[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Ocean View 7-1-1997 by Ord. No. 94; amended in its entirety 7-10-2007 by Ord. No.
222. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any individual working in a full- or part-time capacity for
another person. For purposes of this chapter, an individual working
as a temporary worker through an employment agency shall be considered
an employee.
Persons, firms or corporations, whether within or outside
of the corporate limits of the Town of Ocean View, engaged for profit
in selling any and all merchandise and/or given commodities from any
given establishment, providing facilities for use, entertainment,
or enjoyment, providing services for use, service food, door-to-door
solicitation, peddlers, or hawkers, manufacturing, whether industrial
or otherwise, and any person, firm or corporation providing services
not hereinbefore mentioned doing business in Town.
Individuals, partnerships, firms, companies, associations,
corporations, limited liability companies and trusts.
A.
No person shall engage in or carry on or aid or assist
as employee, clerk or otherwise, in the Town of Ocean View, any business,
occupation or activity or use therefor, any wagon, vehicle stand,
store or other place or thing, at or from which any merchandise or
commodity is dispensed or facilities or services are provided to members
of the general public or members of an association, club or other
body or the like, without first having paid the prescribed fee and
having obtained from the Town of Ocean View an annual license for
such business, occupation or activity. Specifically included are all
persons, firms and corporations engaged for profit in selling any
and all merchandise and/or giving commodities and/or in providing
facilities, services, rental units and/or food service within the
Town limits.
B.
A license shall be obtained for each branch establishment
or location of the business engaged in as if each branch or establishment
or location were a separate business, provided that accessory buildings
used in connection with and incidental to a business licensed under
the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to be separate
places of business or branch establishments.
C.
If more than one business or occupation is carried
on in any one building, each such business or occupation shall be
licensed separately. Businesses that are a part of partnerships, firms,
companies, associations, corporations, limited liability companies
and trusts and do business under another name require individual business
licenses.
D.
All property owners who do not rent shall be required
to file a certification that the owner does not rent or lease his
or her property.
A.
Applications for all licenses and permits required
by this chapter shall be made in writing to the Town Manager or his
designee in the absence of provision to the contrary. Forms for all
licenses and permits, and applications therefor, shall be prepared
and kept and filed by the Town Manager or his designee.
B.
Application procedure. New applications for a license required by § 93-2 hereof shall be made on the prescribed form to the Town of Ocean View, and no license shall be granted until the license fee shall have been paid in full. Each such license and such application shall specify to whom it shall be issued and give the following information:
(1)
The home and business address and telephone numbers
of the applicant.
(2)
If the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses
and telephone numbers of the individuals composing the partnership.
(3)
If the applicant is a corporation, the names and addresses
and telephone numbers of the principal officers of the corporation.
(4)
A full description of the nature of the business or
enterprise for which the license is required.
(5)
The specific location of the business, occupation
or activity.
(6)
The maximum number of employees, rental units, rental
rooms, or storage units of a business during the license year.
(7)
A copy
of a valid business Delaware state business license for the business,
Delaware professional license for the individual or business (if applicable).
Proof of liability insurance, issued in the name of the business,
is required for all contractors.
[Added 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265]
(8)
All
other information requested on the application provided by the Town.
[Added 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265]
(9)
Any
additional information requested to assist in the approval of the
license.
[Added 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265]
C.
Each license applicant and each licensee shall certify
in writing, on a form prepared by the Town, as follows:
(1)
The information on the application is true and correct
and that a false answer can subject the application to denial or a
license to revocation.
(2)
The applicant has consistently complied with all provisions
of this chapter and all other laws and ordinances of the Town of Ocean
View and other agencies and jurisdictions relating to the business
or enterprise for which the license is required, including applicable
zoning and building codes, and shall continue to do so throughout
the term of the license.
D.
Yearly renewal applications for a license required by § 93-2 shall validate the renewal information on the form generated by the Town of Ocean View and make any changes and/or corrections as needed. No license shall be granted until the license fee shall have been paid in full and the renewal form signed.
E.
Address corrections and/or changes to existing licenses
may be made on the yearly renewal form or a change of address form
to the Town of Ocean View. It is the responsibility of the license
holder to notify the Town of Ocean View in writing of any changes
to the account. It is further the responsibility of the license holder
to notify the Town of Ocean View in writing if the business is no
longer valid.
Each license or permit issued shall bear the
signature of the Town Manager.
A.
The Town Manager or his designee shall investigate
and review all applications for licenses to do business within the
limits of the Town of Ocean View to determine whether:
B.
The Town Manager or his designee shall not issue any license if it has been found that the applicant does not comply with the requirements of Subsection A hereof.
C.
The Town Manager or his or her other representative
may recommend to the Town Council the revocation or suspension of
a license, in part or in its entirety, if it is found that the license
holder or applicant does not comply with the requirements of this
chapter.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the
Town Manager may, within five days, take an appeal to the Town Council
by giving written notice of his or her election to do so to the office
of the Town Manager and upon payment of a fee as provided by the fee
schedule on file in the Town office. The Town Manager shall notify
the Mayor, who shall call a meeting of the Town Council to hear the
appeal after giving notice of the hearing in a newspaper of local
circulation at least 15 days prior to said hearing.
[Amended 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265]
All annual license fees shall be due and payable to the Town of Ocean View no later than the first day of January of each year, and all licenses shall terminate on December 31 of each year where no provision to the contrary is made. A late fee, as listed in Chapter 3, is imposed if payment is received or postmarked after the due date. No rental license will be issued until rental license fees and gross receipt taxes for all prior years have been paid in full.
The location of any licensed business or occupation
or any permitted act may be changed, provided 10 days' notice thereof
is given to the Town Manager or his designee in the absence of any
provision to the contrary; provided that the building and zoning requirements
of the ordinances of the Town of Ocean View are complied with.[1]
No business, licensed or not, shall be so conducted
or operated as to amount to a nuisance in fact.
It shall be the duty of any person conducting
a licensed business to keep his license posted in a prominent place
on the premises used for such business at all times or, if necessary,
the license can be maintained in the vehicle used for the business
or carried by an employee or person involved in the business. A license,
issued by the Town of Ocean View, must be presented upon request by
the Administrative Official, his designee or a law enforcement official.
If any business proposed to be operated in the
Town is not specifically named in any licensing ordinance of the Town,
the lack of such mention shall not be deemed to prohibit the operation
of such business.
In the absence of a specific provision restricting
the number of licenses to be issued for a particular business, no
ordinance or other action of the Town shall be determined to limit
the number of licenses or franchises that may be issued.
[Amended 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265]
The following shall be exempt from the payment
of business license fees charged by the Town of Ocean View:
A.
The United States of America, the State of Delaware,
Sussex County, or any agency or department thereof, including school
districts;
B.
Any church or religious society; or
C.
Any nonprofit corporation organized for educational
or charitable purposes.
D.
Yard sales, residential: The sale of personal property
at a person's residence is not a business or work. Yard sales are
limited to two times per year, and the Town is to be notified of such
sales. A permit is not required for residential yard sales.
The fees shall be those set forth in Chapter 3.
A.
There is hereby imposed and assessed a gross receipts tax at a rate
of 5% of the rent for occupancy of any private and public lodging
facilities and housing accommodations, including rooms, rooming homes,
boardinghouses, bed-andbreakfast inns, cottages, cabins, houses, apartments
(whether in condominiums or not), stores, garages, warehouses, or
any commercial buildings or structures which rent or lease space or
other facilities. The payment of the tax shall be the responsibility
of the person who is the owner of the property being rented; provided,
however, that such person may designate an agent to collect and pay
the tax to the Town. Where said designated agent is a real estate
broker or agent, the latter shall collect and pay the tax to the Town,
unless authorized, in writing, by the owner of the property to collect
the tax and remit said tax to the owner for the owner's payment
to the Town.
[Amended 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265; 4-9-2019 by Ord. No. 360]
B.
BEDROOM
MOTOR VEHICLE
OCCUPANCY
PERSON or PERSONS
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
RENT
RESIDENTIAL RENTALS
For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
An area contained within a residential rental, heated or
cooled by any equipment, which is used, occupied, listed or labeled
for human habitation and designated as a sleeping room or area.
[Added 4-9-2019 by Ord.
No. 360]
A self-propelled device licensed as a motor vehicle used
for transportation of people or goods over roads.
[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord.
No. 365]
The use or possession or the right to use or possession of any property referred to in Subsection A hereof.
Individuals, partnerships, firms, companies, associations,
corporations, limited-liability companies and trusts.
A vehicle that is built on a single chassis, 400 square feet
or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, designed
to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck,
and designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling, but as
temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal
use.
[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord.
No. 365]
The consideration received for occupancy valued in money,
whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash
credits and property or services of any kind or nature.
Single-family, semidetached, duplex, townhouse and multifamily
dwellings used for rental purposes on a daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal,
or annual basis.
[Added 4-9-2019 by Ord.
No. 360]
C.
Every property owner offering property for rent or receiving any rent on which the tax is imposed under Subsection A shall be obligated to file, or have filed by a designated agent, a rental tax report form with the Town Manager and to pay the Town the amount of tax due the Town, as follows: The tax on rent received in any year for occupancy which occurs during the period from January 1 through June 30 of that year shall be due and payable on or before August 15 of that year; the tax on rent received from July 1 through December 31 of that year shall be due and payable on or before February 15 of the following year.
[Amended 4-1-2008 by Ord.
No. 235; 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 265; 4-9-2019 by Ord. No. 360]
D.
The rental tax report form referred to in Subsection C above shall be furnished by the Town Manager to the owner of the rental property, or designated agent thereof, at the time of issuance of the annual license. It is the responsibility of the owner of the property to obtain a rental tax form from the Town Manager.
E.
Any person obligated to pay the tax imposed and assessed by this section who fails or refuses to file the required rental tax report and to remit the tax required to be paid within the time and in the amount specified in Subsection A hereof, unless it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause, shall be charged, in addition to the amount of tax owed the Town, a penalty as established by Council pursuant to § 3-1 until such debt is fully paid. If such debt remains unpaid by the time of expiration of the license to rent the property concerning which the rental tax has not been paid, a renewal rental license shall not be issued with regard to such property.
[Amended 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 365]
F.
Residential rental requirements.
[Amended 4-9-2019 by Ord.
No. 360]
(1)
The property owner shall use reasonable business practices to ensure
that the occupants and guests of a residential rental comply with
all applicable codes concerning fire, building, health and safety,
zoning, and all other relevant laws.
(2)
The overnight occupancy of a residential rental shall not exceed
the sum of two persons per bedroom plus an additional two persons.
Children under the age of six years shall not be counted towards the
overall number of occupants.
(3)
The property owner shall use reasonable business practices to ensure
that the occupants and guests of the residential rental do not create
unreasonable noise disturbances, engage in disorderly conduct, or
violate provisions of this Code or any applicable law of the State
of Delaware.
(4)
The property owner shall limit their rental occupants to one motor
vehicle parking space (not to include a recreational vehicle) for
each bedroom as shown in the property assessment records of the Town,
with all off-street parking available to the rental property utilized
first. The property owner shall include the parking limitations set
forth in this section in any rental agreement and all other communication
with tenants.
[Amended 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 365]
(5)
The property owner shall provide adequate waste and recycling services.
Any person who violates the provisions of this
chapter or fails to comply with its provisions shall, upon conviction
thereof, pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 and the
costs and expenses of prosecution. Each day such a violation exists
constitutes a separate offense punishable by like fine or penalty.
