With Business Licenses on this week’s Escalante City Council
Agenda, let’s start there.
Business Licensing serves several purposes:
First, it provides public notice that a new business will
start up within the City limits. When this
occurs within the zoned commercial district it’s simply a way to oversee the
type of business that goes in requiring a license allows the City Council to
make sure it is appropriate, i.e. an adult book store next to a preschool.
Second, if the proposed business is attempting to operate
outside a commercial zone, the Council can decide whether the placement is
appropriate or not. Third, it’s a means
of accessing taxation for the hotel/motel/RV segment. Although these revenues are not large, many cities earmark those funds for promotional projects, i.e. Business directory flyers for the traveling public and Welcome Wagon programs.
How the process is set-up is key to helping staff help the
business community. That is generally
done through existing zoning ordinances.
The Ordinances are there to identify allowed uses. When a potential business owner requests a license they could be handed an application packet. Within that could be the current application form, a sheet identifying the process, and a list of allowed uses by zone. If the use is listed, City Staff can take the
application and fee and issue the license.
If the use is not listed, but considered a conditional use,
that application would need to be placed on the Council agenda for
consideration. This takes the burden off the staff to make decisions. They will
issue a license when the Council decides whether it meets the standards or
not. To accomplish this, the planning and zoning ordinances would need to be altered to reflect the change. There really is no reason to have planning
and zoning involved. It is just an additional step that causes the owner time when it could go directly to the council. City staff should never be put
in the position of advising citizens, recommending or deciding whether a
license or permit is required. They should ALWAYS be referred to the council if the answer is not spelled out in the ordinances.
For instance, approved uses in the Residential/Commercial
District that encompasses Main Street are:
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Art Gallery/Antique Shop
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Bank
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Food Services – a bakery, delicatessen or restaurant
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Florist/Gift Shop
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General retail – barber shop, drug store,
department store, hardware store, furniture store and grocery store
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Professional Offices
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Public buildings
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Recreation – bowling alley, music store,
sporting goods store or theater
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Other uses similar to these permitted uses
These are all uses that you would normally find in the Main
Street district of any city. Why should they have to be delayed in their process by having to get City Council approval for what is already approved through planning and zoning ordinances? The staff could simply provide a list of
those permits issued on a monthly basis and post for all to see.
The latest debate over Business Licenses involved a Bed and
Breakfast. The Council had already given their approval for a building permit for the Conditional Use in a Residential District. The issuance of a Business
License should have been automatic. We should be trying to make the process easier, not more complex, longer, or more expensive.
Control is not the only reason for having a permitting process.
But that’s material for another article.
