging
to travelers and others for compensation.
ITINERANT PHOTOGRAPHER
All persons, whether as principals or agents, who engage
in a temporary or transient business in Wells, whether such persons
conduct their business by traveling house to house taking pictures
in houses or operate from a hotel or motel room, store or other location,
and who solicit orders, take pictures, assist in taking pictures,
show proofs, deliver pictures and/or make collections for pictures
sold.
JUNK DEALER
A person who sells junk or secondhand goods as defined in
30-A M.R.S.A. § 3901.
JUNKYARD
A yard, field or other area used to store:
A.
Discarded, worn-out or junked plumbing, heating
supplies, household appliances and furniture;
B.
Discarded, scrap and junk lumber;
C.
Old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries,
paper trash, rubber debris, waste and all scrap iron, steel and other
ferrous or nonferrous material; and
D.
Garbage dumps, waste dumps and sanitary fills
as defined in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3752, Subsection 4.
KENNEL
A commercial establishment where dogs and/or cats are kept
or boarded for a fee or where animal grooming is performed for a fee.
LIQUOR
Any spirituous, vinous or malt beverage.
LIQUOR LICENSE
A license issued to an establishment to sell spirituous,
vinous or malt beverages for consumption on or off the licensed premises.
LOCATION
Any single parcel or combination of contiguous parcels that
are owned or controlled by a single entity or affiliated entities.
[Added 1-16-2018]
LODGING FACILITY
A building or group of buildings in which rooms are rented
or available for rent to transient guests. The term includes motels,
hotels, cabins, housekeeping cottages and housekeeping cottage complexes,
seasonal cottages and seasonal cottage complexes, bed-and-breakfasts
and inns.
[Amended 11-2-2004]
MANUFACTURING
A business, excluding a home business, of making goods and
articles by hand or machinery. "Manufacturing" shall include assembling,
fabricating, finishing, packaging or processing.
MARINA
A business establishment having frontage on the navigable
waters within the Town which offers for sale or rent to commercial
fishermen or pleasure boat owners some or all of the following: mooring,
dock space, boats and marine equipment, showers and laundry facilities,
water, ice, diesel fuel, gasoline, oil and related products, and where
boats may be hauled, stored, repaired and/or constructed.
MASSAGE
Any method of rubbing, kneading, tapping, vibration, compression,
percussion, application of friction or manipulation of external parts
of the human body with the hands or other parts of the body or with
the aid of any instrument or device.
MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENT
Any business, including but not limited to a sole proprietorship,
in which the business operations or some portion thereof consist of
providing or making available in the Town massage for consideration
or with the expectation of receiving consideration or any gratuity,
whether or not the business has a fixed place of business within the
Town.
MASSAGE THERAPIST
Any person who performs massage for consideration or a gratuity
or with the expectation of receiving consideration or any gratuity.
MASS GATHERING
A group of 500 or more persons assembled together for a meeting,
social gathering or other similar purpose that can be anticipated
to exceed two hours in duration.
MASS GATHERING AREA
Any place maintained, operated or used for a group gathering
or assemblage, except an established permanent stadium, athletic field,
arena, auditorium, coliseum, fairground or other similar permanent
place of assembly that has sufficiently existing sanitary facilities
to handle the expected gathering.
MUSEUM
An institution operated primarily for the purpose of preserving
and exhibiting objects of historical, cultural, scientific or artistic
interest which may also be engaged in incidental retail sales of items
related to the principal purpose.
[Amended 11-7-2000]
NEIGHBORHOOD CONVENIENCE STORE
A store with floor area intended to service a residential
neighborhood's convenience needs, such as basic foods, newspapers,
beverages and paper goods, with or without petroleum products.
OUTDOOR FESTIVAL
To exhibit, sponsor, hold, promote or operate any pageant,
amusement, show or theatrical performance, including a music festival,
or exhibition in which the anticipated attendance will exceed 1,000
people and where a substantial portion of the people attending will
be out of doors.
PALMISTRY (PALM READER)
A person or persons who engage in the practice of reading
a person's character or future from the markings on the palms.
PAWNBROKER
One who loans money and takes goods as collateral.
PROFESSIONAL OFFICE
A place of business of doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects,
engineers, surveyors, real estate and insurance agents, auctioneers,
psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, therapists and the like
or a place in which a business conducts its administrative and clerical
operations.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Persons, corporations or businesses who or which engage in
the business of offering public transportation over a fixed route
within the Town of Wells on a regular basis for a fee.
REDEMPTION CENTER
A person, firm or corporation who or which receives bottles,
cans, rags and the like for the purpose of recycling with only brief
storage of the recycled product.
RESTAURANT
An establishment where food and drink are prepared and served
to the public.
RETAIL BUSINESS
A business establishment engaged in the sale of goods and
services to the ultimate consumer for direct use or consumption.
SEASONAL COTTAGE
A one-story building containing a single unit made up of
a room or group of rooms containing facilities for eating, sleeping,
bathing and cooking and that is not occupied and to which water service
is turned off between November 1 and April 30.
[Added 11-2-2004]
SEASONAL COTTAGE COMPLEX
A business consisting of one or more seasonal cottages.
All seasonal cottage units in a seasonal cottage complex shall be
available to the traveling public, but may be occupied by a single
individual or group for a time period of up to six months.
[Added 11-2-2004]
SOLID WASTE (COMMERCIAL HAULER)
Any person, firm or corporation who or which accumulates,
collects, stores, transports or disposes of more than two tons per
month of acceptable or unacceptable waste generated within the Town
who must first obtain a license from the municipal officers.
TENT SALE
The exterior sale of goods associated with a retail business
where the sales occur in or under a tent, tarp or similar temporary
structure.
THEATER
A fully enclosed building used for display or presentation
to the public of films, plays or other kinds of performances.
TOWN
The Town of Wells, Maine.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITY
A use which provides for the interface between different
modes of transportation. It may include a terminal building, housing,
retail space, service, office, restaurant and other such accessory
uses.
VICTUALER
A person or persons who serve food or drink prepared for
consumption on the premises by the public.
WAREHOUSE
A structure used primarily for the storage of articles, goods
or materials.
WHOLESALING
A business establishment engaged in the bulk sale of goods
or materials not manufactured or processed on the premises.
YARD SALE
An activity held within a structure or open area where personal
goods are offered for sale to the general public, including so-called
garage sales, porch sales, tag sales and the like, but not including
tent sales.
No person, corporation, partnership, association,
unincorporated association or other entity shall operate or conduct
any trade, profession, business or privilege listed in Table 1 without
first obtaining all required licenses or permits therefor.
All licenses shall expire on the first day of
May of each year, unless otherwise provided, and no proration shall
be allowed for any part-time license. If an application for renewal
of a license is filed prior to the expiration date, the licensed activity
may be continued, pending a decision of the licensing authority to
grant or deny a new license, provided that the licensee and licensed
business are otherwise in compliance with this chapter.
[Amended 11-7-2000]
A business engaging in more than one of the
activities listed in Table 1 shall be required to secure and pay for
a license in each of the activities in which it is engaged.
As agent of the municipal officers, the Town
Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to receive all applications
required by this chapter and to act thereon with reasonable promptness
consistent with the nature of the matter, either by issuing the license
or permit as applied for, subject to limitations on his/her authority
as contained herein, or by denying the same and so notifying the applicant
personally or in writing, addressed to his address as shown in the
application, such notice to state the reason for such denial, or by
referring the license application to the Board of Selectmen, if the
Board of Selectmen is the issuing authority specified in Table 1.
The Selectmen may issue or deny such licenses, following a public
hearing, provided that the applicant shall be notified, in writing,
of the denial and the reason for the denial. The Selectmen may impose
such reasonable restrictions and/or conditions as they deem in the
best interest of the community.
This chapter shall take effect upon enactment
by the Town Meeting and shall apply to all licenses issued after January
1 of the following year.
This chapter repeals and replaces the former Chapter 149, Licenses, of the Wells Municipal Code and repeals Chapter 52, Article
II (Mass Gathering), Chapter 55 (Amusements), Chapter 58 (Alarm Systems), Chapter 98 (Massage Establishments), Chapter 128 (Solid Waste), Chapter
132 (Vendors, Itinerant), Chapter 147 (Junkyards) and Chapter 160 (Public Transportation) of the Wells Municipal Code.