[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Blairstown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Sec. 4-2 (Ord. No. 89-16) of the 1977 Revised General Ordinances]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
MERCHANDISE
All goods, wares, food, meat, fish, ice cream, fruits, vegetables, magazines, periodicals, printed material, farm products, services, home improvements or alterations, and anything that may be sold or distributed by peddlers or solicitors, as defined herein.
PEDDLER
Any person, whether a resident of the Township or not, traveling on foot or by bicycle, automotive vehicle or any vehicle or any other type of conveyance, from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street and carrying, conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, food, ice cream, fruit ices, soda water, garden farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers. The word "peddler" shall include the words "hawker," "huckster" and "vendor."
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, group of persons and corporation.
RESIDENCE
Every separate living unit occupied for residential purposes which one or more persons maintain within any type of building or structure.
SOLICITOR or CANVASSER
Any person, whether a resident of the Township or not, traveling either on foot or by bicycle, automobile, motor truck or any other type of conveyance, from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, taking or attempting to solicit money or to take orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or for services to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or not the individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the item being offered for sale, with or without accepting an advance payment for the goods. The word "solicitor" or "canvasser" shall also include any person who may be taking a poll or survey from house to house or on the street or distributing advertisements or handbills.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the activity of a solicitor, canvasser or peddler calling at residences without the previous consent of the occupant for the purpose of soliciting orders, sales, subscriptions or business of any kind or seeking information or donations, without first having obtained a license therefor.
Application for a license as a solicitor, canvasser or peddler shall be made to the Township Clerk of the Township of Blairstown at the office of the Township Clerk during regular business hours. The applicant shall file a sworn, written application upon a form provided by the Township, in duplicate, which shall contain or be accompanied by the following data:
A. 
The name of the applicant and the address of his present place of residence; length of residence at such address; business address if other than present address.
B. 
The address of the place of residence during the past three years if other than the present address.
C. 
The age of the applicant.
D. 
A physical description of the applicant.
E. 
The name and address of the person, firm or corporation by whom the applicant is employed or whom the applicant represents; the length of time at such employment or representation: if a corporation, the name and address of registered agent.
F. 
The name and address of the employer during the past three years if other than the present employer.
G. 
A description sufficient for identification of the subject matter of the soliciting, canvassing or peddling in which the applicant shall engage.
H. 
The actual dates when the soliciting, canvassing or peddling shall take place.
I. 
If goods are to be sold or orders taken therefor, the name and address where such goods are manufactured or produced and the proposed method of delivery.
J. 
If vehicle is to be used, a description including the license number.
K. 
A passport-size photograph of the applicant taken within 60 days.
L. 
Two sets of fingerprinting of the applicant.
M. 
The date of the latest previous application for license under this article, if any.
N. 
Whether a license issued to the applicant under this article has ever been revoked.
O. 
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor or violation of any municipal ordinance of this state or any other state or federal law of the United States and, if so, the nature of the offense and the punishment, or penalty assessed therefor.
The Clerk of the Township of Blairstown shall cause each application to be kept as part of the official Clerk's records, together with all other information pertaining thereto and all licenses issued under the provisions of this article and of the denial of applications. Applications for licenses shall be numbered in consecutive order as filed, and every license shall be identified with a duplicate number of the application upon which it was used.
No license shall be issued to a person who has ever been convicted of the commission of a crime under the laws of this state or any other state or federal law of the United States within five years prior to the date of the applications, nor to any person who has been convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this article nor to any person whose license issued hereunder has previously been revoked as herein provided.
In the event of a denial by the Clerk of the Township of Blairstown of an application for a license, such person shall have the right to appeal to the Township Committee, provided that written notice of appeal setting forth the request for an appeal hearing and the basis of the appeal be made in writing and filed with the Township Clerk or Mayor of the Township within 10 days after the denial of the application.
Upon completion of the application and unless such applicant denied a license pursuant to the provisions of this article, the Township Clerk shall issue the applicant a license for a period not exceeding three days after the date of issuance thereof upon payment by the applicant of the sum of $25. Each such license shall state expressly thereon the dates on which solicitation, canvassing, or peddling shall take place and the expiration date of the license, the expiration date of the license being the last date on issuance, whichever is the shorter period of time.
Any license issued hereunder shall be revoked by the Mayor if the holder of the license has been convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this article or has made a false material statement in the application or otherwise becomes disqualified for the issuance of a license under the terms of this article. Immediately upon such revocation, written notice thereof shall be given by the Mayor to the holder of the license in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to his or her resident address as set forth in the application. Immediately upon the giving of such notice the license shall be null and void.
No person, whether licensed by this article or not, shall go upon any premises in the Township of Blairstown, and ring the doorbell upon or near any door of a residence located thereon or rap or knock upon any door or create any sound in any other manner as to attract the attention of the occupant or occupants of such residence, for the purpose of securing an audience with any occupant thereof and engage in soliciting, canvassing or peddling as herein defined prior to 9:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. on any day of the week or at any time on a Saturday, Sunday or on a state or national holiday.
Every person licensed as a solicitor, canvasser or peddler pursuant to this article shall, upon the demand of any official of the Township or any police officer or any occupant of any residence being canvassed, solicited or peddled by that person, immediately exhibit the license issued by this Township and give the inquirer an opportunity to examine same. The issuance of any such license to canvass, solicit or peddle pursuant to this article shall not, however, in any way be construed to require any person to answer the questions of any canvasser, deal with a solicitor or peddler or admit into his residence any of said persons. Any solicitor, canvasser or peddler who has gained entrance to any residence in the Township of Blairstown, whether invited or not, shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises when requested to do so by the occupant.
If any resident posts at or near the gate or entranceway of his residence a notice stating "no solicitors" or "no canvassers" or "no peddlers" or any similar wording, then the solicitor, canvasser or peddler shall peacefully depart without ringing the doorbell, rapping, knocking or creating any sound or doing anything in the manner to attract the attention of any occupant of such residence.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to the following persons:
A. 
Officers or employees of the Township, county, state or federal government when on official business.
B. 
Any veteran and/or volunteer fireman who holds a license issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 et seq.
C. 
A bona fide charitable, educational or cultural organization organized not for profit and being able to establish that it is such a type of nonprofit organization.
D. 
Any person distributing literature or handbills on behalf of a candidate for public office.
E. 
Persons delivering milk, eggs, bread, ice cream, newspapers or such other necessary and perishable articles of food or merchandise of the type commonly delivered on a house-to-house basis at intervals of less than one week.
A. 
Any person, organization or corporation that has reason to believe that it is exempt from the provisions of this article under § 145-12 has the right to apply to the Blairstown Township Clerk for a certificate of exemption which will be granted by the Clerk if he/she or she is satisfied that the person, organization or corporation is exempt under § 145-12. This provision is not to be construed as requiring a certificate of exemption in all cases, since it is a discretionary application to clarify the exempt status for the benefit of the applicant.
B. 
In the event that the Township Clerk has a question as to whether a particular application is exempt, the Township Clerk shall refer the applicant to the Township Committee for decision on whether or not it is exempt. If the Township Committee finds that the applicant is exempt. It shall authorize the Township Clerk to issue a certificate of exemption.
The police officers of the Township or the zoning officer or their designees, shall be the enforcing authority for this article. Nothing herein shall prohibit the New Jersey State Police from enforcing this article.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not to exceed $1,000 or a sentence of 90 days in the county jail, or both at the discretion of the Judge hearing the case. Each violation of this article shall be a separate offense.
[Adopted 12-27-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-17]
Any other charitable organization as defined in N.J.S.A. 45:17A-20 may, upon written request and approval by the Township Committee, solicit contributions on any municipal, county or state highway or intersection located within the Township of Blairstown.
A. 
Solicitation on any county highway or intersection is herein made subject to the approval of the Warren County Board of Commissioners; and
B. 
Solicitation on any state highway or intersection is herein made subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed to the extent of their inconsistencies only.
This article shall be in full force and take effect immediately after final passage and publication, as required by law.