Chapter 5.48
SALES
Sections:
5.48.030 Application for permit—Information required.
5.48.040 Investigation of applicant.
5.48.050 Issuance or denial of permit.
5.48.070 Signed statement required on permit.
5.48.080 Permit fee generally.
5.48.090 Conditions of permit—Renewals.
5.48.100 Rules and regulations generally.
5.48.010 Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
(1) "Advertise," etc. "advertise," "advertisement," "advertising," "publish" and "publication" mean any and all means, whether oral, written, lettered or printed, used for conveying to the public notice of the conduct of a sale as defined herein, or notice of intention to conduct such sale, including but not limited to oral or written announcements by proclamation or outcry, newspaper advertisement, magazine advertisement, handbill, written or printed display, billboard display, poster and radio announcement;
(2) "Permit" means a permit issued pursuant to this chapter;
(3) "Permittee" means any person to whom a permit has been issued pursuant to this chapter;
(4) "Sale" means:
(A) Any sale of, or any offer to sell, to the public, or any group thereof, goods, wares or merchandise on order, in transit or in stock, in connection with a declared purpose as set forth by advertising that such sale is anticipatory to or to avoid the termination, liquidation, revision, windup, discontinuance, removal, dissolution or abandonment of the business or that portion of the business conducted at any location,
(B) All sales advertised in any manner calculated to convey to the public the belief that upon the disposal of the goods to be placed on sale, the business or that portion thereof being conducted at any location will cease, be removed, be interrupted, discontinued or changed,
(C) All sales advertised to be "adjuster’s sale," "adjustment sale," "assignee’s sale," "bankrupt sale," "benefit of administrator’s sale," "benefit of creditors’ sale," "benefit of trustees’ sale," "building coming down sale," "closing-out sale," "creditors’ committee sale," "creditors’ sale," "damaged goods sale," "end sale," "executors’ sale," "final days sale," "fire sale," "forced-out sale," "forced out of business sale," "insolvent sale," "insurance salvage sale," "liquidation sale," "loss of lease sale," "mortgage sale," "outselling sale," "receiver’s sale," "reorganization sale," "salvage sale," "selling-out sale," "smoke sale," "smoke and water sale," "trustee’s sale," "quitting business sale," "warehouse liquidation sale," "warehouse bankruptcy sale," "wholesale closing-out sale," "we quit sale," "we give up sale," "fixture for sale," or advertised by any other expression or characterization closely similar to any of the foregoing and calculated to convey the same meaning,
(D) All sales advertised in a manner calculated to indicate that the goods, wares or merchandise to be sold, or any part thereof, have been involved in any business failure or have been derived from a business which has failed, been closed, discontinued or liquidated,
(E) All sales accompanied by notices or advertising indicating that the premises are available for purchase or lease or are otherwise to be vacated,
(F) All sales accompanied by advertising indicating a business emergency or failure affecting the seller of any previous holder of the goods to be disposed of, and all sales advertised to be "action sale," or advertised by any other expression or characterization closely familiar to said phrase and calculated to convey the same meaning. (Prior code § 21.1).
5.48.020 Permit required.
No person shall hereafter publish or conduct any sale of the type defined by this chapter without first obtaining a permit therefor from the fiscal officer in the manner provided in this chapter. (Ord. 720 § 4(a), 1986: Prior code § 21.2).
5.48.030 Application for permit—Information required.
No permit to conduct a sale as defined herein shall be granted except upon written application to the fiscal officer, signed and verified before a person authorized to administer oaths, by the person who intends to conduct such sale, and each application shall set forth and contain the following information:
(1) Description, by street location, and kind of building of the location at which sale is to be held;
(2) The nature of the occupancy, whether by ownership, lease or sublease, and if by lease or sublease, the effective date of the termination of such tenancy;
(3) A copy of all advertisements proposed to be used in connection with such sale, and a statement of the means or methods of advertising to be used in advertising such sale:
(4) The facts in regard to the insurance, bankruptcy, insolvency, assignment, mortgage foreclosure, administration, receivership, trusteeship, removal, executorship removal, or other cause advertised to be the reason for the proposed sale;
(5) An inventory or statement, in such form and in such detail as the fiscal officer may require, setting forth the amount and description of goods, wares and merchandise to be sold at such sale, and, when required by the fiscal officer, the date of acquisition of such goods, wares or merchandise, and the persons from whom obtained and the place from which the goods were last taken.
The fiscal officer may require that all goods, wares and merchandise listed upon the inventory or statement shall be so described in detail by manufacturer’s name and lot number, the individual number of articles so numbered, colors, sizes and otherwise, that the identity of such goods with the goods listed on such inventory can be readily determined. (Ord. 720 § 4(b), 1986: Prior code § 21.3).
5.48.040 Investigation of applicant.
Upon the filing of the application for a sale permit, the fiscal officer may make or cause to be made an examination, audit, or investigation of the applicant and his affairs, in relation to the proposed sale. (Ord. 720 § 4(c), 1986; Prior code § 21.4.)
5.48.050 Issuance or denial of permit.
If the fiscal officer finds that the statements in the application are true, that the inventory is complete, that the advertising set forth is not false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading in any respect, and that the methods to be used by the applicant in conducting the sale are not such as, in the opinion of the fiscal officer, will work a fraud upon the purchasers, the fiscal officer shall issue to the applicant a permit to conduct such sale in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Otherwise the fiscal officer shall deny the application and refuse the permit. The fiscal officer may refuse a permit because of the insufficiency of the information set forth in the application, but in such event the fiscal officer shall grant the applicant permission to file an amended application. (Ord. 720 § 4(d), 1986; Prior code § 21.5).
5.48.060 Filing fee.
No application for any sales permit shall be accepted by the fiscal officer for filing unless accompanied by a filing fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council. No part of such filing fee shall be refundable. (Ord. 720 § 4(e), 1986; Prior code § 21.6).
5.48.070 Signed statement required on permit.
Each permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall have printed, written or stamped on the face thereof the following:
"This permit is granted by the City of Menlo Park and accepted by the permittee upon the condition that such permittee comply with and abide by all the provisions of the Code of the City of Menlo Park."
Each such statement will be followed with a line thereunder for signature by the permittee and a witness.
At the time of the delivery of sales permit, such statement must be signed by the permittee in the presence of an employee of the city who shall sign as a witness. (Ord. 720 § 4(f), 1986: Ord. 512 § 1(d), 1970: Prior code § 21.7).
5.48.080 Permit fee generally.
The permit fee shall be additional to any license required under the provisions of the business license provisions of this code and the payment of the license chargeable under the provisions of such provisions shall be a condition precedent to the granting of any permit under the provisions of this chapter. (Prior code § 21.8).
5.48.090 Conditions of permit—Renewals.
Any permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall authorize the one type of sale named in the application, at the place named therein, for a period of not more than sixty calendar days, and shall permit the sale of goods only which are set out in such application, all of which goods throughout the duration of the sale must be definitely separated from any other goods displayed at, or within the store or place of business, and all advertising, signals, or notices referring to, or calling attention to the sale, must be confined to the display, or displays, of goods involved in the sale; provided, however, that the fiscal officer may, upon a verified application therefor, renew the permit for a period of not to exceed thirty days, upon the payment of a renewal fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council, no part of which fee shall be refundable. Such verified petition for renewal shall set forth a complete list of goods listed in the original application and remaining unsold, and shall not contain any goods, wares or merchandise not named in such original application. Upon receipt of such application for renewal the fiscal officer shall cause an investigation to be made at once, and if satisfied of the truth of the statements therein contained, the fiscal officer shall grant such renewal, which shall be endorsed and signed as provided for the original permit. The fiscal officer may renew any original permit in the manner above provided not to exceed one time for such renewal, as above set forth; provided, however, that the fiscal officer may not issue permits or renewals which will allow the conduct of any sale, or sales, of any kind, or kinds, named in this chapter, at any one location for more than ninety calendar days in any one twelve-month period. (Ord. 720 § 4(g), 1986: Prior code § 21.9).
5.48.100 Rules and regulations generally.
The permit issued under this chapter shall be valid only for the advertising, representation and sale of the particular goods, wares or merchandise described in the original application therefor, and at the particular time, and particular place stated therein, and by the particular applicant, and any renewal, replenishment or substitution of such goods, wares or merchandise, or change of such time or place for such sale, or change of person conducting the sale, shall be unlawful and shall render such permit void. No person in contemplation of conducting any such sale or special sale, or during the continuance of such a sale, shall order any goods, wares or merchandise for the purpose of selling them at such sale, and any unusual purchase, or additions to the stock of such goods, wares or merchandise, within sixty days before the filing of such application for a license to conduct such a sale shall be presumptive evidence that such purchase or additions were made in contemplation of such sale and for the purpose of selling them at such sale.
Each sale of goods, wares, or merchandise as were not inventoried and described in the original application shall constitute a separate offense under this chapter. (Prior code § 21.10).
5.48.110 Loss of identity.
Any removal of any goods, wares or merchandise inventoried and described in the original application form from the place of sale mentioned in the application for a sales permit shall cause such goods to lose their identity as the stock of any of the sales regulated by this chapter, and no permits thereafter will be issued for the conducting of a sale of any such goods, wares or merchandise in such manner as to identify them with the store, store name, store owner or location referred to in the original application. (Prior code § 21.11).
5.48.120 Records to be kept.
Suitable books and records shall be kept by the permittee and shall at all times be available to the duly authorized representatives. At the close of business each day the stock list attached to the application shall be revised and those items disposed of during such day shall be so marked thereon. (Prior code § 21.12).
5.48.130 Exemptions.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to or affect the following persons:
(1) Persons acting pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction;
(2) Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officers such as sheriffs and marshals;
(3) Duly licensed auctioneers, selling at auction;
(4) Any publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other publication, who publishes any such advertisement in good faith, without knowledge of its false, deceptive or misleading character, or without knowledge that the provisions of this chapter have not been complied with;
(5) Persons engaged in the business of buying and selling secondhand, distressed, bankrupt or liquidated stock or similar merchandise in bulk lots for purposes of resale and having a fixed place of business for such purposes in the city. (Prior code § 21.13).
5.48.140 Enforcement.
Upon commencement and throughout the duration of any sale, the permit shall be prominently displayed near the entrance to the premises. A duplicate original of the application and stock list pursuant to which such permit was issued shall at all times be available to the City Council, or to its duly authorized representatives, and the permittee shall permit such duly authorized representatives to examine all merchandise in the premises for comparison with such stock list. (Prior code § 21.14).
5.48.150 Appeal.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the fiscal officer with respect to the issuance or denial of any permit or any other decision pursuant to this chapter may appeal to the city manager by filing a notice of appeal with the fiscal officer within fifteen days of such decision. The city manager, or his designated alternate, shall fix a time and place for hearing such appeal. The appeal shall be heard before and decided by the city manager or his designated alternate. Written notice shall be served on the appealing party at least fifteen days in advance of the date of the hearing and shall state the time and place of the hearing. Service shall be by personal delivery or deposit in the United States Post Office in Menlo Park, postage prepaid, addressed to the appealing party at the address appearing on his last written communication to the fiscal officer. (Ord. 720 § 4(h), 1986: Prior code § 21.15).