Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
CHARITABLE, NONPROFIT AND PHILANTHROPIC
Includes political, patriotic, religious, service, welfare,
benevolent, educational, civic or fraternal corporations, organizations,
associations, societies and the like not organized for private gain.
Examples of nonprofit organizations include veterans groups and organizations
which assist the poor, the aged, the sick, the physically disabled
or mentally retarded or which aid victims of fire, flood or similar
catastrophes. This enumeration is intended to be typical and shall
not be construed as exclusive. All applicants shall provide satisfactory
proof of nonprofit status upon request, including but not limited
to evidence of tax exemption.
CONTRIBUTION
Includes alms, food, clothes. money, subscription or property
of any nature or kind.
MERCHANDISE
Includes anything or any service sold or offered for present
or future sale by a vendor, including but not limited to merchandise,
goods, food, seasonal items, home repair services, flowers or greens.
PEDDLER, SOLICITOR, VENDOR or TRANSIENT MERCHANT
Any person, who goes from house to house or front place to
place offering or exposing merchandise or services for present or
future sale, prophesying or preaching, or who engages in any of the
foregoing activities from a location on the street or other public
place. Included in the definition are persons who go from house to
house or place in place collecting information, financial contributions
or distributing literature.
PERSON or ORGANIZATION
Any natural person, individual, firm, co-partnership, corporation,
company, association, church, religious denomination, society, class
or league and principal or agent thereof.
SOLICIT AND SOLICITATION
The request, directly or indirectly, of money, credit, property,
financial assistance and other things of value on the plea or representation
that such money, credit, property, financial assistance or other thing
of value will be used for a charitable and philanthropic purpose as
defined in this chapter. Solicitation shall be deemed to be complete
when made, whether or not the person making the same receives any
contribution.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote orderly
business practices, protect public safety and health, prevent unfair
business practices, promote the quiet enjoyment of public and private
lands and to provide for the appropriate use of land of the Township
of Woolwich in accordance with the Development Regulations and Zoning
Ordinance by the regulation of conduct and the imposition of license
fees.
The requirements of this chapter, insofar as
same shall apply to fees for peddlers, solicitors, vendors and transient
merchants, shall be held not to include the following persons, who
are hereby expressly exempt from its application:
A. Person honorably discharged from the military services
of the United States possessing a peddler's license issued in conformity
with N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 and 45:24-10.
B. Any person who is an exempt fireman of a volunteer
fire department, as defined by N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 and 45:24-10, possessing
a license in conformity with said law.
Any person desiring a license pursuant to this
chapter shall file with the Township Clerk an application to be supplied
by the Clerk. The application shall be completed in triplicate and
filed with the Clerk at least 30 days prior to the first day of the
proposed activity. The applicant shall furnish the following along
with the completed application:
B. A statement as to whether or not the applicant has
been charged with or convicted of any crime or disorderly persons
offense or violation of any municipal ordinance other than a traffic
violation and the nature, dates and places of such offenses and the
punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
C. An original letter addressed to the Township Clerk
from the firm for which the applicant purports to work, authorizing
the applicant to act as its representative.
D. A list of all towns in New Jersey in which the applicant
has conducted business in the last 12 months, setting forth the specific
dates.
E. A statement of whether the applicant has been refused
or had revoked a similar license at any time.
F. Original social security card.
G. A current driver's license.
H. A New Jersey sales tax certificate.
I. Federal taxpayer identification number.
J. Proof of insurance where insurance is required by
this chapter.
K. An instrument in writing nominating and appointing
the Clerk his true and lawful agent with full power and authority
to acknowledge service of notice of process for and on behalf of the
applicant in respect to any matters connected with or arising out
of license. It shall also contain recitals to the effect that the
applicant consents and agrees that service of any notice of process
may be made upon such agent and, when so made, shall be as valid as
if personally served upon the applicant according to the laws of this
or any state and waiving all claim or right of error by reason of
such acknowledgment of service or manner of service.
L. For transient merchants, the specific location of
operation and a certificate from the Zoning Officer stating that all
zoning and site review requirements of the Development Regulations
and Zoning Ordinance have been complied with for the subject location
and that all necessary approvals have been granted for such location
by the Planning Board and/or Zoning Board of Adjustment and the written
permission of the owner of the premises for the use of same.
When the application is properly filled out
and signed by the applicant, it shall be the duty of the Chief of
Police to investigate the statements made therein. After investigation,
the Chief shall indicate approval or disapproval in writing upon the
application. In case of disapproval of an application, the applicant
may appeal to the Township Committee. Committee shall set a time and
place for a hearing, which hearing shall be held within 10 days after
appeal is taken by the applicant; at which time the applicant will
be given an opportunity to present his reasons why the license should
be issued. The decision of Committee shall be final.
A. The completed application shall be referred to the Chief of Police
who shall review same within five business days of receipt.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No.
2018-18]
B. The Chief of Police shall endorse on such application
his approval or disapproval with his reasons for same and return the
application to the Township Clerk, who shall notify the applicant.
C. The Township Clerk, upon the payment of the prescribed
license fee, shall execute and deliver to the applicant his license.
D. A separate license must be obtained for every agent
or employee working for any person.
This chapter shall not apply to employees of
any public utility which is subject to regulation by the State Board
of Public Utility Commissioners; provided, however, that such employees
shall display the identification badge or card issued by his employer.
A. Organizations.
(1) Any bona fide members of any church, social, civic,
fraternal, educational, charitable, civic, veteran or philanthropic
organization, volunteer first aid organization or fire company, located
within the Township of Woolwich, desiring to solicit or who have solicited
in its name money, donations of money, property or financial assistance
of any kind, or desiring to sell or distribute any items of literature
or merchandise for which a fee is charged or solicited at any place
or places within the Township for any purpose, shall be permitted
to conduct business in the Township without a license, upon the filing
of a sworn application in writing with the Township Clerk; or any
member of any such organization not located in the Township of Woolwich,
which organization has received the written approval and endorsement
of the governing body of the Township of Woolwich, and which shall
give the following information:
(a)
Name and address of organization.
(b)
Nature and location of planned activity.
(c)
Period during which solicitation or sale is
to be carried on.
(d)
Name, address and social security number of
each person who will conduct solicitations.
(e)
A recent photograph of all persons who are not
Township residents who will conduct solicitations or sales.
(2) Such organization, association, society or corporation
shall furnish all its members, agents or representatives conducting
solicitation or sales with credentials in writing stating the name
of the organization, names of the agent and the duration and purpose
of solicitation. All persons or organizations qualifying for a license
exemption under this section shall comply with all other provisions
of this chapter.
B. Special exemption.
(1) The Township Committee, by resolution, may exempt
from compliance with any part or parts of this chapter any person
or organization. Any person or organization seeking an exemption must
make a written request to the Township Clerk at least 30 days before
the start of the activity for which the exemption is sought. The Township
Committee may place conditions or restrictions on the granting of
an exemption.
(2) Criteria for exemption. The following are criteria
to be applied when considering whether an exemption will be granted:
(a)
The charitable nature of the organization.
(b)
The number of participants who are Township
residents, eliminating or minimizing the need for identifying information.
(c)
The reputation of the individual or organization
in the community.
(d)
The financial or human resource burden of compliance
with any provision of this chapter when weighed against the benefit
to the Township and/or its residents.
(e)
Whether the activity will result in or lead
to a benefit to the Township residents such as lower taxes, increased
public services, betterment of the community or other public benefit.
(f)
The need to regulate the activity to address
safety, health or other concerns.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-18]
Any person violating any of the provisions or terms of this
chapter, whether as principal, agent or employee of another, shall,
upon conviction by the Municipal Court Judge, be subject to a fine
not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment in the County jail not exceeding
90 days, or both, in the discretion of the Judge. Upon conviction,
the person or entity on whose behalf the licensee was acting shall
be prohibited from licensed activities for one year from the date
of the guilty plea or conviction.
Every person to whom a license is issued under
the terms of this chapter shall be governed by the following rules
and regulations:
A. All circulars. samples or other matter shall be handed
to an occupant of the property or left in a secure place located on
the premises.
B. No person shall enter or attempt to enter the dwelling
of any resident without an express invitation from the occupant of
the dwelling.
C. No person shall conduct himself in such a manner as
to become objectionable to or annoy any occupant of any house. Signs
posted by property owners stating "no soliciting" shall be obeyed.
D. No licensee or any person in his behalf shall shout,
cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound-making or amplifying
device upon any of the streets, parks or other public places of the
Township or upon private premises where sound of sufficient volume
is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly heard
upon the streets, avenues, parks or other public places for the purpose
of attracting attention to any goods, wares, merchandise or services
which the licensee proposes to sell.
Following the filing of the registration form
pursuant to the aforesaid, the Chief of Police shall make or cause
to be made such investigation as he deems necessary to verify the
information set forth therein. The Chief of Police shall thereupon
signify his approval or rejection on the reverse side of the application
and, if approved, the Township Clerk may issue the license to such
applicant. In case of disapproval of an application, the applicant
may appeal to the Township Committee. The Committee shall set a time
and place for a hearing, which hearing shall be within 10 days after
appeal is taken by the applicant, at which hearing the applicant will
be given an opportunity to present his reasons why the license should
be issued. The decision of the Township Committee shall be final.
The provisions of this chapter applicable to
transient merchants shall not apply to residents of the Township of
Woolwich conducting yard sales upon their own property. There is no
cost to the residents for the permitted number of yard sales as indicated
in this section.
A. Sales of household goods by yard sale or similar event
are prohibited except insofar as the seller shall comply with this
section.
B. A maximum of two single-day or two weekend (Saturday
and Sunday) yard sales or similar event may be held in any calendar
year at any household in the Township. For the purpose of this subsection,
any apartment with separate cooking and toilet facilities shall qualify
as a "household."
[Added 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-18]
A. Establishment of a Do-Not-Knock Registry.
(1) The Township Clerk shall prepare a list of addresses of those premises
where the owner and/or occupant has notified the Clerk that peddling,
soliciting, canvassing, itinerant vending and door-to-door sales enterprising
as set forth in this chapter are not permitted on the premises (hereinafter
referred to as the "Do-Not-Knock Registry"). Notification shall be
by completion of a form available from the Township Clerk's office.
After its initial creation, the list shall be updated on an annual
basis on January 1 of each year. Nothing shall preclude the Clerk
from updating the list more frequently.
B. Do-Not-Knock Registry display.
(1) Any owner and/or occupant who has requested enlistment on the Do-Not-Knock
Registry shall be able to purchase from the Clerk's Office, for
a nominal fee, a sticker for display at his/her/its premises indicating
enlistment on the Do-Not-Knock Registry. Display of a sticker shall
not be mandatory in order to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
C. Distribution of Do-Not-Knock Registry.
(1) The Township Clerk shall distribute the most recent Do-Not-Knock
Registry list to each licensee at the time of issuance and renewal
of a license. The licensee shall not conduct regulated activities
at any premises identified on the then current Do-Not-Knock Registry.