[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Scranton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-26-1979 as Ch. 3, Art. I, of the 1979 Code]
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BILLPOSTERS
All persons engaged in the business or occupation of posting, by tacking, posting, painting, demonstrating or otherwise, or distributing upon the streets any advertising matter, bills, posters, pictures or any other thing, matter or device whatsoever, advertising the business of any firm or corporation, whether that of merchant, manufacturer, publisher or person engaged in any business or industrial pursuit or of any operas, theaters, shows, circuses or other exhibitions; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to apply to the painting of store, office or other signs by sign painters or to the posting of legal notices by public officers or attorneys in the manner and in the places prescribed by law or individuals who are in the business of distributing circulars, almanacs or business cards who place them inside of the doors of dwellings or buildings within the city limits.
[Amended 5-6-2025 by Ord. No. 73-2025]
No person shall paint, print, post or in any way affix any picture, bill or advertising matter of any kind upon any post, hydrant, curb, sidewalk or other public improvement in any public ground or street, nor upon any bridge, or part of the same, nor upon public buildings, structures or erections of any kind belonging to the city, nor upon any mast or pole in any street or alley erected or used for supporting or conducting any wire or cable or incidental thereto, nor upon any tree, lamppost or any structure or erection of any kind within the limits of any public street or ground in the city, whether or not the permission therefor has been granted by the owner thereof, unless express consent therefor shall have been first granted by the Director of Community Development.
No person shall paint, print, post or in any way affix any picture, bill or advertising matter of any kind upon any post, fence, billboard, signboard or upon any building or erection or structure of any kind, unless the building or object upon which the same may be placed is the property or under the control of the person so doing, or unless the consent of the owner or the person in control thereof has been obtained.
Any billposter who enters upon premises owned, leased or rented by another and refuses to leave such premises after having been notified by the owner or occupant of such premises or his agent, to leave the same and not return to such premises shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any handbill upon any private premises, if requested by anyone thereon not to do so, or if there is placed on such premises a sign bearing the words "No Trespassing," "No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement," or any similar notice, indicating in any manner that the occupants of such premises do not wish to have their right of privacy disturbed or to have any handbills left upon such premises.
A. 
No person shall loosely scatter or throw any bills or other advertising matter on the surface of any of the public streets or ways or in the public grounds nor within the yards of private residences.
B. 
No billposter or other person shall scatter, daub or leave any paste, glue or other like substance used for affixing bills upon any public sidewalk or pavement, nor scatter or throw any old bills or waste material removed from billboards on the surface of any public street or way, nor on the surface of any private ground.
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Editor's Note: See also Ch. 305, Littering.
No billposter or other person shall post or affix any bill or advertisement containing pictures, illustrations or printed matter of any obscene or immoral character.[1]
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Editor's Note: Former § 140-9, License required; § 140-10, Application; fee; bond, as amended; and § 140-11, Expiration, as amended; which immediately followed this section, were repealed 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022, effective 1-1-2023. This ordinance also stated that nothing in this provision shall be interpreted as repealing advertising sign permit requirements, license requirements and related provisions pursuant to Ord. No. 44-1926, as amended by Ord. No. 5-1963 and 51-1977, and as may be amended further, nor shall it be interpreted as affecting any provisions of the Zoning Code.