[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Saco 11-24-1997.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Licenses — See Ch. 132.
This chapter shall be known as the "Saco Flea Market Ordinance."
The City recognizes the economic value of so-called "flea markets" to
the community. These markets are a place for individuals from both the local
community and from out-of-state to sell, merchandise and purchase new and
secondhand goods at low cost. Flea markets also are a community gathering
spot. They produce jobs for local citizens and income for merchants, as well
as a place for people to meet. These markets, however, have been unregulated
and have been disruptive of neighbors and traffic flow. They are a visual
distraction and detriment to the City when not adequately controlled. In addition,
some individual flea market vendors violate City zoning standards, offer for
sale dangerous or illegal products and do not always comply with state tax
laws. Because of the nature of their operations, these individual vendors
are difficult to regulate. The City adopts the following chapter to promote
flea markets in general but with the goal of protecting the visitors to our
community and the neighborhoods where such markets are found.
A.
Any person, family, association, corporation or other
business entity who/which promotes, authorizes and/or suffers the operation
or maintenance of a flea market on their property, or on property they rent,
lease or otherwise control, must possess a flea market operators license from
the City.
B.
A flea market operator, whether or not they actually
charge admission fees to the public or charge fees to any flea market vendor
at the flea market, and regardless whether they operate for profit or not,
must secure a flea market operator's license to maintain the flea market.
C.
A "flea market vendor" is defined as a person, family,
corporation, association or other business entity who rents, leases, pays
for or otherwise occupies any amount of space, land and/or tables at a flea
market for the purposes of advertising, displaying, promoting or selling new
or used goods or merchandise.
A.
Flea market operator. No person, family, corporation,
association or other business entity may operate, suffer, permit or conduct
a flea market on their property without a City license. The failure to secure
a license is hereby deemed a nuisance which may be abated by enforcement of
state law and subject to the fines and penalties described therein.
B.
Vendor. No person, family, corporation, association or
other business may sell, market, merchandise, display, promote or package
new or used goods at a flea market without a valid flea market vendor's license.
The failure to secure a license is deemed a nuisance which may be abated by
enforcement of state law or by means of arrest and removal from the flea market
by the Police Department.
A.
Operators. To receive a flea market operator's license,
a person, family, corporation, association or other business entity must agree
to the following terms and conditions, which terms and conditions are made
a part of its license:
(1)
The flea market operator will not permit any individual,
family, corporation, association or other business entity to sell, display,
market or otherwise avail themselves of the benefits and privileges of the
flea market unless the individual or entity holds a valid City flea market
vendor's license.
(2)
The flea market operator must comply with all City of
Saco zoning ordinances and all City regulations.
(3)
The flea market will open no sooner than 7:00 a.m. and
remain open no longer than 9:00 p.m.
(4)
The operator will not permit or suffer any violation
of City ordinances or regulations, nor jeopardize or endanger the public health
or safety in any way, or the health and safety of any customers at the market;
nor suffer or permit any flea market vendor from doing any of the same.
(5)
The operator will prohibit, bar and/or expel from the
flea market any flea market vendor who disturbs the peace or who violates
any City ordinance or regulation.
(6)
The flea market operator will advise and instruct all
flea market vendors on the property to prominently display at all times the
vendor's City license.
(7)
An operator's license shall run for one year January
1 through December 31, and the fee shall be established by the City Council
after a public hearing.
[Amended 4-7-2003]
B.
Vendors. To receive a flea market vendor's license, a
person, family, corporation, association or other business entity must meet
and agree to the following terms and conditions, which are made a part of
its license:
(1)
Flea market vendors will comply with all City of Saco
zoning ordinances and all City regulations.
(2)
The flea market vendor will not display merchandise,
flags, pennants, banners or other advertising at a height greater then nine
feet above ground level and agrees that if such are found they may be immediately
removed by Saco Police.
(3)
The flea market vendor will open no sooner than 7:00
a.m. and must close by 9:00 p.m.
(4)
The flea market vendor must display, at all times, and
in a prominent place of public view, its City license.
(5)
The flea market vendor will not disturb the peace.
(6)
A flea market vendor's license shall run for a term of
one year, January 1 through December 31, and the fee for such license shall
be established by City Council after a public hearing.
[Amended 4-7-2003]
(7)
Flea market vendors will not disturb the peace nor jeopardize
or endanger the public health and safety in any way.
(8)
Flea market vendors will not sell illegal, counterfeit
or contraband items or goods nor engage in any illegal activities at the flea
market.
A.
The failure to meet, follow and/or comply with any license
condition may result in forfeiture of the operator's or vendor's license.
Past license violations may be considered as a factor upon request for renewal.
B.
It shall be the Clerk's responsibility to issue, suspend
and/or deny any license described herein. The Clerk shall maintain license
applications and a file with all license holders. In the absence of the Clerk,
the City Administrator will assume all authority hereunder.
A.
A flea market operator's license or a flea market vendor's
license may be denied, suspended or revoked upon a determination of the existence
of one or more of the following grounds:
(1)
Failure to fully complete the application forms for licenses;
knowingly making an incorrect statement of a material nature on such form;
failure to supply any additional documentation required or reasonably necessary
to determine whether such license is issuable, or failure to pay any fee required
hereunder.
(2)
The business or persons on the premises of the business
have caused one or more breaches of the peace.
(3)
There is a clear danger that a breach of the peace will
occur if the licensed activity is permitted or continued.
(4)
The business or persons patronizing the business will
substantially and adversely affect the peace and quiet of the neighborhood,
whether or not residential.
(5)
The business has violated one or more provisions of this
chapter or other ordinances of the City of Saco, including its Zoning Ordinance.
(6)
Real or personal property taxes or final judgments are
due and payable to the City and are determined to be in arrears as of the
date of the license request.
(7)
The operator has permitted unlicensed vendors to sell,
display or market goods on the property and has failed to remove or expel
such vendors.
B.
A license may be renewed year to year upon review by the Clerk/Council, again applying the standards described above in § 104-7. As part of the review process, and as described in § 104-6, the Clerk/Council will consider compliance from prior years in its consideration and, based upon that review, may add conditions to any future license to correct, abate or limit past problems. Such conditions may be removed if the operator or vendor satisfies the Clerk/Council of future compliance with this chapter.
Except as expressly provided in this chapter, no license may be revoked
or suspended without prior notice to the licensee and after a hearing. In
the case of the suspension or revocation of a license, a hearing shall be
given to the licensee and a generalized statement of the nature of the complaint
constituting the basis for the proposed action shall be included in the notice
of hearing. Failure of the business to appear at the hearing shall be deemed
a waiver of the rights to said hearing. All suspensions or revocation shall
be upon substantial evidence and all hearings shall be conducted with substantial
fairness. "Substantial fairness" is defined to mean that the Clerk or Council
shall not arbitrarily deny, suspend or revoke a license but will base their
decision upon credible evidence of one or more of the grounds described above.
A.
Procedure. An appeal to the City Council may be taken
by any person aggrieved by the denial, suspension or revocation of license
by the Clerk by filing a notice of appeal within 30 days of the decision.
Every appeal should be in writing and shall state the basis for the appeal.
The City Administrator/City Council shall hear the appeal within two weeks
after the filing of the appeal and may affirm, reverse or modify the decision
appealed from.
B.
Appeal to the Superior Court. Any person aggrieved by
the decision on appeal may appeal to the Superior Court in accordance with
the provisions of Maine Rules of Civil Procedure 80B.
A.
Content. Whenever a hearing is required, the Clerk shall
give notice of the time and place of the hearing, the type of license involved
and the nature of the hearing and the address or location of the property
involved.
B.
Service. Except as expressly provided, whenever notice
by mail is required, such notice shall be mailed by regular United States
mail at least five days in advance of the hearing date.
A.
No license may be transferred by the licensee to any
person, business or entity, nor shall any license fee be refunded if the licensed
activity is ceased prior to the expiration of the license.
B.
In all cases arising out of this section in which the
Clerk, if required to determine the identity or composition of or ownership
interests in an application or licensee, or to determine whether a transfer
of an ownership interest in an applicant or licensee has taken place, he shall
look to the substance rather than the form of transactions, and any person
aggrieved may appeal the Clerk's determination to the City Manager.
All flea market operators shall post on their property a conspicuous
notice that guests and/or customers of the market may bring any
complaint regarding the market or any vendor to the City, Monday through Friday,
9:00 to 4:00, at 300 Main Street, Saco.
