No person shall engage in any business liable to a license fee by this code without applying for a proper license in the manner hereinafter provided and complying with all regulations of such business contained in this code. No license shall be issued until the application has been reviewed and initialed by the city manager, city attorney, police chief, fire chief and building official.
(Prior code § 5-400)
No license shall be issued to engage in any business when the provisions of this code, or other ordinance of this city, require a permit to be obtained as a prerequisite to engaging in such business, until such permit is first obtained. Any license issued in violation of this section shall be void.
(Prior code § 5-401)
All licenses shall be prepared and issued by the director of licensing and code enforcement except licenses required by Title 15 of this code which shall be prepared and issued by the building department. Each license shall state upon its face the following:
A. 
The person to whom issued;
B. 
The kind of business licensed thereby;
C. 
The location of such business;
D. 
The expiration date of such license;
E. 
Such other information as shall be deemed necessary by the director of licensing and code enforcement as the case may be.
(Prior code § 5-402; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1901 § 1, 2007; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
The duration of any license issued under the provisions of this code shall be limited as follows:
A. 
If the license fee is an annual license fee, the license shall expire on the thirty-first day of December following the issuance of the license;
B. 
If the license fee is a daily license fee, the license shall expire at midnight of the day on which the license was issued; provided however, that such license may be issued for a greater period of time than herein provided, but not to exceed the close of the current year. In such cases, the license fee for the entire period shall be due and payable at once;
C. 
As indicated by the director of licensing and code enforcement on the license.
(Prior code § 5-403.; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
No license for any ensuing, current or unexpired license period shall knowingly be issued to any person who, at the time of making application for any license, is indebted to the city for any unpaid license fee required to be paid under the provisions of this code.
(Prior code § 5-404)
Separate licenses must be obtained for each branch establishment or location of the business engaged in, and each license shall authorize the licensee to engage in only the business licensed thereby, at the location and in the manner designated in such license; provided, that warehouses and distributing plants used in connection with and incidental to a business licensed under the provisions of this code shall not be deemed to be separate places of business or branch establishments.
(Prior code § 5-405)
No license issued under this code shall be transferable; provided, however, that where a license is issued authorizing a person to conduct a business at a particular place, such licensee may, upon application therefor, and paying a fee of five dollars, have the license previously issued amended so as to authorize the conduct of such business at some other location.
(Prior code § 5-406)
All licenses must be kept and posted in the following manner:
A. 
Any licensee transacting and carrying on a business at a fixed place of business in the city shall keep the license posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises where such business is carried on.
B. 
Any licensee transacting and carrying on business, but not operating in a fixed place of business in the city, shall keep the license upon his person at all times while transacting and carrying on such business.
C. 
Any licensee using a motor vehicle in connection with his business shall affix to the outside of such motor vehicle, in a conspicuous place, a metal plate to be furnished by the city, showing that a license has been issued.
(Prior code § 5-407)
Duplicate licenses may be issued by the director of licensing and code enforcement, or by the building department if a license under Title 15 of this code is involved, to replace any license previously issued which has been lost or destroyed, provided the licensee files an affidavit attesting to such fact and, at the time of filing such affidavit, pays to the director of licensing and code enforcement or building department, as the case may be, a fee of one dollar therefor.
(Prior code § 5-408.; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
A. 
Any license may be renewed without application upon payment of the required license fee, subject to the other provisions of this code, except in cases where a recommendation has been for revocation of the license by the city manager, city attorney, police chief, fire chief or building official based upon grounds stated in Hawthorne Municipal Code Section 5.16.020.
B. 
In all cases where the amount of license fee to be paid is based upon gross receipts, the applicant for the renewal of a license shall submit to the director of licensing and code enforcement for its guidance in ascertaining the amount of license fee to be paid by the applicant a written statement, upon a form to be provided by the director of licensing and code enforcement sworn to before a person authorized to administer oaths, setting forth such information concerning the applicant's business during the preceding year as may be required by the director of licensing and code enforcement, to enable it to ascertain the amount of license fee to be paid by said applicant pursuant to the provisions of this code. All personal financial information and other personal information so submitted by an applicant, including bank account information, gross receipts, taxes, penalties and interest assessed, credits, overpayments and other adjustments, as well as dates of birth and Social Security Numbers are confidential information.
(Prior code § 5-409.; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1901 § 1, 2007; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
The conviction and punishment of any person for engaging in any business without first obtaining a license to conduct such business shall not relieve such person from paying the license fee due and unpaid at the time of such conviction, nor shall the payment of any license fee prevent a criminal prosecution for the violation of any of the provisions of this article. All remedies prescribed hereunder shall be cumulative and the use of any one or more remedies by the city shall not bar the use of any other remedy for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article.
(Prior code § 5-410)
Where two or more types of business are carried on at the same address and under one ownership, the business license tax shall be paid for the classification of the business conducted for which the higher fee is required. Where the license tax is based on gross receipts, the gross receipts from all such multiple business shall be used in computing the applicable tax rate.
(Prior code § 6-114)
All fees collected by the city, including license fees, application fees, permit fees and renewal fees, shall be deposited with the city treasurer at the close of business each day. The director of licensing and code enforcement shall make such deposit and shall, within twenty-four hours thereafter, render a report to the city treasurer, showing the departments or funds to which such collections are to be credited.
(Prior code § 5-700.; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
No license or permit granted or issued under the provisions of this code shall be construed as authorizing the conduct or continuance of any illegal or unlawful business, activity or act.
(Prior code § 5-701)
Any person making or filing a false certificate of statement under the provisions of this article, knowing the same to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Prior code § 5-702)
A. 
It shall be the duty of the director of licensing and code enforcement to enforce each and every provision of this article, and the police department shall render such assistance in enforcement thereof as may, from time to time, be required by the director of licensing and code enforcement.
B. 
The director of licensing and code enforcement and the chief of police, in the exercise of the duties imposed upon them, and acting themselves or through their deputies, shall examine all places of business in the city to ascertain whether or not the provisions of this article have been complied with.
C. 
The city attorney or director of licensing and code enforcement and the chief of police, and all of their deputies shall have the power and authority to enter, free of charge, any place of business required to be licensed or otherwise authorized by the provisions of this code, and to demand an exhibition of such license and/or permit. Any person having any such license and/or permit theretofore issued in his possession or under his control who fails to exhibit the same on demand is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalty provided for by the provisions of this code.
D. 
The director of licensing and code enforcement shall have the power, for good cause shown, to extend the time for filing any sworn statement required by the provisions of this article for a period not exceeding thirty days, and in such case, to waive any penalty that would otherwise have accrued; and shall have the further power, with the consent of the city attorney, to compromise any claim as to amount of license fee due.
E. 
The superintendent of the building department and each of his or her deputies shall have the same powers and duties with reference to Title 15 of this code as are hereinbefore given to the director of licensing and code enforcement in this section.
(Prior code § 5-703.; Ord. 1284 § 1, 1983; Ord. 1903 § 1, 2007)
Unless claimed by the licensee, permittee or depositor within ninety days after becoming due and payable, all erroneous payments, overages and special deposits are conclusively deemed waived and the city treasurer shall immediately upon the expiration of said ninety-day period place all said revenue in the general fund.
(Prior code § 5-704)