The Key West City Commission on Tuesday is expected to approve a sightseeing franchise agreement that governs the way tour companies will be allowed to operate on city streets.

The rule would require companies to submit an analysis of how their tours would affect traffic patterns and residents' quality of life, and to pay the city a franchise fee, either 5 percent of their gross revenue or $10,000 per tour vehicle, whichever is greater.

The rule also would provide for a 150-foot radius between competing tour vehicles and their stops. Such a barrier would prohibit any new company from operating within 300 feet of property owned or leased by Historic Tours of America (HTA), which operates the Conch Tour Train and Old Town Trolley.

Approval is pending a second public reading after the ordinance passed its first on Nov. 4, although some parts of the law may change. Commissioner Teri Johnston on Friday joined City Attorney Shawn Smith in his opposition to the no-compete zone.

Questions also remain about the minimum per-vehicle payment that tour companies will be required to pay, compared to those required by HTA's existing franchise agreement, which ends in 2015.

Commissioners have said they want to ensure a level playing field among all tour companies.

Once it finalizes its general franchise law, the commission on Tuesday will use its parameters to craft a specific agreement with the Boston-based CityView Trolleys, which wants to begin trolley tours in Key West later this month.

CityView Vice President Greg Wythe, a former HTA employee and former son-in-law of HTA founder Ed Swift, wants to establish a competing trolley company.

Wythe on Friday said he simply wants a fair and equitable franchise agreement comparable to HTA's.

In other business

Commissioner Jimmy Weekley wants to pass a resolution urging President Barack Obama to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibits openly homosexual people from serving in the military.

Commissioners also will consider a resolution that asks property owners along the south side of North Roosevelt Boulevard "to convey small portions of property to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)" for the construction of sidewalks there.

Planning Director Amy Kimball-Murley emphasized in a memo that such conveyances would not adversely affect property owners and their rights to develop or landscape their property in the future.

FDOT has been preparing to install sidewalks along the south side of North Roosevelt Boulevard since 2004, and residents have been in agreement, given that the majority of shops and businesses are on the south side of the road.

The commission meets at 6 p.m. in Old City Hall, 510 Greene St.

mbolen@keysnews.com