Committee refers two residency‑waiver petitions for secondhand dealer licenses to full council with positive recommendations

The committee received two petitions June 17 asking for waivers of the New Bedford residency requirement under City Code Section 15‑38 for licenses to deal in junk, old metals or secondhand articles. The petitions were filed by Dion R. Reyes, manager at Savers Thrift Department Store (1014 Kings Highway), and by Jerobo Ferris, who operates Temptations Guitars and Comics on 2331 [street name in packet].

Both petitioners told the committee they were either New Bedford natives who now live outside the city (Reyes said she recently moved to Fall River but was born and raised in New Bedford) or long‑time business owners who reside out of town (Ferris said he lives in Mattapoisett and has owned the business for 30 years). Each petitioner requested a waiver of the residency requirement so the business can hold the required license to buy and sell secondhand goods.

Committee action: For both petitions the committee voted to refer the waivers to the full City Council with positive recommendations. The matter will appear on the full council docket for final action with a recommendation from the committee.

What was said: Dion R. Reyes described the charity/thrift operation and its links to donations and charitable partners. Jerobo Ferris described his business as primarily comic books and guitars and noted that the legal classification appears under “junk” for licensing purposes.

Next steps: Both petitions will be reported out to the full City Council with favorable recommendations and placed on the council calendar for final action.