HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Ordinance 2019-18CITY OF PLYMOUTH
ORDINANCE N0. 2019-18
ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 435 OF THE CITY CODE
CONCERNING HOSPITALITY ACCOMMODATIONS
THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Amendment. Section 435 of the City Code is hereby amended as follows:
435.03 Findings of the City Council. The City Council snakes the following findings regarding
the need to license hospitality accommodations and determines it is in the best interests of the City to
ensure that hotel and motel owners provide safe hospitality accormnodations.
A. The City Council determines it is in the best interests of the City to take a proactive
approach to deterring and minimizing criminal activity and reducing safety concerns
at the hospitality accommodation locations within the City of Plymouth.
B. The City Council desires to encourage and foster cooperation between hotel and
motel operations in the City, so calls for service initiated by the hotel or motel
operator should not be included in the calls for service calculations for the purposes
of these regulations.
C. The level of criminal activity occurring at hotels and motels in the City is a real and
compelling concern to the City Council, residents, visitors, and the hotel and motel
industry itself.
D. A review of the police service calls regarding criminal activity demonstrates that
some hotels and motels in the City are responsible for a disproportionate number of
those calls.
E. It is reasonable to require hotels and motels with a higher number of police calls for
service _and/or who when checked, does not comply with -the Minimum Hospitality
Accommodation Standards (Section 435.21) appropriate to their business license
level, to employ certain measures that have been shown to be effective in deterring
crime.
F. To account for differences in the number of lodging units among the hotels and
motels, and to avoid larger properties being disproportionately represented, it is
appropriate to consider compliance with the Minimum Hospitality Accommodation
Standards lSectioa2 435.21 appropriate to their business license level and the
number of calls for service based on a per -lodging unit calculation for the purposes
of determining the level of business license required.
G. The license required by this ordinance is a business license issued under the City's
general police powers and is not intended to regulate items addressed in a
Minnesota Department of Health required of hotels and motels under Minnesota
law.
435.07. Definitions.
Annual Calls for Service. The aggregate total of all calls for service to a hospitality
accommodation property in a calendar year divided by the total number of lodging units in the
hospitality accommodation as determined by the City.
Call for Service. Any verified report made to the City of criminal activity, violation of
the City Code, or general call for service, from or concerning a hospitality accommodation property,
requiring a police response, in connection with an incident occurring at that property, except medicals,
domestics, proactive policing measures, and calls originating from the owner or other employee of the
hospitality accommodation property unless they knew or reasonably should have known that such an
incident would occur based upon prior experience with the person or group and with that knowledge
they nevertheless allowed the person or group to return to the hospitality accommodation property.
Hospitality Accommodations. Any facility such as a hotel, motel, resort, corporate
lodging, or any other accommodation offering six or more lodging units to guests, but not including
jails, hospitals, care facilities, senior living centers, residential treatment facilities, prisons, detention
homes, and similar facilities.
Hospitality Accommodation Property. Any land containing a facility for hospitality
accommodations including any lodging unit, associated parking areas, recreation areas, loading areas,
rooms not utilized for overnight accommodations such as banquet rooms, meeting rooms, business
centers, pool areas, workout rooms or other amenities located on the same parcel of property.
Level I Hospitality Accommodation. Any hospitality accommodation who when
checked, has no more than three violations of the Minimum Hospitality Accommodation Standards
(Section 435.21) in a:;Y,, business � . -d the yrecedling calendar year or whose annual calls for
service are less than .50 calls per lodging unit.
Level II Hospitality Accommodation. Any hospitality accommodation who when
checked, does not comply with the Minimum Hospitality Accommodation Standards (Section 435.21)
four times in Y limtse pedo theTreccding_caletndar year or whose annual calls for service
are at least .50 calls per lodging unit, but less than .75 calls per lodging unit.
Level III Hospitality Accommodation. Any hospitality accommodation who when
checked, does not comply with the Minimum Hospitality Accommodation Standards (Section 435.21)
five times in any business Brews peri the preceding calendar year or whose annual calls for service
are at least .75 calls per lodging unit or greater.
Lodging Unit. One self-contained unit within a hospitality accommodation designated by
number, letter, or some other method of identification that is designed or used for overnight
accominodations.
Property Safety Inspection. An inspection of all hospitality accommodation properties
conducted by the City.
435.21. Minimum Hospitality Accommodation Standards. The following minimum standards
shall be maintained by each hospitality accommodation business license holder:
A. Implement clear check-in policies that, at a minimum, require all guests reserving or
renting a room to use a credit card to guarantee the reservation or fenW as s6pulated
in seefioli � 180 of the Cky Code.
B. Comply with Minnesota State Statute 327.10.
C. Provide the City with access to the name, address, e-mail address, and telephone
number of all officers of the ownership group (including, but not limited to,
president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) of the hospitality accommodation
if requested.
D. Provide the City with the access to the name, address, e-mail address, and telephone
number of all managers and other responsible employees of the hospitality
accommodation if requested.
E. Require a manager or other responsible employee to be on premises at all times.
F. Inspect rooms of guests who refuse housekeeping for three consecutive days or
behave suspiciously in a manner that staff reasonably suspects, based on training
and experience, may be engaged in unlawful activity.
SECTION 2. This amendment shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
ADOPTED by the City Council this 24th day of September, 2019.
Jeffry Wosje, Mayor
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