Mobile merchants ordinance receives final approval

By Kim McDarison

An ordinance developed to regulate mobile merchants operating within the city of Fort Atkinson met with final approval Tuesday. 

The ordinance, which returned some language to city code that was removed in 2020 and added some new requirements, was approved after a second reading. Council opted on Tuesday to suspend its rules and waive a third reading. 

Ordinances, and amendments that change them, within the city of Fort Atkinson are subject to three readings unless council opts to waive future readings. 

A first reading of the ordinance was approved May 18. 

During the May 18 meeting, City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire noted that staff was attempting to move the ordinance forward quickly because the summer season was a busy time for mobile merchants and the city was already receiving applications from merchants looking to do business within the city. 

During Tuesday’s meeting, she said the ordinance was an important piece to give staff a mechanism through which they could process those applications. 

With passage of the ordinance, nine points that apply to mobile merchants were adopted. 

They are: 

• Changing the authority to issue a Mobile Merchant License from the Plan Commission to the city clerk.
• Establishing an appeal process which would bring an application before the city council would it be denied by the city clerk and police chief.
• Eliminating former code which created a lottery and payment for a mobile merchant to be located in a city parking lot. 
• Prohibiting mobile merchants on residential or public lands, including streets, sidewalks, parks and parking lots. An exception would be allowed for a merchant receiving approval through a special event permit.
• Eliminating the fees from the ordinance, referencing instead a “fee resolution,” which would be adopted annually by the city council. 
• Adding a requirement that the merchant’s date of birth be included on the license application. 
• Adding a requirement listing the merchant’s hours of operation on the license application. 
• Limiting the number of daily licenses permitted in a calendar year to four. The prior ordinance did not establish a limit. 
• Changing some language within the ordinance for clarity and consistency. 

Further, LeMire said, staff would provide council with a monthly report listing all staff-approved mobile merchant licenses approved that month.