This article shall include the inhabitants of the City of Lewes
within the corporate limits or as extended hereafter and the inhabitants
of all the public land, whether within the corporate limits of the
City of Lewes, as defined by the City Charter, or on the public land
contiguous to but outside the corporate limits of the City of Lewes,
as defined by the City Charter.
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall be applicable:
Any business establishment in which there are located three
or more or any combination thereof of coin- or token-operated games
or coin- or token-operated automatic amusement devices, including
but not limited to pinball machines, computer-type automatic amusement
devices or computer-type automatic amusement games.
[Added 9-13-1982]
An establishment licensed and operated primarily for the
sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises with the
sale of food as a secondary object.
[Added 1-8-2007]
A building or part thereof or each motor or horse-drawn vehicle
or each stand at or from which any merchandise and/or commodities
are dispensed and/or facilities or services are provided to members
of the general public or to members of an association, club or the
like.
An eating establishment catering to indoor customers, excluding
any stand-up indoor eating places, drive-in or drive-through and other
such eating places but including luncheonettes, delicatessens and
cafes. A restaurant may also include, as an accessory use, facilities
for the sale of alcoholic or other beverages for on-premises consumption.
[Added 1-8-2007]
A building or part thereof at or from which any merchandise
and/or commodities are dispensed and/or facilities or services are
dispensed.
[Added 1-8-2007]
[Added 5-14-2018[1]]
The mercantile license fees shall be as approved by the Mayor
and City Council and indicated in the fee schedules maintained by
the City of Lewes.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former § 128-3, Fees for establishments providing commodities. as amended; § 128-3.1, Fees for retail space, added 1-8-2007; § 128-4, Fees for establishments providing facilities, as amended; § 128-5, Fees for establishments providing services, as amended; § 128-6, Fees for establishments providing rental facilities, as amended; § 128-7, Fees for solicitors, hawkers and peddlers, as amended; and § 128-8, Fees for establishments engaged in manufacturing, as amended.
[Added 5-14-2018; amended
at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
All persons engaged in rendering professional services within
the City; each real estate broker and/ or agent, rental agent, and
insurance agent doing business within the City; and each contractor
engaged in building, alteration, repairing, remodeling, construction
and/or maintenance of a building or property are required to have
a mercantile license.
[Amended 4-8-1991; 3-13-1995]
A.
Each person, firm or corporation which has not previously carried
on, prosecuted, conducted or engaged in a business or occupation within
the corporate limits of the City of Lewes and commences a business
partway through a license year shall pay the following license fees
pursuant to the following schedule:
[Amended 3-19-2007]
The license year shall begin with January 1 and end with December
31 of each calendar year. License fees shall be due and payable to
the City Manager prior to the beginning of a given license year. For
the initial year of implementation of the change to the licensing
year and fees, the fees for July through December 2007 shall be prorated,
and the fee for the full calendar year shall begin January 1, 2008.
No license fee shall be charged for a license issued to any
charitable or public service institution, association, club or body
not organized and conducted for private gain, nor shall The City of
Lewes be charged for license.
Applications for licenses shall be addressed to the City Manager,
in writing, verified by oath or affirmation signed by the applicant
or applicants, and each application shall give the following information
and such other information as the City Manager shall require from
time to time:
A.
The home or business address of the applicant.
B.
If an applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of the
individuals composing the partnership.
C.
The names and addresses of the principal officers of a corporation.
D.
A full description of the nature of the business or enterprise for
which a license is desired.
The City Manager shall prescribe the form of the license certificate
to be issued to applicants and shall keep full and complete records
of all licenses issued and the expiration dates thereof and the license
fee charge.
Whenever the City Manager shall be unable to determine in what
class a license applied for shall fall or the amount to be charged
therefor, he is authorized to assess and collect from the applicant
the sum of $50 and to issue to the applicant a temporary permit which
shall remain in effect until the next succeeding regular monthly meeting
of the Council. At such meeting the Council shall classify the application
and determine the license fee or the action which the City Manager
shall take to determine the correct tax, whereupon the City Manager
shall issue a permanent license in accordance with the ruling of the
Council and determine the amount paid and to be paid therefor.
Applicants may pay the license fees assessed by the City Manager
under protest and shall have the right to appeal from the determination
of the City Manager to the Mayor and City Council of Lewes, Delaware.
Such appeal shall be filed with the Secretary of City Council in writing
within five days after the determination of the City Manager, and
the Council shall fix a time and place for hearing the appeal, which
may be presented by the applicant or by counsel. The appeal day shall
be the next succeeding regular monthly meeting of the City Council
if sufficient time elapses; otherwise, the following regular monthly
meeting of the City Council.
All licenses issued under this article shall be posted in a
public place in the establishment or place of business for which it
is issued or, as the case may be, shall be carried upon the person
of the licensee.
[Amended 5-12-1980]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not
less than $25 nor more than $200 and imprisonment for a term of not
less than 10 days nor more than 30 days for the first such conviction.
For a second or subsequent conviction, any person, firm or corporation
shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $50
nor more than $500 and imprisonment for a term of not less than 20
days nor more than 60 days for each such conviction. Each day that
a violation of any of the provisions of this article continues shall
be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct violation.
