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Home My WebLink About1991-1880 - Ordinance - 01/23/1991ORDINANCE NO. 1880 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 4, SECTION 14, OF THE CODE OF ORDI- NANCES OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, REGULATING CERTAIN PURCHASES AND SALES OF USED GOODS; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; REQUIR- ING CERTAIN RECORDS TO BE KEPT OF SALES AND PURCHASES; PROVIDING SEVEHABILITY; PROVIDING A PENALTY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION: I. That Chapter 4, Section 14, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SECTION 14= PURCHASES AND SALES OF USED GOODS A. DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this ordinance, the following terms shall have the respective meanings given herein: (1) Used or Secondhand Goods means any article of personal property other than books that a merchant purchases from another that is not purchased from the original retail seller, or is not in its original packaging, or otherwise exhibits evidence of having been previously owned. (2) Merchant means any person who engages in the business of buying and selling used or secondhand personal prop- erty. (3) Person means any individual, corporation, or partner- ship and includes the plural. (4) ~ means an activity carried on by any person who buys or sells used or secondhand goods, as defined in this section, for profit. The term "business" shall not include occasional purchases or sales made by a hobbyist, or sale of used or secondhand goods for a profit where no more than Twenty Dollars ($20.00) is ever expended for any one item by the merchant, nor shall it include activities regulated by the Texas Pawnshop Act (Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 5069-51.01 et seq.) or the Crafted Precious Metals Act (Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 9009a). Nor shall the term 'business' include motor vehicle dealers, book dealers, antique dealers, or garage sales. ordinance No. 1880 (5) Temporary location means any place or premises which has not been hired, rented, or leased for at least ninety (90) days, in, upon, or from which business is conducted. (6) (7) Seller means seller of secondhand or used goods. Books means any sets or sheets of paper bound or stapled or joined together in any fashion, blank or containing writing of any kind, including but not limited to novels, manuscripts, music books, photo- graphs, and drawings. This definition does not include records of a business' financial transactions or condi- tions. Any merchant who engages in the business of buying or sell- ing used or secondhand goods shall obtain a permit before engaging in such business within the City. A separate per- mit is required for each business location. Any person de- siring such a permit shall make application in writing to the City of College Station Accounts Receivable Department on a form provided for that purpose. Such form shall be sufficient if it includes the following information: (1) Name, address, and telephone number of applicant; (2) Business address of the applicant; (3) Time period or periods during which business will be conducted; (4) (5) Location where business will be conducted; Whether or not the applicant, or any co-principal, has been found guilty of any criminal offense defined in Title 7 of the Texas Penal Code (or its criminal equiv- alent) by any court of competent jurisdiction and, if so, the venue of such offense and the date of such conviction and the penalty imposed; (6) (7) Whether or not the applicant has been or is currently a party to any civil litigation arising out of sales or purchases of any goods or services, and if so, the identity of the other parties to the suit, the location of the suit, and the outcome of such suit; Whether the applicant has ever before engaged in busi- ness under an assumed name, and if so, the name assumed by such business, and its location. Ordinance No. 1880 Dm ISSUANCE OF PERMIT= FEE Upon receipt of the application, the City of College Station Accounts Receivable Department shall issue a permit upon the payment of a fee established by the City Council; provided, however, no permit shall be issued to any applicant who has been found guilty of a criminal offense against property de- fined in Title 7 of the Texas Penal Code by a court of com- petent jurisdiction within the preceding five (5) years. Permits issued hereunder shall be valid for a period of one (1) year from the date of issuance thereof. A permit issued hereunder may be summarily revoked by the City of College Station if a permit holder is found guilty of a criminal offense defined in Title 7 of the Texas Penal Code or its criminal equivalent by a court of competent jurisdiction. Within ten (10) days of such revocation by the Executive Director of Finance, the permit holder shall have the right of appeal to the city Council, whose decision shall be final. RECORDS OF SAL~s AND PURCHASES Upon purchase or sale of any used or secondhand goods, per- mit holders shall record in a well-bound book kept exclu- sively for such purposes, the following information: (1) The name, address, physical description and driver's license number or other proof of identification of the seller or purchaser of such goods; (2) A description of the property purchased or sold, in- cluding the serial number, if available, or other iden- tifying characteristics; (3) The date and time of purchase or sale of each item pur- chased. (4) A signed statement from the seller that he or she has the right to possess and dispose of the property. The permit holder must provide, upon request by a College Station police officer, an exact duplicate or photocopy of the transaction information described in D(1)-(4) above. The above requirements do not apply to the purchase by a merchant of any single item for which less than Twenty Dollars ($20.00) (or consideration of equivalent value) was paid to the seller. Ordinance No. 1880 Ge No permit holder shall purchase any used or secondhand goods from any person under the age of eighteen (18) unless such seller presents a written statement from such seller's par- ent or legal guardian consenting to such sale, which state- ment shall be retained and recorded by the permit holder. All books and records required to be kept under the terms of this ordinance shall be maintained and kept at the business location for a minimum period of two (2) years. CHANGE OF BUSINESS LOCATION OR MULTIPLE BUSINESS LOCATIONS Any permit holder who changes business location while en- gaged in the purchase and sale of used or secondhand goods shall retain the records of prior purchases and sales of such goods at any new location for at least two (2) years from date of sale or purchase. Any permit holder who ceases the business of sales and pur- chases of used or secondhand goods shall provide his dupli- cate or copied records to the College Station Police Depart- ment within thirty (30) days of ceasing such business, and shall notify the Accounts Receivable Department in writing of the cessation of business under the currently issued per- mit. Any permit holder who maintains multiple business locations within the City of College Station for the purpose of pur- chasing and selling used or secondhand goods shall maintain a separate set of records of purchase and sales and a copy thereof at each business location. PURCHASE AND SALE AT TEMPORARY LOCATIONS Any merchant who conducts a business from a temporary loca- tion within the City and who does not maintain a permanent location within the City shall deliver the copies of records of purchases and sales to the Chief of Police within twenty- four (24) hours of terminating the temporary location. I~EDIATE ALTERATION PROHIBITED It shall be unlawful for the permit holder, or any agent or employee thereof, to cause or allow any used or secondhand goods to be altered in such a manner as to destroy or pre- vent the ascertainment or identity of the same for a period of one hundred twenty (120) hours after purchasing such goods, and the permit holder shall retain all property pur- chased in his possession or constructive possession for at least the said one hundred twenty (120) hour period." Ordinance No. 1880 II. Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any purpose, the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby. III. That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict here- with are repealed to the extent of the conflict only. IV. That a person who violates any section of this ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable in ac- cordance with Section 5 of the Code of Ordinances, City of College Station, Texas, and in addition may have his permit to engage in the business defined in this ordinance revoked summar- ily by the city of College Station Accounts Receivable Depart- ment. Vm As used herein, a specification of the masculine gender in- cludes the feminine, and the singular includes the plural. VI. And, it is ordained that this ordinance shall become effec- tive on and after March 1, 1991. PASSED, ADOPTED and APPROVED this 23rd day of January, 1991. ATTEST: Connie Hooks, City Secretary APPROVED: - 5 - OO