This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Penn Township
Peddling, Canvassing and Soliciting Ordinance."
The following words shall be construed to have the meanings set forth
below. The singular number includes the plural, and the masculine includes
the feminine and the neuter.
PEDDLING, CANVASSING AND SOLICITING
The taking of orders for goods, wares or merchandise, including subscriptions
for magazines or other printed matter, the obtaining of contracts for home
and building devices, repairs and improvements and the securing of contributions
to various causes and organizations, from house to house, or upon any street
or sidewalk in the township.
PERSON
Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall engage
in peddling, canvassing and soliciting in the township without first having
registered with the township and having obtained an identification card from
the township.
Every person engaged in peddling, canvassing or soliciting within the
confines of Penn Township shall, in the conduct of his activities, comply
with the following standards of conduct:
A. He shall conduct himself at all times in an orderly and
lawful manner.
B. He shall carry his identification card at all times and
exhibit it upon request to any police officer or to any person on whom he
shall call or with whom he shall talk, or if not registered and licensed under
this chapter, he shall identify himself by means of a firm or corporate identification
card or a valid Pennsylvania State motor vehicle driver's license.
C. He shall not permit any person to have possession of
his identification card and shall immediately report its loss to the township.
He shall not cause or permit his identification card to be altered or defaced
in any way.
D. He shall not engage in peddling, canvassing and soliciting
before 8:00 a.m. nor after 9:00 p.m., prevailing time.
E. He shall not enter or attempt to enter any dwelling without
the invitation or permission of the occupant and shall immediately leave any
premises upon request of the occupant.
F. He shall not be guilty of any false pretense or misrepresentation,
and particularly, he shall not represent his identification card to be an
endorsement of himself or his goods or services or of the goods or services
of his employer by the township.
G. He shall immediately surrender his identification card
to the township upon revocation thereof.
H. He shall give a written receipt for all orders taken
within Penn Township where a down payment is received, which receipt shall
be signed by the solicitor and shall set forth a brief description of the
goods, wares, merchandise or services ordered, the total purchase price thereof
and the amount of the down payment received by the solicitor from the purchaser.
Any identification card may be revoked by the township if the holder fails to comply with the standards of conduct contained in §
121-5 hereof or any of them or upon ascertainment by the Police Department that the holder has made a false statement in his application.
The township reserves the right to have all the following named groups
be subject to the registration and licensing requirements of this chapter,
except that the license fee shall be waived. All other provisions of this
chapter will be applicable to the following:
A. Boy or girls under 19 years of age who take orders for
and deliver newspapers, greeting cards, candy, submarine sandwiches and the
like for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, schools, churches or other charitable and
civic organizations.
B. Persons delivering or distributing goods or services
previously ordered or contracted for by the person to whom they
are delivered or distributed.
C. Persons who deliver milk, bread, gasoline, kerosene or
other heating and/or cooking fuels.
D. Persons who work for an organization which has registered
with the Pennsylvania Department of State under the Solicitation of Charitable
Funds Act, Act of August 9, 1963, P.L. 628, and produce proof of such current registration.
E. Persons who are acting as representatives of accredited
war veterans organizations.
F. Farmers who are selling their own produce that is raised
or produced on their farm.
G. Persons engaged in interstate commerce.
The license fee shall be $25 per individual per month or fractional
part thereof. The township shall indicate on the identification card the period
of time for which the required license fee shall have been paid.
This chapter shall not apply to any person to whom a transient retail
merchant's license has been issued.
Any person who shall engage in peddling, canvassing or soliciting without
registering with the appropriate township officer or any person, whether or
not required to be registered and licensed under this chapter, who shall violate
any of the other provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof
before a District Justice, be subject to a fine or penalty of not more than
$600, plus costs of prosecution. Such fine or penalty shall be collected as
like fines or penalties are now by law collected.