This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Westmont Borough Canvassing and Soliciting Ordinance."
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Westmont 4-9-1973 as Ord. No. 502. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Trespassing — See Ch. 210.
The following words shall be construed to have the meanings set forth below. The singular number includes the plural, and the masculine includes the feminine and the neuter.
The taking of orders for goods, wares or merchandise, including subscriptions for magazines or other printed matter, the obtaining of contracts for home and building devices, repairs and improvements and the securing of contributions to various causes and organizations from house to house or upon any street or sidewalk in the borough.
Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation.
No person shall engage in canvassing and soliciting in the borough without first having registered with the Police Department and obtained an identification card from the Borough Secretary.
A.
Any person desiring to engage in canvassing and soliciting shall submit a written application to the Police Department on a form to be furnished by the borough, accompanied by two photographs, two and one-half by three (2 1/2 x 3) inches, of himself taken within six months prior to the date of the application, plus an application fee as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.[1]
B.
The applicant shall state his name, age, sex, home address, business address, the name and address of his employer, if any, what he desired to canvass and solicit for, the length of time he wishes to engage in this work, the make and type of vehicle, if any, he will use, its registration number and whether he has ever been convicted of a felony, misdemeanor or a crime of any kind involving moral turpitude.
C.
The Borough Secretary will issue to the applicant an identification card, to which one of the applicant's photographs will be affixed, within 10 days from the date of filing of the application.
D.
An identification card will not be issued to any person who has been convicted of a felony, misdemeanor or a crime of any kind involving moral turpitude, and such person shall not be allowed to engage in canvassing and soliciting in the borough.
E.
An identification card will be valid for the balance of the calendar year in which it is issued. Such card may not be transferred from one person to another.
[Amended 9-9-2025 by Ord. No. 865]
Every person to whom an identification card has been issued shall in the conduct of his activities comply with the following standards of conduct:
A.
He shall carry his identification card at all times and exhibit it upon request to any police officer or to any person on whom he shall call or with whom he shall talk.
B.
He shall not permit any person to have possession of his identification card and shall immediately report its loss to the Borough Secretary. He shall not cause or permit his identification card to be altered or defaced in any way.
C.
He shall not enter or attempt to enter any dwelling without the invitation or permission of the occupant and shall immediately leave any premises upon request of the occupant.
D.
He shall not engage in canvassing and soliciting before 9:00 A.M. or after 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, or on Saturdays, Sundays or any holiday observed by the Government of the United States of America, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 6103.
E.
He shall not be guilty of any false pretense or misrepresentation, and particularly he shall not represent his identification card to be an endorsement of himself or his goods or services or of the goods or services of his employer.
F.
He shall immediately surrender his identification card to the Borough Secretary upon revocation thereof.
Any identification card may be revoked by the Borough Secretary if the holder fails to comply with the standards of conduct contained in § 147-5 hereof, or any of them, or upon ascertainment by the Police Department that the holder has made a false statement in his application.
A.
This chapter shall not apply to boys or girls under 18 years of age who take orders for and deliver newspapers, greeting cards, candy and the like, or who represent the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts or similar organizations and take orders for and deliver cookies and the like, not to any person who works for an organization which has registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State as required by the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act.[1][2]
Any person who shall engage in canvassing and soliciting without registering with the Police Department or who shall violate any other provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof before a Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, be subject to a fine or penalty of not more than $600 plus costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment in the county fail for a term not exceeding 30 days. Such fine or penalty shall be collected as like fines or penalties are now by law collected.