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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 03,2012 Page 2 nesses were required to be licensed by the City for merchandise sold in their stores; and suggested this issue may be more specific to outdoor sales, whether temporary or permanent. At the request of Mayor Roe, Finance Director Miller responded that the City regulates outdoor tree sales on vacant lots; and offered to review City Code in more detail with the appropriate staff to determine if there was a distinction with the sale of real trees from an existing business or if it was based on the need to regulate potential non-conforming uses, in order to address additional vehicle traffic to a site beyond the normal day-to-day operations. Mr. Miller confirmed for Mayor Roe that there was typically no license required by the City for the sale of general merchandise. Councilmember McGehee, while not offering comment on the double taxation issue, opined that there was no significant difference in a retail store and their addition of a seasonal substance; and further opined that as long sales remained on their property and part of their operations, she saw no reason for further regulation or an additional tax. Councilmember McGehee stated that she would like staff to research that further, and acknowledged the reason for regulating temporary sales lots; however, she reiterated that if a business was already do- ing retail operations, selling a small number of trees seasonally shouldn't re- quire a license. Mayor Roe suggested the requirement, once staff had researched it further, may be simply applying a standard fairly to all; and if outdoor sales impeded suffi- cient customer parking, that was a consideration for the process. However, Mayor Roe suggested that staff be allowed the opportunity to provide additional information before any decisions were made. Councilmember Johnson noted that one major improvement made by the owner at Suburban Hardware during the recent redesign and remodel of the building was its conformity to the neighborhood. Councilmember Johnson noted that the owner took firsthand responsibility and realized extra costs to make the new building blend into the neighborhood and existing uses in the neighborhood. Councilmember Johnson advised that, one item of note with that new design was the owner's addition of a roofed enclosure as a receiving area for small en- gine repair portion of the business; and for outdoor storage of mulch and other items sold that had previously required City approval for sale in his parking lot. Councilmember Johnson noted that the owner's intent was to avoid the addi- tional fee he paid for storing the mulch outdoors; and suggested that may specif- ically address the concerns for Christmas tree sales if they were located in that roofed enclosure as well. If that was the case, Councilmember Johnson agreed that an additional fee may no longer be applicable, since the enclosure was part