As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PEDDLER
A person who goes from place to place by traveling on foot or by any type of conveyance on the streets or from house to house, carrying, transporting or conveying goods, wares, merchandise, foods, farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale or making sales and deliveries to purchasers, or who solicits orders and, as a separate transaction, makes deliveries to purchasers. The word "peddler" shall include the words "hawker" and "huckster."
PERSON
Includes the singular and the plural and shall also include and mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, voluntary association, incorporated association, club, society or other organization and any officer, employee or agent thereof.
SOLICITOR and/or CANVASSER
Includes persons who shall go on foot or by any type of conveyance from door to door or house to house selling, causing to be sold, offering for sale or causing to be offered for sale or taking orders for present or future delivery of goods, wares, merchandise, foods, farm products or provisions; and shall further include persons going, as aforesaid, from door to door or from house to house for the purpose of obtaining alms, orders, subscriptions or making canvasses or surveys or other solicitations; also, any person who uses or occupies any building, part thereof or any other place within the Borough of North Haledon for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
A. 
The purpose of this article is to prevent dishonest business practices by providing for the registration and regulation of the conduct of peddlers, solicitors and canvassers and of soliciting and canvassing so that they are properly identifiable for recourse in the event that anything untoward occurs related to the soliciting and canvassing. A further purpose is to provide a means of identifying and investigating persons who intend to participate in such canvassing and soliciting activities. Such identification and investigation is intended to be a deterrent to illegal activities and as a method of detecting persons with unlawful motivations who might use the guise of canvassing and soliciting as an ostensible reason for going upon private property. A further purpose is to protect against a sense of uneasiness and dangers reasonably to be apprehended on account of strangers filtering through the Borough and to discourage resort to the subterfuge of canvassing and soliciting as a means of further criminal purposes. Still another purpose is to afford a ready means of identification to both the residents and the police and to allay concern over the presence of unfamiliar faces in the neighborhood. Still another purpose is to protect the citizens and residents of North Haledon from fraudulent soliciting by requiring solicitors and canvassers to establish their identity and their authority to act for the cause or company which they purport to represent. A further response is to achieve the objectives of the within article without an undue interference with both intrastate and interstate commerce.
B. 
Any fees provided in this article shall not be for revenue or taxation purposes but shall be for the sole purposes of reimbursing the Borough for administrative and police expenses incurred.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
It shall be unlawful for any peddler or solicitor to sell or dispose of or to offer to sell or dispose of any goods, wares or merchandise within the Borough of North Haledon or to solicit or act as a solicitor from door to door within the Borough of North Haledon without first registering with the Borough Clerk of the Borough of North Haledon as provided in this article and obtaining the license prescribed.
A. 
The requirements of this article as to the payment of a license fee (but not as to registration) shall be held not to include the following persons, who are expressly exempt from its application:
(1) 
Any person honorably discharged from the United States Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps or other components of the military forces of the United States.
(2) 
Any person who conducts a judicial sale under the authority of the state or national laws.
(3) 
Any person who solicits for charity or educational purposes on behalf of North Haledon Board of Education or Manchester Regional High School authorized activities; a Girl Scout or Boy Scout activity; a North Haledon Volunteer Fire Company or North Haledon PBA activity.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
(4) 
Persons engaged in delivering merchandise of any nature whatsoever on regular, scheduled routes to regular customers, including specifically but not limited to persons delivering dairy products, bread and other merchandise over such routes; and, with respect to persons mentioned in this subsection, they shall be exempt from all requirements of this article relating to the payment of the license fee or license fees, terms and conditions.
B. 
Any veteran or volunteer fireman who holds a special exemption issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 shall be exempt from application for a license but shall be required to comply with all other applicable sections of this article.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
Any person desiring a license under this article shall first register with the Borough Clerk of the Borough of North Haledon and shall file with said Borough Clerk an application in writing containing the following information related to the applicant and each intended canvasser or solicitor:
A. 
The name of the applicant.
B. 
Permanent home residence.
C. 
The name, address and telephone number of the person from whom goods making up the stock, if any, were or are to be purchased.
D. 
The place or places of residence of the applicant for the next preceding three years, but only if the Chief of Police, upon investigation, determines that such additional information is reasonably required.
E. 
Two recent photographs of the applicant, approximately 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches in size.
[Amended 9-18-2019 by Ord. No. 20-2019]
F. 
A description of the goods, wares or merchandise to be sold and offered for sale and/or the purpose of his/her proposed canvassing or solicitation.
G. 
The length of time for which the license is required and registration is to be effective. The application shall state the date and times of all proposed solicitation and canvasses. If any changes are intended to be made, it shall be permitted only after prior written notice 24 hours in advance to the Chief of Police. No solicitation or canvassing shall occur at any time not listed in the application nor in the subsequent written submission to the Chief.
H. 
Details of any arrests or convictions for misdemeanors and crimes, including the nature of the offense for which arrested or convicted, the date of conviction and the place where said conviction was had.
I. 
To said application, and as a part thereof, there shall be attached a letter from the firm or corporation for which the applicant works, authorizing the applicant to act as its representative.
J. 
A statement by a reputable physician, dated not more than 10 days prior to the submission of the application, certifying the applicant to be free of contagious infections or contagious diseases.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
Each application shall be referred to the Police Department, who shall, without delay, institute such investigation of the applicant's business and moral character as it deems necessary for the protection of the public good and complete the same within a reasonable time. No license shall be issued until the application shall have been approved by the Police Department. The approval or rejection shall be endorsed on the application by the Chief of Police or officer in charge. In the event the application is rejected by the Chief, the supporting reasons shall be stated thereupon. Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief in approving or rejecting shall have a right of appeal and hearing by the Mayor and Council by submitting a written letter of appeal to the Mayor and Council within 10 days of the action of the Chief.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
Following the filing of the application, the Borough Clerk shall make or cause to be made such investigation as deemed necessary to verify the information set forth therein; the Borough Clerk shall thereupon signify approval or rejection on the reverse side of the application and, if approved, shall issue the license to such applicant. To such license shall be affixed one photograph of the applicant, identified by applicant's signature, which shall, in part, cover said photograph. If for any reason the application is rejected by the Clerk, the written supporting reasons shall be stated upon the application or attached to the application. Any persons aggrieved by an approval or rejection shall have a right of appeal to the Mayor and Council by submitting a written letter of appeal to the Mayor and Council within 10 days of the action taken.
A. 
The license shall be issued on forms drawn in accordance with this article. They shall be consecutively numbered and shall contain spaces for the insertion of the name, location of the business and amount of fee paid.
B. 
There shall be kept in the office of the Borough Clerk the necessary books for recording the time the application was received, showing whether it is an application for a new or renewal license, the name of the licensee, the date of approval by the Borough Clerk, the amount of fee received therefor and the date when the license was issued.
C. 
The Borough Clerk shall monthly file a report with the Mayor and Borough Council.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995; 10-15-2014 by Ord. No. 22-2014]
Every solicitor or canvasser holding a license under this article shall be required to have in his/her possession an identification button or badge, which button or badge shall be issued with the license and shall bear such words as will show that the person in possession of the same is duly licensed under the terms of this article. Peddlers or solicitors shall have said button or badge affixed to the lapel of his/her coat or garment while engaged in the business of peddling or soliciting in the Borough of North Haledon. Such button or badge shall be supplied by the Borough Clerk.
A. 
At the time of the filing of the application, a fee shall be paid to the Borough Clerk in the amount provided in Chapter 275, Fees.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
B. 
Licenses shall be issued on an annual basis and shall expire on December 31 of the year of issuance.
The following regulations shall apply to all persons licensed under the provisions of this article:
A. 
No license or badge or button issued under the provisions of this article shall be used or worn by any person other than the one to whom it was issued, nor shall it be transferred in any way or manner.
B. 
No peddler, canvasser or solicitor, nor any person in his/her behalf, shall shout, make an outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound device, including any loudspeaking radio or sound-amplifying system, upon any of the streets, parks or other places of said Borough or upon any private premises in said Borough where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, parks or other public places for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise which such licensee proposes to sell.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
C. 
No peddler shall have any exclusive right to any location in the public streets, nor shall any be permitted a stationary location, nor shall any be permitted to operate in any congested area where his/her operations might impede or inconvenience the public or local business.
D. 
Peddlers are required to exhibit their licenses at the request of any citizen.
E. 
No person shall be permitted to peddle, solicit or canvass before 9:00 a.m. or after dusk, Monday through Saturday. Any exception to the above time limitation requires permission by the governing body of the Borough of North Haledon. In reviewing any request for an exception, the Mayor and Council shall balance the public purposes of the ordinance with the supporting reasons of the applicant.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995; 7-16-2003 by Ord. No. 11-2003; 3-16-2016 by Ord. No. 4-2016; 10-17-2018 by Ord. No. 19-2018]
F. 
It shall be the duty of any police officer of the Borough of North Haledon to require any person peddling, soliciting or canvassing to produce his/her license and to enforce the provisions of this article against any person found to be violating the same.
G. 
"Do not solicit" list.
[Added 12-7-2016 by Ord. No. 21-2016]
(1) 
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other section of this chapter, any person or entity owning property within the Borough may register such property on a "do not solicit" list.
(2) 
Registration for the "do not solicit" list shall be made as follows:
(a) 
The "do not solicit" list shall be maintained by the Municipal Clerk.
(b) 
The "do not solicit" list shall consist solely of property addresses, and shall include no further identifying information concerning the ownership of each property.
(c) 
The Construction Official shall notify the Municipal Clerk of any change of ownership of property within the Borough. The Municipal Clerk shall remove from the "do not solicit" list any property which has changed ownership.
(3) 
The Municipal Clerk shall provide a copy of the "do not solicit" list to each and every solicitor to whom a permit is issued. Upon request, the Municipal Clerk shall also make available a copy of the "do not solicit" list to any individual or entity otherwise exempt from the provisions of this chapter which intends to engage in door to door canvassing, soliciting, campaigning, advocacy, education, proselytizing, or handbill distribution.
(4) 
Solicitation of any address identified on the "do not solicit" list shall contribute a violation of this chapter. Each and every solicitation at an address identified on the "do not solicit" list shall constitute a separate violation of this chapter.
[Amended 8-16-1995 by Ord. No. 13-1995]
A license may be revoked or suspended by the Borough Clerk or the Chief of Police by reason of violation or the terms of the license, the violation of any Borough ordinance or state or federal statute or falsification or fraud in applying for the license. The licensed person may, upon making application to the Borough Clerk in writing, request a hearing by the Borough Council upon the revocation or suspension of the aforesaid license. The appeal must be taken within five days of the notice of suspension or revocation. The governing body shall conduct a hearing and make findings of fact and apply the standards and purposes of this article.
[Amended 10-15-2014 by Ord. No. 22-2014]
Any person required by this article to procure a license who violates its terms or who violates any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty.