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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1467-2013ORDINANCE NO. 1467-2013 CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 6.72 OF THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE TO CLARIFY THE VEHICLES FOR HIRE CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY APPLICATION PROCESS WHEREAS, Article XT, Section 7 of the California Constitution provides that a city or county may make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws; and WHEREAS, Vehicle Code Section 21100 authorizes cities to regulate the operation and licensing of vehicles for hire and the driver of passenger vehicles for hire in order protect the public health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS, pursuant to such authorities, the City Council has adopted local regulations regarding the operation of vehicles for hire, which is contained within Chapter 6.72 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, the City of South San Francisco ("City") has determined that it is in the public interest and welfare to amend the South San Francisco Municipal Code in order to clarify the burden of proof regarding applications for certificates of convenience and necessity for taxicab owners and drivers within the City. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS The City Council hereby amends the following sections of Chapter 6.72 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code to read as follows (with text in srt indicating deletion and double underlined text indicating addition). Sections and subsections that are not amended by this Ordinance are not included below, and shall remain in full force and effect. 6.72.030 Certificate of convenience and necessity. (a) It is unlawful to operate any taxicab, bus, or rent car in the city unless the owner thereof applies for and obtains a certificate of convenience and necessity authorizing such activity (hereinafter "eCertificate"), which eCertificate shall be applied for, granted, and in effect, all in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and Title 20. ant to establish-hy -dear and convincing evidence thegxis encc of, )nb _lic convenience and necics---siii for Lh.(� er atLon — of the - I - taxicab or taxicabs specified in aiM-licatiqn. Turther the establishment of any facts necessary to grant the (b) Uq No oCertificate shall be issued until a standard, distinctive and uniform color scheme, name, monogram and/or insignia has been adopted by the applicant and approved by the city council. (e)_(4 After the service for which a eCertificate is granted hereunder is discontinued, or if the owner sells or discontinues his, her or its business for a period of forty-five days or longer, the e-Ceitificates granted hereunder shall be automatically cancelled and shall be reissued only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. 6.72.040 Application for eCertificate. (a) The application for such #Certificate shall be in writing, ©n a form gpproved by the City, duly certified under oath, and it, together with two copies thereof, shall be filed first with the police department for its investigation and report. The police department shall forward an advance copy to the planning division, and shall transmit the original to the city clerk, who shall file the same. (b) Each application shall include, at a minimum, _---Rum -- (1) A full identification of the applicant and all persons to be directly or indirectly interested in the business, if authorized; (2) The residence and business address and the citizenship of the applicant, including all members of any firm or partnership, or all officers and directors of any corporation applying; (3) The exact nature of the proposed business for which the oCertificate is requested, and the name under which it is to be operated; (4) Whether or not any similar oCertificate held by the applicant(s) has been revoked, and if so, the circumstances of such revocation; (5) The number of vehicles proposed to be operated; (6) The complete description of the vehicles proposed to be operated (including VIN) and the proposed operations; (7) Proof of ability to respond in damages as required by Section 6.72.090; (8) The color scheme and characteristic insignia to be used to designate the vehicles of the owner; (9) A receipt from the finance director which certifies that the applicant has paid the fees required by T44G44=of this code, if any, and a nonrefundable processing fee as set forth in the master fee schedule for the city adopted by resolution of the council. The latter processing -2- fee shall be used solely to defray the costs of the police an plann n g departments' investigation and report required herein. U=O =L- A statement (,a.n—I any relevant s UPIP orting documentationj -,demonstrating how the public convenience and necessi be met _y issuance of the requested Certificate. The statement. iQu d immum include sufficient informatis S _sL j— a in Q_a._W=RmYWRju tification to those items that the City will investi -ate pursuant to Section 6.72.050. (c) An gMli cat i.on will not be deemQd- _MP&&t Lmfil the olice-department has received an.ap fication col—ppyi mg with all requir ements —Qf this section. Once the DOjiCe de _Artment has received a cQni licationithQpQlice department will riotij� the. _ATT lien. t _p = .. . ...... . . compete in writing that the am2lication has been deemed complete and the subsequent inves igatim 4vtll commence. 6.72.050 Certificate — Application -- Investigation. (a) Upon receipt of the complete application for a e.Certificate, as required by Section 72�040c the planning division shall conduct an investigation into the following: (1) Whether or not the business for which application is made conforms in all respects to the requirements of the general plan and any applicable specific plan and Title 20 of this code; (2) The demand of the public for the services to be rendered by the applicant; (3) The adequacy of existing mass transportation and taxicab services in the city; (4) Whether existing agencies will furnish additional service if granted the right; (5) The effect such additional taxicab service may have upon traffic congestion and parking. A report of the results of the investigation shall be forwarded to the council within sixty days fi-om the date of receipt of a complete application for consideration in deciding whether or not to issue a eCertificate. (b) Upon receipt of a copy of the co=lete application for aeCertificate, the chief of police or his/her designee shall investigate the following: (1) The financial responsibility of the applicant; (2) The experience of the applicant in operating businesses similar to the one for which application is made; (3) The character of the applicant and any person with a direct or indirect interest in the business. -3_ (c) If the chief of police ascertains that the applicant or any person with a direct or indirect interest in the business has a criminal record, or has falsified the application, it shall be the duty of the chief of police to report such matters at the earliest possible date to the council with his or her recommendation regarding issuance or denial of the eCertificate. (d) The chief of police shall report to the council regarding the results of the investigation conducted pursuant to this section, within sixty days from the date of receipt of a complete application, and shall include in his or her report a recommendation to deny or approve the said eCertificate and the specific reasons for that recommendation. Said report shall be considered by the council in reaching a decision to issue or not to issue a oCcitificate. 6.72.060 Certificates—Application denial—Suspension, revocation—Number reduction. (a) The council shall approve, conditionally approve or deny owners' applications by resolution and shall deny any such application, if in its sole discretion, it determines any of the following: (1) The proposed operation will be undesirable or inadequate to the city's needs; (2) The public convenience and necessity do not require the proposed service', (3) The vehicle(s) proposed to be operated is/are inadequate or unsafe; (4) The applicant has been convicted of a felony or the violation of a narcotic law or of any penal law involving moral turpitude, or has had a similar oCertificate revoked in any city, county or state for just cause; (5) The proposed color scheme or characteristic insignia will tend to confuse the identification of the vehicles proposed to be operated with those of another owner operating in the city; (6) The owner is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 6.72.090 herein. (b) The council may, by resolution,, and after ten days' written notice to an owner, suspend or revoke a oCertificate for any of the grounds for which it may deny an application and, in addition thereto, it may suspend or revoke any oCertificate for a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or for a failure to pay any fees or business license tax due or judgment for damages arising from the operation of the vehicles, or any of them, for which the certificate was issued. (c) The council may at any time, and after a public hearing, by resolution, determine that the number of eCertificates for taxicabs, buses or rent cars, should be reduced or increased and provide for such reduction or increase. 6.72.070 Issuance of certificate. -4- (a) Upon the council's approval or conditional approval of an owner's application for aeCertificate, the owner shall inform the chief planner of the location at which the business is proposed to be operated. If the chief planner determines that a use permit or other land use approval is required for the business to operate at said location, no cyCertificate shall be issued unless and until such land use approvals have been obtained by the owner. (b) Prior to the issuance of a eCertificate, business license fees shall be paid in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapters 6.04 through 6.16. 6.72.080 Additions and substitutions. (a) Any owner holding a @Certificate to operate one or more taxicabs, buses or rent cars as provided in this chapter, who desires to add to the number of such vehicles shall do, so only upon obtaining from the council permission therefor, which shall be granted only upon application made and processed in the same manner as required in this chapter to obtain the original eCertificate. (b) Any owner holding a eCertificate to operate one or more taxicabs, buses or rent cars, as provided in this chapter, who desires to substitute a different vehicle for a vehicle operated under such oCertificate, may do so upon obtaining permission from the police chief, which permission shall not unreasonably be withheld. SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circurnstances shall not be affected thereby and shall continue infull force and effect. To this end, provisions of this Ordinance are severable, The City Council of the City of South San Francisco hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable. SECTION 3. PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 36933, a summary of this Ordinance shall be prepared by the City Attorney. At least five (5) days prior to the Council meeting at which this Ordinance is scheduled to be adopted, the City Clerk shall (1) publish the Summary, and (2) post in the City Clerk's Office a certified copy of this Ordinance. Within fifteen (15) days after the adoption of this Ordinance, the City Clerk shall (1) publish the summary, and (2) post in the City Clerk's Office a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance along with the narnes of those City Council members voting for and against this Ordinance or otherwise voting. This ordinance shall become effective thirty days from and after its adoption, Introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of South San Francisco, held the 13`x, day of February, 2013. Adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South San. Francisco at a regular meeting of the City Council held the 271h day of February, 2013 by the following vote: AYES.- Councilmembers; Mark, N. Addiego, Richard A. Garbarino and Pradeep Gupta, Mayor Pro Tern Daryl Matsumoto and Mayor Pedro Gonzalez ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: Deputy City Clerk -6-