Council continues business-license revocation ordinance after due-process concerns raised

The City Council continued consideration of an ordinance that would allow the city to revoke or deny business licenses for businesses that are the subject of criminal investigations.

Staff described the measure as a response to prior incidents — including illegal activity at massage businesses — where staff said the city lacked a clear municipal code tool to revoke licenses while investigations were underway. The proposed language would expand license-denial and revocation authority beyond cases where a conviction exists.

Council members expressed concern about the proposed standard of "under criminal investigation" and the risk of unfairly punishing businesses before any criminal finding. Questions included whether the city would be liable if a license were revoked and later the subject was cleared, and whether there should be explicit language tying revocation to indictment or conviction, or to an evidentiary finding by law enforcement.

The city attorney and staff agreed to review other cities' ordinances, revise the draft to clarify standards and safeguards, and return the item for further consideration. The item was continued without a vote on the ordinance itself.