[HISTORY: Derived from the Revised General
Ordinances of the Borough of Fort Lee, 1978, adopted 3-1-1979, as
indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Clothing bins — See Ch. 189.
Coin-operated machines — See Ch. 190.
Fingerprinting — See Ch. 212.
Garage sales — See Ch. 228.
Handbills — See Ch. 237.
Landscapers and snowplowing contractors — See Ch. 258.
Mobile food trucks and restaurants — See Ch. 273.
Newsracks — See Ch. 281.
Noise — See Ch. 284.
Precious metals, rare coins and gems — See Ch. 309.
Sidewalk sales — See Ch. 342.
[Derived from Ch. IV, Sec. 4-3, of the 1978
Code; amended in its entirety 12-18-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-45]
No person shall engage in the business, calling
or occupation of crier, hawker, mobile peddler, peddler, door-to-door
salesperson, junk dealer or itinerant vendor of merchandise, foodstuffs
or medicines; or engage in the practice of commercial canvassing or
soliciting, which activity shall include advertising, promoting, or
selling any product, goods, or service door-to-door, including the
placement upon private property of handbills or other written material
advertising goods or services for sale, or conducting market research
or a market or opinion survey regarding commercial products or services
door-to-door, within the Borough without first having obtained a proper
license therefor and unless he fully complies with all the provisions
of this article.
The Chief of Police is hereby authorized to
issue two classes of licenses hereunder:
The Chief of Police shall issue an annual vendor's
license to any person upon payment of a fee of $100 therefor to the
Tax Collector and upon satisfaction of all conditions hereinafter
set forth in this article. The license shall be valid until the December
31 next following its issuance and may be renewed annually by the
Chief of Police upon its issuance and may be renewed annually by the
Chief of Police upon payment each year of an annual renewal fee of
$100 to the Tax Collector.
The Chief of Police may issue a one-day vendor's
license to any person upon payment of a fee of $10 therefor to the
Tax Collector and satisfaction of all conditions hereinafter set forth
in this article. The license may be renewed for additional one-day
periods upon payment to the Tax Collector of an additional renewal
fee of $10 for each day.
Each license issued hereunder shall be numbered;
shall specify the period of time that the license shall be in effect;
and shall state the licensee's full name, address, age, height, weight,
place of birth, whether married or single, whether or not previously
arrested or convicted of a crime, by whom employed, address of employer
and description of the business, occupation or calling for which said
license is issued. Each license shall also contain a recent photograph
of the licensee.
Any person seeking to obtain a license hereunder shall make application therefor to the Chief of Police, which application shall contain at least the information as set forth in § 296-5. The Chief of Police shall have a period of five days in which to investigate any applicant. He shall fingerprint every applicant unless there has been a recent check of the applicant's fingerprints in another municipality within this state, in which case an appropriate authentication of such fingerprint clearance shall be made and accepted by the Chief of Police. A permit shall not be issued in any case where the investigation of the Chief of Police shows that the applicant is not of good character or that the applicant seeks to engage in a business, calling or occupation not entirely free from fraud or misrepresentation. In the event that the Chief of Police denies the issuance of any license, the applicant therefor shall be entitled to a hearing thereon before the Mayor and Council; provided, however, that the applicant shall file with the Borough Clerk a written notice of appeal from the decision of the Chief of Police within 10 days after having received notice of denial from the Chief of Police.
Each licensee hereunder shall carry the license
on or about his person at all times while actually engaging in the
business, calling or occupation licensed hereunder and shall display
the license upon request of any person.
All licensees and all licenses issued hereunder
shall at all times be subject to the provisions hereof and to all
other applicable ordinances and codes of the Borough.
A.
No person shall stop, stand or park any vehicle for
the purpose of selling any merchandise, foodstuffs or medicine at
any one place on any public thoroughfare within the Borough for any
period in excess of 10 minutes. At least once every 10 minutes, each
such vehicle must be driven a minimum distance of 500 feet.
B.
The vehicle shall only, with the consent of a property
owner, stop, stand or park on private property for the purpose of
selling any merchandise, foodstuffs or medicines. However, in limitation
of this privilege, no such vehicle licensed under this article shall
stop, stand or park on private property in any manner whatsoever wherein
it is selling merchandise, foodstuffs or medicine to passing motorists.
All vehicles licensed under this article shall be mobile and shall
not remain stationary on any premises for a period exceeding 15 minutes,
as set forth above. The licensee shall see to it that any and all
premises used by the vehicle shall be left in a clean and orderly
state and that no waste or garbage be deposited on any property or
street located within the Borough.
Any license issued hereunder may be revoked
at any time by the Chief of Police for good cause shown and after
written notice thereof. Any licensee aggrieved by such revocation
shall be entitled to a hearing on appeal to the Mayor and Council;
provided, however, that the licensee shall file with the Borough Clerk
a written notice of appeal not later than 10 days after notice of
revocation of his license by the Chief of Police.
The provisions of this article shall not be
held to apply to canvassers or solicitors; nor to merchants or their
employees engaged in the act of delivering newspapers, advertising
circulars or goods in the regular course of the business or in the
collection of payments therefor; nor to any public utility which is
subject to regulation by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners
of New Jersey and its duly authorized representatives or agents which
carry an identification card, badge or insignia issued by such public
utility; nor to any religious or charitable organization; nor to any
person or persons employed by the licensed insurance company duly
authorized to do business in the Borough.
Issuance of permits and identification cards
to honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, marines, nurses or army
field clerks of the United States and exempt firemen shall be in strict
compliance with N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 and provided that the applicant shall
first present a New Jersey veteran's license or a New Jersey exempt
firemen's license issued by the County Clerk.
No vehicle licensed under this article and engaged
in the business of selling merchandise, foodstuffs or medicines shall
stop, stand or park for the purpose of selling such merchandise, foodstuffs
or medicines on the following described public roadways located in
the Borough:
A.
Main Street: entire length.
B.
Lemoine Avenue: entire length.
C.
Route 9W: entire length.
D.
Fletcher Avenue: entire length.
E.
Schlosser Street: entire length.
F.
Palisade Avenue: entire length.
G.
Sixteenth Street: entire length.
H.
Route 5: entire length.
I.
Elsmere Place: between Anderson Avenue and Center
Avenue.
J.
Anderson Avenue: between Brinkerhoff Avenue and Westview
Avenue.
K.
Myrtle Avenue: between First and Third Streets.
L.
Washington Avenue: between First and Third Streets.
M.
Linwood Avenue: from Bridge Plaza South to Main Street.
N.
Lewis Street: from Linwood Avenue to Fletcher Avenue.
[Adopted 12-18-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-45[1]]
For the purposes of this article only, the following
words shall have the following meanings:
Any place of business, including space dedicated to office
or retail use, whether or not on a for-profit basis.
Commercial canvassing or soliciting or noncommercial canvassing
or soliciting.
The practice of entering upon private property uninvited
for the purpose of advertising, promoting, or selling any product,
goods, or service door-to-door, including the placement upon private
property of handbills or other written material advertising goods
or services for sale; or conducting market research or a market or
opinion survey regarding commercial products or services door-to-door.
Any residential unit, including single-family house, multifamily
house, apartment building or apartment contained therein, condominium,
or cooperative.
The practice of door-to-door canvassing, solicitation, campaigning,
advocacy, education, proselytizing, handbill distribution, or other
entry upon private property by individuals representing any entity
which (1) qualifies for tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue
Code; (2) qualified for exemption from property tax under N.J.S.A.
54:4-3.6; (3) qualifies for exemption from sales tax under N.J.S.A.
54:32B-9; or (4) was created under or is otherwise subject to the
provisions of Title 15A of the New Jersey statutes; or any canvassing
or soliciting which does not constitute commercial canvassing or soliciting
as defined in this article.
Any dwelling unit or business establishment.
No person shall engage in canvassing or soliciting
at any premises within the Borough unless he or she fully complies
with the provisions of this article.
No person shall engage in canvassing or soliciting
at any premises within the Borough except during the period from 9:00
a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Commercial canvassing
or soliciting is prohibited on Sundays. Any persons engaging in canvassing
or soliciting shall be courteous and conduct themselves in a lawful
manner.
The Borough Clerk shall make a form available
on the Borough’s web site and at the office of the Borough Clerk
whereby the owners or occupants of premises within the Borough may
request that their premises be included on the Borough’s list
of premises on which canvassing or soliciting shall be prohibited.
The Borough Clerk or the Borough Clerk’s designee shall prepare
and maintain a list of those premises at which canvassing or soliciting
is prohibited and shall make that list available at the office of
the Borough Clerk.
In addition to or in lieu of requesting inclusion on the Borough’s list of premises at which canvassing or soliciting is not permitted, the owner or occupant of a premises may post no more than one sign, not to exceed 100 square inches in surface area on one side, containing only the text “No Soliciting,” in a conspicuous place near the entrance to the premises, the posting of which sign shall have the same effect as inclusion of the premises on the Borough’s list of premises at which canvassing and soliciting are prohibited. Nothing in this section shall preempt or supersede the internal rules of any cooperative, condominium, apartment building, or homeowners' association governing canvassing or soliciting or the placement or maintenance of signage. The posting of a sign in accordance with this section shall be exempt from the requirements of Article XII of Chapter 410 of the Borough Code.
No person shall engage in canvassing or soliciting
at any premises within the Borough if such premises is included on
the Borough’s list of premises at which canvassing or soliciting
is prohibited or if a “No Soliciting” sign has been posted
near the entrance to the premises in accordance with this article.
The provisions of this article shall not be
held to apply to or include the acts of:
A.
Persons selling personal property at wholesale to
retailers in such articles;
B.
Merchants, or their employees, engaged in the act
of delivering newspapers, advertising circulars or goods in the regular
course of the business or in the collection of payment therefor;
C.
Any public utility which is subject to regulation
by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners of New Jersey and its
duly authorized representatives or agents, when carrying an identification
card, badge or insignia issued by such public utility;
D.
Any person or persons employed by a licensed insurance
company duly authorized to do business in the Borough;
E.
Any person expressly invited onto the premises by
the owner or occupant with authority to make such invitation.
Any person or organization engaging in the business, calling or occupation of crier, hawker, mobile peddler, peddler, door-to-door salesperson, junk dealer or itinerant vendor of merchandise, foodstuffs or medicines or engaging in the practice of commercial canvassing or soliciting shall be subject to the requirements of Article I of this chapter in addition to the requirements of this article.
