LAWTON — The Lawton City Council took a measure requiring all business owners within the city limits to obtain a general business permit off the books Friday.
After hearing from business owners who opposed the idea, the council voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance containing the requirement. The council also voted to refund the $161 fee to the 14 businesses that have already obtained a license.
Under the ordinance, businesses did not need to obtain a general business license if they already held a contractor’s license or a food service license. Nonprofit organizations were not exempt from the licensing requirements, but religious organizations were.
City staffers proposed the licensing requirement last year because city codes do not currently specify that businesses need a license to operate in Lawton. The city council approved the mandate in June but postponed enforcement for six months.
Then on Friday, staff proposed delaying enforcement for another 90 days, giving officials time to educate business owners about the requirement.
Councilman Sean Fortenbaugh said he appreciated the city’s willingness to postpone enforcement, but he did not think that was the right approach.
“There’s a lot of problems with it,” he said. “It can’t be fixed in 90 days, and I think ... the city’s trying to make money off of this.”
Fortenbaugh proposed abolishing the ordinance and issuing refunds to business owners who had already obtained the license.
“If anybody paid this fee already, we should seek them out and give them their money back,” he said, prompting applause and a few cheers from the audience.
Comanche County Commissioner Josh Powers, co-founder and co-owner of Ares State Armory in Lawton, hailed the decision to repeal the ordinance.
“I believe the city council is moving in the right direction to encourage businesses to come to Lawton,” he said in an email to a Southwest Ledger reporter. “The council’s decision showed they want what is best for businesses and how they aren’t only concerned with what makes them the most revenue. I hope we continue seeing decisions like this moving forward.”
Renewing business licenses
City staff started researching the issue about a year ago because some businesses that already had licenses were not renewing them before they expired, said Community Services Director Charlotte Brown.
“We had reached out to legal and had spoken to the prosecutor, and we had been told that we do not have language in the code that said you have to have a license to run a business,” she said. “So therefore, we couldn’t write citations.”
Brown said the only recourse was to impose late fees for businesses who did not renew their license by the deadline, but the city had not handled those fees properly. As a result, the fees were not processed.
In March 2022, city staffers recommended imposing a $100 licensing fee for all businesses in town. But the proposal was not presented to the council until June, because officials were working on fee schedules for the coming fiscal year.
“At the time that the previous community services director was giving information, we were still under the impression that it was at $100,” Brown said. “It wasn’t until a few months later that we realized that someone had increased the amount to $115.”
The city was planning to charge $115 for a general business license, plus an $11.50 administrative fee and $34.50 for a background check per owner. Altogether, the fees added up to $161.
Brown recommended suspending enforcement for 90 days, which would give staff time to take another look at fees, rewrite the ordinance if necessary and educate the public. She also suggested dropping the requirement that business owners must pass a background check.
“If it’s required at the state or federal level, we will just ask that they provide us documentation that they passed that background check to operate that business,” Brown said.
Council reactions
Mayor Stan Booker said the previous community services director did not mention certain details of the requirement when discussing it with the council in June 2022.
“During the presentation, the presenter – who no longer works for the city – never brought up the background check,” Booker said. “Now, what I’m hearing is that everybody, including people that have been in business for 40 years in Lawton, would have to have a background check. Is that correct?”
Brown said the ordinance that the council approved in June called for a background check. But she said the city was prepared to abolish that part of the ordinance
Booker said he was not sure council members realized that they were voting on the background check when they approved the ordinance. He added that the council depends on city staff to provide complete and accurate information about issues facing the city.
“We get those books on Friday morning (before the council meeting), and sometimes it’s hard to get it all read,” he said. “You just don’t. And so, we rely on the staff.”
Booker said he watched a video of the meeting when the council discussed the ordinance, and background checks and administrative fees were not part of that discussion. He also said he thought the council did not have all the facts it needed to make a decision on the issue.
“I really feel like the information given to the council wasn’t the way it turned out,” Booker said. “I’m not sure what the council would have voted on had they had the information that they have today.”
Other council members said they thought the ordinance did not address the problem it was supposed to solve.
“As I was listening to this, I was reminded that the reason why this initiated – or part of it – was because of those businesses that are not renewing,” said Councilwoman Onreka Johnson. “To me – and maybe I missed it – but it doesn’t sound like you’ve even addressed that.”