§ 23-22. Application generally.

(a)

Every applicant for a license required by this article shall make application therefor upon a form to be furnished by the city building official or the code enforcement officer. Said application form shall be signed and sworn to and shall include, but is not limited to, the following information:

(1)

The name and address under which the business is to be conducted.

(2)

Whether the applicant is the owner or lessee of the real property occupied. If the applicant is a lessee, he must provide the name and address of the landlord and attach a copy of the lease agreement to the application form.

(3)

A description of the business.

(4)

A statement of the method of distribution to be used.

(5)

The address of the applicant's principal office or establishment.

(6)

The number, name and location of branch establishments, if any.

(7)

The trade name of any business or businesses that the applicant was engaged in during the preceding five (5) years of the application date.

(8)

Whether the applicant has ever been arrested, charged and/or convicted of the offence of theft or fraud, or for any felony in this or any state. If the applicant is a partnership, the answer shall be as to all members of the partnership and if a corporation, it shall be as to all officers of the corporation.

(9)

If the applicant is a corporation, a copy of its charter or permit to do business certified by the secretary of state and the names and addresses of the principal officers and of all officers of the corporation.

(10)

If the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of all the partners.

(11)

If the applicant is neither a partnership nor a corporation, the name and address of the applicant.

(b)

If the application is by a corporation, the same shall be signed and sworn to by a duly authorized officer thereof; if by a partnership, then by all of the partners therein; and, if by an individual, then by such individual personally.

(c)

All new license locations selling only used vehicles shall be required to comply with the following requirements as a condition of receiving a license under this article:

(1)

The entire outside area of the commercial establishment including all motor vehicle display areas, driveways, and means of ingress and egress, and parking areas shall be paved with concrete or blacktop in accordance with city standards. Said paved areas shall be maintained in a good and operable condition. Paving shall be promptly replaced upon determination by the City of South Houston of any of the following conditions: failure of pavement, vegetative infiltration, excessive drainage slope failure, or any other associated pavement failure.

(2)

There shall not be in excess of one motor vehicle per each one hundred fifty (150) square feet of outside sales display area.

(3)

No motor vehicle shall be placed on any city right-of-way or easement for display or storage for any amount of time.

(4)

Each license location under this article, where inoperable vehicles will be kept on site, shall provide a fenced area to provide storage for inoperable, wrecked, dismantled, disabled or junk vehicles so that such vehicles are not visible to the general public. The fence shall be completely opaque and not extend lower than six (6) feet above grade.

(5)

Upon receipt of an application, the building official shall cause an on-site inspection by himself or his duly authorized representative, fire marshal, and the health department, to investigate the property for compliance with all applicable city ordinances before the initial license shall be issued. The building official or his duly authorized representative shall cause such inspection annually thereafter before each renewal.

(6)

All repair and service work shall be performed in an enclosed building that:

a.

Has garage doors, which may remain open during business hours, but shall be closed thereafter;

b.

Contains a minimum of five hundred (500) square feet; and

c.

Is set back no fewer than fifty (50) feet from the front and rear property lines and no fewer than twenty-five (25) feet from any side property line.

(7)

All exterior lighting shall be designed to prevent direct glare on adjoining properties and shall be generally situated to cast light away from perimeter areas of said used car lot. All lighting plans shall be submitted for approval to the City of South Houston electrical inspector. Such approval is not only a review of regulatory mandates, but also will signify the most practical solution to avoiding light pollution on adjacent properties by the following methods: location of lighting standards, direction and angle of lighting, height of fixtures, candle power of each light fixture, light spreading hardware.

(8)

All license locations shall comply with applicable zoning restrictions and setback requirements.

(9)

A transfer of business ownership shall not constitute a cessation of operations. Any license issued under article II of this chapter may be transferred upon such a change in business ownership; provided, that transferee satisfies the requirements of this chapter. Existing non-conforming status of the lot will continue regardless of business or property ownership as long as there is no discontinuation of the sales activities by a City of South Houston licensed motor vehicle dealer of more than sixty (60) days. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "transfer of business ownership" shall mean a stock sale, an asset sale, or a transfer through probate upon the death of a legal owner of a dealership location. In the event of the death of an owner or part-owner of a dealership location, whereupon the transfer of such ownership interest passes through a probate court, any resulting cessation of business operations is tolled for a period of sixty (60) days following the termination of such judicial proceedings. In the event of a judicial determination of incompetence or a medical doctor's certification of disability or incompetence of the sole owner of dealership location, any resulting cessation of business operations is tolled, for purposes of this subparagraph, for a period of sixty (60) days following such determination or certification.

(10)

For purposes of fire prevention and extinguishment, each license location shall be required to meet the following requirements, in addition to any other provisions of this chapter:

a.

Each vehicle for sale must have direct access to a sixteen-foot wide drive aisle and be less than one hundred fifty (150) feet from either (a) the public right-of-way; or (b) a twenty-four-foot drive aisle capable of concurrent two-way traffic that extends to the public right-of-way; and

b.

Each license location shall have a drive aisle at least eighteen (18) feet wide that extends from the public right-of-way into the property a distance adequate to allow the efficient and effective operation of fire apparatus, but in no event less than fifteen (15) feet into the property. Such lane design, which may overlap with any portion of the sixteen- or twenty-four-foot-wide drive aisle required by the preceding subparagraph, shall require approval of the fire marshal during the permit review process, and upon approval shall be plainly marked to prohibit parking thereon or obstruction thereof in any way.

For purpose of this subparagraph, a vehicle has "direct access" to a drive aisle if it is either parked beside a drive aisle or parked immediately adjacent to a vehicle that is parked beside a drive aisle.

(11)

All vehicles displayed for sale must maintain a minimum distance of twenty-four (24) inches from any point of any other vehicle displayed for sale.

(12)

"Flag strings or pennant strings" shall be specifically prohibited for any license location, and any existing non-conforming license locations are required to remove such items by November 1, 2004.

(13)

No person, firm or corporation or other business entity shall devote property to the use of a used motor vehicle sales location or allow the use of any property in the city to be used as a licensed used motor vehicle dealer location unless the new location is more than five thousand (5,000) feet, with the exception of a distance of one thousand (1,000) feet for any such business or entity abutting on either Spencer Highway, College Avenue, Allen-Genoa Road, or Houston Boulevard (State Highway 3); and the further exception of a distance of seven hundred (700) feet for any such business or entity abutting on Shaver Street, (as measured from nearest property line to nearest property line) from any existing location of any licensed used motor vehicle dealer location even if the owner or tenant of the newly acquired or leased (or otherwise rightfully in possession) property whose use is to be changed to such a use, is the owner or tenant or one rightfully in possession of a location adjacent to or within the prohibited distance. The use of any other lot for automobile storage in conjunction with the dealer location for sales is a use as a dealer location and therefore is hereby prohibited unless it is more than 5,000 feet from any used motor vehicle dealer location (including the location it serves).

No owner or tenant of a property devoted to used motor vehicle dealer sales lot use shall fence or barricade the area fronting a thoroughfare between the thoroughfare and the footprint of the first structure on the lot.

(14)

All repair and service building shall:

a.

Be set back no fewer than twenty-five (25) feet from the front property line and five (5) feet from rear property lines and no fewer than five (5) feet from any side property line, and

b.

All exterior lighting shall be designed to prevent direct glare on adjoining properties and shall be generally situated to cast light away from perimeter areas of said used car lot. All lighting plans shall be submitted for approval to the City of South Houston's electrical inspector. Such approval is not only a review of regulatory mandates, but also will signify the most practical solution to avoiding light pollution on adjacent properties by the following methods: location of lighting standards, direction and angle of lighting, height of fixtures, candle power of each light fixture, and light spreading hardware.

c.

Each new license location is required to be a minimum of one thousand (1,000) feet from any existing license location as measured from nearest property line to nearest property line.

(Ord. No. 2004-27, § 2(Att. 1), 8-17-04; Ord. No. 2009-22, § 2, 9-8-09; Ord. No. 2011-37, § 4, 11-8-11; Ord. No. 2012-22, § 2, 11-13-12; Ord. No. 2015-12, § 2, 8-25-15)