THE CITY OF KEY WEST, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ORGANIZED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHAEL MARRONE, JR. AND MARC FRIEDMAN, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-01-16
No. 89-1064
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and HUBBART and GERSTEN, JJ.
555 So. 2d 439 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The City of Key West appealed a summary judgment that struck down its municipal ordinance prohibiting the transfer of mobile vendor licenses. The appellate court reversed, holding that the mobile vendor license is a business regulatory license rather than an occupational license, and therefore state law requiring occupational license transferability does not apply.


Holding

The mobile vendor license is a business regulatory license, not an occupational license. Therefore, Section 205.043 of the Florida Statutes, which requires municipalities to allow transfer of occupational licenses upon a bona fide sale, does not apply, and the City's non-transferability provision is valid and enforceable.


Headnotes

[1] A municipal ordinance regulating mobile vendors, including requirements for licensing, fees, operational limitations, and insurance, constitutes a comprehensive regulator…

[2] A municipal ordinance imposing fees for the privilege of operating a mobile vending business on public roadways is a business regulatory license, not an occupational lice…

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Key Quotes

“the subject ordinance does not impose an occupational license tax for the privilege of engaging in a business in Key West, § 205.042, Fla.Stat. (1987); instead, it imposes an occupational regulatory fee for the more limited privilege of doing business on the public roadways of Key West, which fee is used to defray the costs of regulating the mobile vendor business in Key West.”

Establishes the critical distinction between occupational license taxes and business regulatory fees, which determines whether state transferability requirements apply.

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Facts & Procedural History

The City of Key West enacted a comprehensive ordinance regulating mobile vendors who operate carts and vehicles on public roadways, requiring licenses…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by the defendant City of Key West from an adverse final summary judgment entered below in a declaratory decree action filed by the plaintiffs Marc Friedman and Michael Marrone, Jr., the seller and buyer respectively of a mobile vending business in the City of Key West. The final summary judgment under review precludes the City of Key West from enforcing a provision of its municipal code which prohibits the holder of a mobile vendor license, issued by City of Key West, from transferring the subject license to a third party. We reverse based on the following briefly stated legal analysis.

First, the City of Key West has enacted a comprehensive municipal ordinance [§§ 107.25—107.37, Code of Ordinances, City of Key West, Fla.] regulating mobile vendors who sell food, goods, services, and rentals while operating tcarts and other vehicles on the public roadways of Key West. Such vendors are required to obtain a mobile vendor license and to pay a franchise fee, a processing fee, and a solid waste collection fee if dealing in edibles; a cap of fifty is placed upon the number of such licenses, with license vacancies caused by attrition filled by an annual lottery. The ordinance places limitations upon the location of carts, hours of use, and amount of space occupied; owners must personally conduct the business and may not be absent from the cart or stand more than a certain number of hours per day and days per year; liability insurance is required; and the mobile vendor license is not transferable.

Second, given this extensive regulatory scheme, we conclude that the subject ordinance does not impose an occupational license tax for the privilege of engaging in a business in Key West, § 205.042, Fla.Stat. (1987); instead, it imposes an occupational regulatory fee for the more limited privilege of doing business on the public roadways of Key West, which fee is used to defray the costs of regulating the mobile vendor business in Key West. § 166.221, Fla.Stat. (1987). The license authorized by the ordinance is therefore a business regulatory license and is not an occupational license. This being so, (a) Section 205.043, Florida Statutes (1987), requiring municipalities to allow for the transferability of an occupational license upon a bona fide sale of the business involved is inapplicable to this case; and (b) the provision in the Key West ordinance prohibiting the transferability of mobile vendor licenses is an otherwise valid enactment which is not in conflict with state law. Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc. v. City of Orlando, 120 So. 2d 170 (Fla.1960); 1974 Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 074-21 (January 17, 1974).

The final summary judgment under review is therefore reversed, and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to enter a declaratory decree in accord with the views expressed in this opinion.

Reversed and remanded.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Lloyd Enters., Inc. v. Dep't OF Revenue, 651 So. 2d 735 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
    …e governing body is able to limit the number of vendors operating on the beach. This is consistent with the County’s duty to regulate the beach by maintaining order, and peace and quiet in the public’s best interest. See City of Key West v. Marrone, 555 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). It is not unusual or uncommon for franchises to last for specific time periods and pertain to a specific area or locality. Nor is it unusual in the franchise business for the holder of a franchise to be charged a percentage of g…
  • Elsa Marina Zelaya Flores v. City OF Miami, 681 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
    …fit of the general public through regulation. State ex rel. Nicholas v. Headley, 48 So. 2d 80, 81 (Fla.1950); Lloyd Enters., Inc. v. Department of Revenue, 651 So. 2d 735, 741 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995) (Sharp, J., concurring); City of Key West v. Marrone, 555 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). The number of vending carts permitted to consume public space in congested areas may be validly limited. City of Key West v. Marrone, 555 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990); see also City of New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297, 96 S.Ct…
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