PORT ANGELES — A new proposal to require all businesses in Port Angeles to register with City Hall has been rejected.

The Port Angeles City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday, with council member Max Mania opposed, to drop the idea after being presented with a petition signed by 72 business owners who objected to the proposed business license requirement because they can’t afford any new fees.

Staff members were considering a charge of anywhere between $30 and $50 to receive a license.

ASM Signs owner Mike Miller, who organized the petition, told the council that now is not the right time to increase the cost of doing business.

“We’re just fighting to be alive,” he said.

Several council members — including Cherie Kidd, who had initiated the renewed discussion of the proposal, which died three years ago — said they heard him loud and clear.

“We’re here to represent you,” Kidd said. “I agree it’s time to pull this back from consideration.”

Business directory

The council was considering requiring the license in order to create a complete directory of businesses in town.

The idea was that the directory could then be used by the city and entrepreneurs to understand what services are already provided by businesses in Port Angeles.

The city has a limited business license ordinance that comes with a $25 fee, mostly for public safety purposes.

It covers about 150 businesses that fall under 18 categories, such as ambulances, dance halls that serve liquor, taxis and pawn shops.

Mania said he still supports expanding the license requirement to all businesses, as long as the fee remains low.

“It’s the mainstream rules to the road,” he said, citing the use of business licenses by other cities across the state, including Sequim and Port Townsend.

“It’s been misrepresented as a tax when in fact it’s a fee,” Mania added.

Miller also said he wasn’t opposed to the idea, as long as it came at no cost for businesses.

Staff said the fee would have been used to pay for labor costs associated with processing the licenses.

No-cost directory

Miller said he has approached the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce to be the lead on a no-cost business directory.

Russ Veenema, chamber executive director, said the matter may be brought up for discussion, but nothing has been proposed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the board pursues it a little bit,” he said.

Linda Rotmark, Clallam County Economic Development Council executive director, said her organization had tried to create such a directory before by going through state business licenses.

But sorting through all of the licenses at the state level became too burdensome.

“By the time you get through the alphabet, you have to start all over again,” she said.

“It was just an impossible task.”

The chamber already provides a list of its members and contact information.

Veenema said that falls short of a complete directory because not every business is a chamber member.

He also said that the Yellow Pages isn’t sufficient.

“Definitely not everyone is in the Yellow Pages, unfortunately,” Veenema said.

“It doesn’t list e-mail addresses [for business owners], and it’s very labor-intensive to go through that to figure out who’s who and what’s what.”

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.