[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Verona as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Parks and recreation — See Ch.
162.
Secondhand dealers — See Ch.
198.
Outside dining and vending on streets — See Ch.
215, Art.
VII.
[Adopted 10-19-1976 by Ord. No. 1042; amended in its entirety 11-9-1999 by Ord. No.
11-1999 (Ch. XIII, Part 6, of the 1976 Code of Ordinances)]
A. The following terms, when used in this article, shall have the meanings
hereby ascribed thereto:
NONCOMMERCIAL CANVASSER
Any person desiring to solicit or have solicited in its,
his or her name donations, money, property or financial assistance
of any kind, or desiring to sell any item of literature, tokens or
merchandise or disseminate any type or form of information without
a fee or donation from or to persons, other than members of such organizations,
upon the streets, in office buildings, by house-to-house canvass or
in public places for a charitable, religious, patriotic, philanthropic
or political purpose.
PERSON
Any natural person or individual, organization, society,
partnership, association, corporation or other legal entity.
TRANSIENT MERCHANT
Any person, whether a resident of the Borough or not, who
engages in transient retail business.
TRANSIENT RETAIL BUSINESS
The following:
(1)
Engaging in peddling, soliciting or taking orders, either by
sample or otherwise, for any goods, wares or merchandise upon any
street, alley, sidewalk or public ground or from house to house within
the Borough of Verona.
(2)
Selling, soliciting or taking orders for any goods, wares or
merchandise from a fixed location within the Borough on a temporary
basis, which shall include but shall not be limited to such activities
conducted at the time of special occasions or celebrations, for seasonal
purposes, or for or in advance of specific yearly holidays.
B. The singular shall include the plural, the plural shall include the
singular, and the masculine shall include the feminine and neuter.
A. No person shall engage in any transient retail business within the
Borough without first having obtained from the Mayor or Chief of Police
a license, for which a fee, which shall be for the use of the Borough,
shall be charged in the amounts of $3 per day, $10 per week, $25 per
month and $100 per year, provided that no license fee shall be charged
under this section:
(1) To farmers selling their own produce.
(2) For the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, donated by the owners
thereof, the proceeds whereof are to be applied to any charitable
or philanthropic purpose.
(3) To any manufacturer or producer in the sale of bread and bakery products,
meat and meat products, or milk and milk products.
(4) To children under the age of 18 years who take orders for and deliver
newspapers, greeting cards, candy, bakery products and the like, or
who represent the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or similar organizations.
B. But all persons exempted, as set forth in this article, from the
payment of the license fee shall be required to register with the
Mayor or the Chief of Police and obtain a license without fee; provided,
further, any person dealing in one or more of the above-mentioned
exempted categories, and dealing with other goods, wares or merchandise
not so exempted, shall be subject to the payment of the license fee
fixed by this section for his activities in connection with the sale
of goods, wares and merchandise not in such exempted categories; provided,
further, the Mayor may similarly exempt from payment of the license
fee, but not from registering with him or the Police Chief, persons
working without compensation and selling goods, wares or merchandise
for the sole benefit of any nonprofit corporation. All persons shall
apply for and obtain a license, issued to him in his name under the
provisions of this article, prior to any such person engaging in canvassing
or soliciting or otherwise engaging in transient retail business or
noncommercial canvassing within the Borough of Verona. The license
fee hereby imposed pursuant to this article shall be applicable to
every such individual license.
Every person desiring a license under this article shall first
make application to the Mayor or the Chief of Police for such license.
If such person shall also be required to obtain a license from any
state or county officer, he shall, when making such application, exhibit
a valid license from such state or county officer. The applicant shall
state:
A. His criminal record, if any.
B. The name and address of the person by whom he is employed.
C. The type of goods, wares and merchandise he wishes to deal with in
such transient retail business.
D. The length of time for which license is to be issued.
E. The type and license number of the vehicle to be used, if any.
F. The name and physical description of the applicant.
G. The home address and local address of the applicant and, in the case
of transient merchants, the local address from which proposed sales
will be made.
H. A recent photograph of the applicant, which picture shall be approximately
two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant
in a clear and distinguishing manner.
I. The applicant's fingerprints upon a noncriminal file card which
can be reclaimed upon the expiration of the license.
J. Some form of identification, to include, but not be limited to, a
social security card, driver's license, registration or passport.
Upon receipt of such application and the prescribed fee, if
applicable, the Mayor or the Chief of Police, if he shall find such
application in order, shall issue a license required. Such license
shall contain the information required to be given on the application
thereof. Every license holder shall carry such license upon his person
if engaged in transient retail business or noncommercial canvassing
from house to house or upon any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks
or public grounds or shall display such license at the location where
he shall engage in such business if doing so at a fixed location.
The license holder shall exhibit such license, upon request, to all
police officers, Borough officials and citizens or residents of the
Borough.
A. Any noncommercial canvasser shall not be permitted to canvass or
solicit on Sundays, state or federal holidays or before 9:00 a.m.
or after 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, prevailing Eastern standard
time.
B. Any commercial canvasser shall not be permitted to canvass or solicit
on Sundays, state or federal holidays or before 9:00 a.m. or after
6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturdays, prevailing Eastern standard time.
C. No person engaged in any transient retail business or noncommercial
canvassing shall:
(1) Sell any product or type of product not mentioned in his license.
(2) Hawk or cry his wares upon any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks
or public grounds within the Borough.
(3) When operating from a vehicle, stop or park such vehicle upon any
of the streets or alleys in the Borough for longer than necessary
in order to sell therefrom to persons residing in the immediate vicinity.
(4) Park any vehicle upon any of the streets or alleys in the Borough
for the purpose of sorting, rearranging or cleaning any of his goods,
wares or merchandise or of disposing of any carton, wrapping material
or of any stock or wares or foodstuffs which have become unsalable
through handling, age or otherwise.
(5) Engage in any business activity prohibited by any federal, state
or local law, ordinance or resolution applicable thereto.
(6) Engage in any canvassing, soliciting or business activity with any
owners or occupants thereof of a residential dwelling or any owners,
agents or employees of a business, the address of which has been listed
upon an official list of owners or occupants thereof that have requested
that no transient retail merchant or noncommercial canvasser enter
upon their premises or business for the purposes of soliciting, taking
orders or having any contact with said owners or occupants whatsoever.
Said official list shall be kept on file with the Borough Secretary,
and every applicant for a license issued pursuant to this article
shall be provided with a copy of said list upon receiving said license.
The Chief of Police and the Mayor shall supervise the activities
of all persons holding licenses under this article and shall keep
records of all licenses issued hereunder and shall make a report thereof
each month to the Borough Council.
The Mayor is hereby authorized to suspend or revoke any license
issued under this article when he deems such suspension or revocation
to be beneficial to the public health, safety or morals; for violation
of any provision of this article; or for giving false information
upon any application for a license hereunder. Appeals from any suspension
or revocation may be made to the Council at any time within 10 days
after such suspension or revocation. No part of a license fee shall
be refunded to any person whose license shall have been suspended
or revoked.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall, upon
conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600
and costs of prosecution or, in default of payment of such fine and
costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days, provided
that each violation of any provision of this article and each day
the same is continued shall be deemed a separate offense.
Every applicant for the license required who is not a resident
of the County of Allegheny or who, being such resident, represents
a firm whose principal place of business is located outside the state
shall file with the Mayor or Chief of Police a surety bond, payable
to the Borough of Verona, in the amount of $200 if the license is
issued for less than six months and $500 if the license is issued
for six months or longer, with a surety acceptable to and approved
by the Mayor or Chief of Police, conditioned on the applicant's
full compliance with all the provisions of this article and any applicable
federal, state or local laws in regulating peddlers, canvassers, solicitors
or transient retail merchants, as the case may be, and guaranteeing
to any resident of the Borough of Verona that all moneys paid as down
payment will be accounted for and applied according to representations
of the licensee and further guaranteeing to any such resident doing
business with such licensee that the property or object purchased
will be delivered according to the representations of the licensee.
An action on such bond may be brought by the person aggrieved and
for whose benefit, among others, the bond is given, but the surety
may, by paying pursuant to an order of court the face amount of the
bond to the Clerk of Court in which suit is commenced, be relieved
without costs of all further liability. A noncommercial canvasser
shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.
No licensee under the provisions of this article, nor any person
in his behalf, shall shout, cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use
any sound or amplifying device upon any of the streets, alleys, parks
or other public places of the Borough of Verona, or upon private premises,
whereby sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom
to be capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, avenues, alleys,
parks or other public places, for the purpose of attracting attention
to any goods, wares or merchandise which such licensee proposes to
sell.
[Adopted 10-13-1987 by Ord. No. 7-1987 (Ch. XIII, Part 9,
of the 1976 Code of Ordinances)]
It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, association,
firm or corporation to advertise or hold out by any means that the
sale of any goods, wares or merchandise is a "closing-out sale," "a
sale of goods damaged by fire, smoke or water" or a "defunct business
sale" unless a license is first obtained to conduct such a sale from
the Borough Secretary's office of the Borough of Verona.
The application procedures, enforcement, investigation and penalties
for this licensing requirement shall be those regulations required
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as set forth in Act 217 of 1963,
as amended (53 P.S. § 4471-1 et seq.).
The Borough Secretary's office of the Borough of Verona
shall administer and enforce the licensing requirements of this article.