Hereinafter it shall be unlawful for any person,
firm or corporation, whether as a principal or agent, to commence
or to do a transient retail business for the sale of any goods or
merchandise whatsoever through the leasing or occupying of any structure
in the Township of Nether Providence for the exhibition or sale of
such goods or merchandise, or house-to-house merchandising of any
kind, or for the taking of orders for goods or merchandise to be delivered
at a subsequent date, without first procuring a license so to do from
the Township Manager. All peddlers, hawkers, hucksters, vendors, agents,
solicitors, canvassers, salespeople and distributors not engaged in
interstate commerce and not acting for a purely public, charitable,
religious or educational purpose shall first procure a license from
the Township Manager and shall pay a fee per year as set forth by
resolution of the Board of Commissioners from time to time, which license shall be valid for the remainder of the
calendar year during which the license is issued.
Nothing herein is intended to permit or authorize
the canvassing or soliciting of sales or service upon private property,
that is, residences, apartments or business establishments, in the
Township of Nether Providence without first obtaining the permission
or by actual or tacit invitation of the owners or occupants of the
property to enter upon the property for the purpose of canvassing
or soliciting the sale of goods or merchandise or services. Such activity
without such permission or invitation is declared to be a violation
of this chapter.
A. Every person desiring to secure the protection of
the regulations contained in this section shall comply with the following
requirements:
(1) Notice of the determination by the occupant of giving
invitation to solicitors or the refusal of invitation to solicitors
to any residence shall be given by notice posted on the premises in
the manner following: "ONLY SOLICITORS REGISTERED IN NETHER PROVIDENCE
TOWNSHIP INVITED" or "NO SOLICITORS INVITED."
(2) The letters shall be at least two inches in height.
For the purpose of uniformity, the cards shall be provided by the
Township to persons requesting them, at the cost thereof.
(3) Such card so exhibited shall constitute sufficient
notice to any solicitor of the determination by the occupant of the
residence of the information contained thereon.
B. It shall be the duty of every solicitor, upon going onto any premises in the Township on which a residence is located, to examine and look for the notice provided for in Subsection
A of this section, if any is posted, and be governed by the statement contained on the notice. If the notice states "ONLY SOLICITORS REGISTERED IN NETHER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP INVITED," then any solicitor not possessing a valid certificate of registration shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises; and if the notice states "NO SOLICITORS INVITED," then the solicitor, whether registered or not, shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises.
C. Any solicitor who has gained entrance to any residence,
whether invited or not, shall immediately and peacefully depart from
the premises when requested to do so by the occupant.
D. It is hereby declared to be unlawful and shall constitute a nuisance for any person to go upon any premises and ring the doorbell upon or near any door, or create any sound in any other manner calculated to attract the attention of the occupant of such residence, for the purpose of securing an audience with the occupant thereof and engage in soliciting, as herein defined, in defiance of the notice exhibited at the residence in accordance with the provisions of Subsection
A of this section.
Licenses are subject to revocation upon the
violation of any section of this chapter. The revocation by the Manager
of the Township of Nether Providence may be for the remainder of the
license year and may also contain a prohibition of the issuance of
a license to the person whose license has been revoked for such period
of time in the future as the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Nether Providence may determine.
Nothing herein is intended to be applied to religious, charitable, educational or philanthropic institutions, but all such persons or organizations must nevertheless register with the Manager of the Township of Nether Providence and furnish the information as provided in §
185-2 hereof. Failure to register may result in penalties as set forth in §
185-7 hereof.
The Board of Commissioners of the Township of
Nether Providence may, by resolution, authorize the issuance of a
license for the conduct of certain events in the Township of Nether
Providence by application of the sponsor thereof, which events anticipate
the sale of merchandise by numerous salespersons during a specified
and limited day or days, utilizing the streets or sidewalks of the
Township of Nether Providence. The fee therefor shall be as established
by resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nether
Providence.
In addition to the penalty of revocation, any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Art.
II, Violations and Penalties, §
1-17, Other violations. Each day of continuation of the violation of the terms of this chapter shall be deemed a separate offense.