WHAT HAPPENED: The City Council changed the...

WHAT HAPPENED:

The City Council changed the department that issues permits to

mobile vendors and changed distance regulations the vehicles must

abide by.

WHAT IT MEANS:

In 1997, a section was added to the municipal code that sets rules

for mobile vendors in the city. The ordinance required mobile vendors

to acquire permits. It also set time, weight and noise restrictions

for vending and asked vendors to keep the area around the vehicle

clean and tidy and to maintain a set distance from other mobile

vendors.

The amendment will shorten the distance that mobile vendors are

required to keep from schools, playgrounds and parks from 500 feet to

300 feet. It will also transfer permitting authority from the

Planning Department to the city treasurer.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The city will restore a part-time position for the senior services

program that was eliminated during this year’s budget cuts.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The City Council approved an $18,000 donation from the Council on

Aging, a group that supports senior services, to hire a part-time

social worker for senior services. The position was eliminated during

budget cuts. Staff will fill the social worker position immediately.

WHAT HAPPENED:

A section of the municipal code that regulates tattooing was

amended to include body piercing and permanent cosmetics.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Body piercing and permanent cosmetics use techniques and equipment

similar to those used at tattoo parlors, such as needles, dyes and

stencils. The new section of the ordinance will merge all three

practices. Before, body piercing and permanent cosmetic application

requirements did not exist in the municipal code. The section lays

out health information that the businesses are required to adhere to

and defines the types of health violations and the penalties for

violators.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The council repealed an ordinance that regulates soliciting and

replaced it with an updated ordinance.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The chapter in the municipal code that sets rules for soliciting

is 25 years old and outdated.

On the city attorney’s suggestion, the council repealed the

existing ordinance and replaced it with a revised ordinance. The old

ordinance predated several federal and state judicial decisions on

solicitation and was in danger of being ruled unconstitutional. The

city attorney’s office believes that the new ordinance, which makes

it a violation to solicit residents who have signs posted that

prohibit solicitation, would withstand a challenge in court.