[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. The legislative intent and purpose of this article is to:
A. Protect Township residents from solicitations for the sale and purchase
of commercial products and services or solicitations for monetary
or property donations at their homes.
B. Protect the privacy of Township residents and in addition protect
Township residents from fraud, burglary, injury or other criminal
activity which may occur in connection with or under the guise of
the solicitation for the sale and purchase of commercial products
and services or solicitations for monetary or property donations at
their homes.
C. Remain cognizant of and protect legitimate First Amendment rights
to disseminate information on a door-to-door basis.
D. Protect those persons engaged in peddling and solicitation activities
within the Township.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases
shall be construed throughout this article to have the meaning indicated
below:
PEDDLING or SOLICITATION
Engaging in any form of sale, solicitation or order-taking
for any good or service or the solicitation of any payment or donation
of money or property or any commitment for the payment or donation
of money or property from any resident of Thornbury Township at the
home or property of such resident.
PEDDLER
Includes any person or entity which engages in or intends
to engage in peddling or solicitation within Thornbury Township.
TOWNSHIP
Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
Except as otherwise provided in §
6-805, peddling or solicitation within the Township is prohibited unless the peddler has first applied for and obtained a peddling permit from the Township in accordance with the provisions of this article.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. Unless specifically exempted under §
6-805, peddlers shall, prior to the commencement of any peddling or solicitation activity, submit an application to the Township, on a form provided by the Township, for a peddling permit and in connection with said application provide the following information:
A. Full names, addresses and telephone numbers of those persons to be
engaged in the peddling or solicitation activity within the Township.
B. The name of any company, organization or similar entity for which
or on whose behalf the peddling or solicitation activity is to be
conducted.
C. The nature or description of the good or service to be offered, or
the recipient of the donation of money or property sought.
D. The make, model and year of each vehicle used or intended to be used
in connection with the peddling or soliciting activity. A copy of
the registration for all such vehicles shall be provided at the time
of application.
E. A copy of a valid driver's license or other official photo identification
for each person to be included as a peddler on the permit.
F. Whether the applicant or any persons proposed to be engaged in the
peddling or soliciting activity have ever been convicted of a crime
other than a violation of the Motor Vehicle Code, and if so, the date and nature of the offense. A copy
of any criminal background check required by the entity identified
in Subsection 1B, above, shall be provided with the application.
G. Names of other municipalities in Delaware County in which the applicant
and/or the persons to be engaged in the peddling or soliciting activity
have worked as peddlers in the past two years.
H. The dates and times and areas of the Township in which the applicant
intends to conduct the peddling or soliciting activity.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. The terms of §§
6-804,
6-806 and
6-807 shall not apply to the following when a peddler is seeking donations of money or property when conducted as part of an officially sponsored fund-raising program, provided that a peddler shall still notify the Township of the date, times and number of persons who will be conducting the peddling or soliciting activity in the Township:
A. Volunteer fire and emergency medical services.
B. Members of little league and petticoat leagues and Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts when: 1) accompanied by a coach or leader and 2) in uniform.
C. Political or religious organizations.
D. Any other person or entity been determined by law not to be subject
to peddling or solicitation permit regulations.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. Upon satisfactory compliance with the requirements of §
6-804, the Township shall issue a peddling permit to the applicant in accordance with the application.
2. A copy of the issued peddling permit, together with photo identification
of each person included as a peddler under the permit, may be posted
by the Township on the Township's official website, and/or sent
to Township residents via the Township's social media page or
e-alert system.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. All applicants shall pay to the Township, at the time of application,
a permit fee as established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors,
from time to time.
2. All permits issued pursuant to this article shall expire on the last
day of the peddling or soliciting activity as stated by the applicant
in its application for the permit. In no event shall the permit expire
later than December 31 of the year in which the permit was issued.
Upon the expiration of the permit, no peddling or solicitation activity
shall be conducted without first filing a new application with the
Township and obtaining a permit, in accordance with the provisions
of this article.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. No peddler shall attempt to peddle to or solicit from any resident
who has registered on the Township's No Peddling Registry. The
Township shall maintain a copy of said registry at its offices and
also shall provide a copy to the applicant at the time of issuance
of the peddling or solicitation permit.
2. No peddler shall attempt to peddle to or solicit from any resident
who has posted upon the resident's property signs such as "No
Solicitation," "No Peddling," "No Trespassing" or such similar sign(s)
indicating a prohibition of entry upon the resident's property.
3. No peddler shall attempt to peddle to or solicit from any neighborhood,
development or subdivision where signs such as "No Solicitation,"
"No Peddling," "No Trespassing" or such similar sign(s) indicating
a prohibition of entry in and to the neighborhood, development or
subdivision.
4. Any peddler entering upon a resident's property or in a neighborhood,
development or subdivision shall immediately leave said property when
asked or instructed to do so by anyone present on the property, or
by a resident of the neighborhood, development or subdivision.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
No peddling or soliciting activity shall occur between sunset
or 6:30 p.m. (whichever is earliest) and 9:30 a.m.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
1. Notwithstanding the issuance of a permit, no person shall engage
in any form of peddling or solicitation or other activity which threatens
the health, safety or welfare of the Township, its residents and/or
the peddler.
2. Peddling or solicitation conducted following the issuance of a permit
shall be strictly limited to the terms of the permit.
3. Any permit issued pursuant to this article shall be prominently displayed,
together with a form of photo identification, by all peddlers at all
times when peddling or solicitation activity is being conducted within
the Township. If the peddling or solicitation activity is being conducted
by an organization whose members wear uniforms, then, in addition
to the permit, the uniforms shall be worn during the conduct of any
peddling or solicitation activity.
4. Permits shall not be transferable to any other person or entity.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
Violation of this article shall result in the revocation of
any permit issued and the denial of any pending application. In addition,
any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate the provisions
of this article, shall, upon being found liable therefor in a summary
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before the Magisterial
District Justice, pay a fine of up to $1,000 for each violation. A
separate offense shall arise for each day or portion thereof in which
the violation of this article is found to exist and for each section
of the article which is found to be violated. Violators shall also
be found responsible for court costs and reasonable attorney's
fees of the Township, as permitted by law.
[Ord. No. 1-2018, 6/20/2018]
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word
of this article is for any reason held invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed
a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall
not render this article invalid.