[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Mount
Kisco 6-1-1999 by L.L. No. 5-1999. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Trustees of the Village/Town of Mount Kisco (the "village")
finds and declares that to protect the people against the nuisance of unrequested
distribution of handbills and circulars, with the resulting detriment and
danger to public health and safety, the public interest, convenience and necessity
requires the regulation thereof, and to that end the purposes of this chapter
are specifically declared as follows:
A.
To protect local residents against trespassing by solicitors,
canvassers or handbill distributors upon the private property of such residents
if they have given reasonable notice that they do not wish to be solicited
by such person or do not desire to receive handbills or advertising matter;
B.
To protect the people against the health and safety menace
and the expense incident to the littering of the streets and public places
by the uncontrolled distribution of advertising matter and commercial and
noncommercial handbills; and
C.
To preserve the people's constitutional right to receive
and disseminate information.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, have
the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where than context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
Includes any printed or written matter:
Which advertises for sale any merchandise, product, commodity or thing;
Which directs attention to any business or mercantile or commercial
establishment, or other activity, for the purpose of either directly or indirectly
promoting the interests thereof for commercial gain; or
Which, while containing reading material other than advertising matter,
is predominantly and essentially an advertisement, and is distributed or circulated
for advertising purposes or for the private benefit and gain of any person
so engaged as advertiser or distributor.
Includes any newspaper of general circulation, any periodical or
magazine which is distributed to the public.
Includes any printed or written matter not included in the aforesaid
definitions of a commercial handbill or a newspaper.
Shall have the meaning ascribed pursuant to § 1-13A of the Code.
Includes any dwelling, house, building or other structure, designed
or used either wholly, or in part, for private residential purposes, whether
inhabited, uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walks,
driveway, porch, steps, vestbule or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such
dwelling, house, building or other structure.
Includes any and all streets, boulevards, avenues, lanes, alleys
or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, plazas,
grounds and buildings.
No person shall post, stick, stamp, paint or otherwise affix, or cause
the same to be done by any person, any notice, placard, bill, card, poster,
advertisement or other paper or device calculated to attract the attention
of the public to or upon any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb or curbstone, flagstone
or any other portion or part of any public way or public place or any lamppost,
electric light pole or railway structure, hydrant, shade tree or tree-box
or upon the piers, columns, trusses, girders, railings, gates or other parts
of any public structure or building, except such as may be authorized or required
by the laws of the United States or the State of New York or the Village Code.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, place, deposit, throw,
scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any public
place within the village; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful
for any person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof,
any commercial or noncommercial handbill in any public place to any person
willing to accept such handbill.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, place, deposit, throw,
scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any automobile
or other vehicle; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful for any
person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof,
any commercial or noncommercial handbill to the owner or other occupant of
any automobile or other vehicle, who is willing to accept the same.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, place, deposit, throw,
scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any private
premises which are uninhabited or vacant.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, place, deposit, throw,
scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill upon any premises
if requested by anyone thereon not to do so or if there is placed on said
premises in a conspicuous position near the entrance thereof a sign bearing
the words "No Trespassing," "No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement" or
any similar notice indicating that the occupants of said premises do not desire
to be molested or to have their right of privacy disturbed or to have any
such commercial or noncommercial handbills left upon such premises.
A.
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any commercial
or noncommercial handbill in or upon private premises except by handling or
transmitting any such handbill directly to the owner, occupant or other person
then present in or upon such private premises, provided that except where
the premises are posted as provided in this chapter or where anyone upon the
premises requests otherwise, a person may place or deposit any such commercial
or noncommercial handbill in or upon such private premises, if such handbill
is contained in a plastic bag ventilated with air holes throughout the surface
of the bag or in an unventilated plastic bag no greater than six inches in
width or if such handbill is so placed or deposited as to secure or prevent
such handbill from being blown or drifted about such premises or sidewalks,
streets or other public places. Mailboxes may not be used when so prohibited
by federal postal law or regulations.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the
distribution of mail by the United States or to newspapers, except that newspapers
shall be placed on private property in such a manner as to prevent their being
carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public
place or upon private property.
This chapter shall not be deemed to repeal, amend or modify any ordinance
ever ordained, either prohibiting, regulating or licensing canvassers, hawkers,
peddlers, transient merchants or any other person using the public streets
or places for any private business or enterprise or for commercial sales,
not covered herein.
A violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punishable as set forth in § 1-17 of the Code as a Class III violation.
