Section 20-202. License

a. License required of retail dealers.
    1.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for any person to engage in business as a
  retail dealer without first having obtained  a  license  as  hereinafter
  prescribed  for  each  place  of  business  wherein  such  person  sells
  cigarettes in the city.
    2. It shall be unlawful for a person to permit any premises under such
  person's control to  be  used  by  any  other  person  in  violation  of
  paragraph one of subdivision a of this section.
    b.  License  application.  In  order  to obtain a license to engage in
  business as a retail dealer, a person shall file an application with the
  commissioner for a license for each place of business  that  he  or  she
  desires  to  have  for  the  retail  sale of cigarettes in the city. The
  application for each license or renewal thereof shall be made upon  such
  form   as   prescribed  by  the  commissioner  and  shall  contain  such
  information as the commissioner shall require.
    c. Fee and license term. 1. There shall  be  a  biennial  fee  of  one
  hundred  ten dollars for a license to engage in the business of a retail
  dealer at each place of business where cigarettes are sold in the city.
    2. All even-numbered licenses shall  expire  on  December  31  of  the
  even-numbered  year,  and  all  odd-numbered  licenses  shall  expire on
  December 31 of the odd-numbered year, next succeeding the year in  which
  the license is issued.
    d.  Issuance  of  license. 1. A license shall be issued to a person to
  conduct the business of a retail dealer for each place of business where
  such person engages in selling cigarettes in the city only where:
       (A) an applicant for a license or renewal  thereof  meets  all  the
       requirements prescribed herein and any criteria in addition thereto
       established  by  the  commissioner  by  rule  as  he  or  she deems
       necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subchapter;
       (B) an applicant satisfies the commissioner that such person is fit
       and able to conduct the business of a retail dealer; and
       (C)  the  commissioner  has  not  received  notification  from  the
       commissioner  of  finance  or the commissioner of the department of
       health and mental hygiene  that  such  applicant  is  not  in  full
       compliance  with any provisions of chapter thirteen of title eleven
       of this code, or  chapter  forty  of  title  eleven  of  this  code
       relating  to  the  sale  of  cigarettes,  or chapter seven of title
       seventeen of this code, or chapter eight of title seventeen of this
       code, or any rules promulgated by the commissioner  of  finance  or
       the  commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene to
       effectuate the purposes of such chapters.
    2. A retail dealer license shall not be assignable and shall be  valid
  only for the persons in whose names it is issued and for the transaction
  of  business  in  the place designated therein and shall at all times be
  conspicuously displayed at the place for which it is issued.
    3. Where a license for any place of business licensed pursuant to this
  subchapter has been revoked, the commissioner in his or  her  discretion
  may  refuse  to  issue  a  license required under this subchapter, for a
  period of two years after such revocation, for such place of business or
  for any part of the building that had contained such place  of  business
  and  was  connected  therewith,  unless  the  applicant for such license
  demonstrates  with  documentary  proof,  to  the  satisfaction  of   the
  commissioner,  that  the  applicant  acquired  the  premises or business
  through an arm's length transaction.
    4. For purposes of revocation of retail dealer  licenses  pursuant  to
  section  17-624  of the code, any violation of section 17-618, 17-619 or
  17-620 by any license holder at a place of business shall be included in
  determining the number of violations by any subsequent license holder at

  the same place of business unless the subsequent license holder provides
  the commissioner with  adequate  documentation  demonstrating  that  the
  subsequent  license  holder acquired the premises or business through an
  arm's  length  transaction and that the sale or lease was not conducted,
  in whole or in part, for the purpose of permitting the original licensee
  to avoid the effect of violations on the premises.
    5. For purposes of paragraphs 3 and 4 of section 20-202, "arm's length
  transaction" means a sale of a fee or all undivided  interests  in  real
  property, or lease of any part thereof, or a sale of a business, in good
  faith  and  for  valuable  consideration,  that reflects the fair market
  value of such real property or lease, or business, in the  open  market,
  between  two  informed  and  willing parties, where neither is under any
  compulsion to participate in the transaction, unaffected by any  unusual
  conditions  indicating  a  reasonable possibility that the sale or lease
  was made for the purpose of permitting the original  licensee  to  avoid
  the  effect of violations on the premises. The following sales or leases
  shall be presumed not to be arm's length  transactions  unless  adequate
  documentation  is  provided demonstrating that the sale or lease was not
  conducted, in whole or in  part,  for  the  purpose  of  permitting  the
  original licensee to avoid the effect of violations on the premises:
       (1) a sale between relatives; or
       (2) a sale between related companies or partners in a business; or
       (3)  a  sale or lease affected by other facts or circumstances that
       would indicate that the sale or  lease  is  entered  into  for  the
       primary  purpose  of  permitting the original licensee to avoid the
       effect of violations on the premises, or revocation of a license.