[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Wawayanda 6-8-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed
former Ch. 126, Peddling and Soliciting, adopted 6-5-1975, as amended.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of a peddler, solicitor or canvasser, as defined herein in § 126-2, within the limits of the Town of Wawayanda without first obtaining a license therefor as provided herein.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee,
and whether or not a resident of the Town of Wawayanda, temporarily
traveling by foot, wagon, automobile or other vehicle or any other
type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house, from
building to building or from street to street, taking or attempting
to take orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, for personal
property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or for services
to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or not such individual
has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such sale
or whether he or she is collecting advance payments on such sales
or not, provided that such definition shall include any person who,
for himself or herself or for another person, firm or corporation,
hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, tent, railroad
boxcar, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or lot or
any other place within the Town for the sole purpose of exhibiting
samples and taking orders for future delivery.
Includes any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee or
employee, and whether or not a resident of the Town of Wawayanda,
traveling by foot, wagon, automobile or other vehicle or any other
type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house, from
building to building or from street to street, carrying, conveying
or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables,
fruits, garden truck, farm products or provisions, offering and exposing
the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers,
or who, without traveling from place to place, shall sell or offer
the same for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, railroad car or
other vehicle or conveyance, and further provided that one who solicits
orders and as a separate transaction makes deliveries to purchasers
as a part of a scheme or design to evade the provisions of this chapter
shall be deemed a peddler subject to the provisions of this chapter.
The word "peddler" shall include the words "hawker" and "huckster."
Includes the singular and the plural and includes the masculine
or feminine and shall also mean and include any person, firm, corporation,
association, limited liability company, club, partnership, society
or any other organization.
Applicants for a license under this chapter
must file with the Town Clerk a sworn application in writing, in duplicate,
on a form to be furnished by the Town Clerk, which shall give the
following information:
A.
The name and a description of the applicant.
B.
Address (legal and local).
C.
A brief description of the nature of the business
and the goods to be sold and, in the case of farm or orchard products,
whether produced or grown by the applicant.
D.
If employed, the name and address of the employer,
together with credentials establishing the exact relationship.
E.
The length of time for which the right to do business
is desired.
F.
If a vehicle is to be used, a description of the same,
together with the license number or other means of identification.
G.
Two photographs of the applicant (provided by the
applicant), taken within 60 days immediately prior to the date of
the filing of the application, which pictures shall be two inches
by two inches showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a
clear and distinguishing manner.
H.
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has
been convicted of any crime (whether misdemeanor or felony) or violation
of any municipal ordinance, the nature of the offense and the punishment
or penalty assessed therefor.
I.
Two references, including one from a bank.
J.
A complete set of fingerprints of the applicant (provided
by a police agency).
K.
A certificate from the Sealer of Weights and Measures
of the County of Orange certifying that all weighing and measuring
devices to be used by the applicant have been examined and approved.
L.
At the time of filing the application, a nonrefundable
fee of $10 shall be paid to the Town Clerk to cover the cost of investigation
and processing.
A.
Upon receipt of such application, the Town Clerk shall
cause such investigation of the applicant's business and character
to be made as he or she deems necessary for the protection of the
public good.
B.
If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant's
character and business responsibility are found to be unsatisfactory
or if the applicant is under 18 years of age, the Town Clerk shall
endorse on such application his or her disapproval and his or her
reasons for the same and return said application to the applicant.
No license shall be issued to a person who has been refused a license
or who has had a license revoked within the 12 months prior to submitting
an application, unless the applicant can show that the reasons for
such rejection or revocation no longer exist. In addition, no license
shall be issued to any individual whose merchandise consists of souvenirs,
such as artificial flowers to be worn as boutonnieres, small replicas
of the American flag or a facsimile thereof, or any other souvenir
of a patriotic nature, unless sponsored by a bona fide veterans organization
or any other local organization.
C.
If, as a result of such investigation, the character
and business responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory,
the Town Clerk shall note the same on the application and shall forward
the application to the Town Board for approval or disapproval of the
application. If the Town Board approves the application, the Town
Clerk shall issue a license upon payment of the prescribed license
fee by the applicant and after the applicant provides the Town Clerk
with a certificate of insurance covering liability and property damage
in amounts approved by the Town Board and naming the Town of Wawayanda
as an additional insured. Such license shall contain the signature
and seal of the Town Clerk and shall show the name, address and photograph
of said licensee, the class of license issued and the kind of goods
to be sold thereunder, the amount of the fee paid, the date of issuance
and the length of time the same shall be operative, a description
of the applicant, including his or her photograph, as well as the
license number and other identifying description of any vehicle used
by the licensee. The Town Clerk shall keep a permanent record of all
licenses issued.
D.
Any applicant who has been refused a license by the
Town Clerk may apply to the Town Board therefor, and the same may
be granted or refused by the Town Board, except as prohibited in § 137
of the Town Law. Any applicant who has been refused a license by the
Town Board may appeal the refusal in accordance with the applicable
provisions of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules.
The fee schedule upon the issuance of a license
is as follows:
A.
If a license shall be issued for one year, the fee
therefor shall be $1,000, payable upon issuance of the license. Such
license shall be valid only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00
p.m., Monday through Sunday, or during such hours and on such days
as determined by the Town Board in its reasonable discretion.
B.
If a license shall be issued for 30 days, the fee
therefor shall be $100, payable upon issuance of the license. Such
license shall be valid only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00
p.m., Monday through Sunday, or during such hours and on such days
as determined by the Town Board in its reasonable discretion.
C.
If a license shall be issued for a three-day weekend,
the license weekend shall commence on Friday and end on Sunday. The
fee therefor shall be $50, payable upon issuance of the license. Such
license shall be valid only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00
p.m., Friday through Sunday, or during such hours and on such days
as determined by the Town Board in its reasonable discretion.
No license issued under the provisions of this
chapter shall be used at any time by any person other than the one
to whom it was issued.
No licensee, nor any person in his or her behalf, shall shout, make an outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound device, including any loudspeaker, radio or sound-amplifying system, upon any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public places of said Town or upon any private premises in said Town for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise that such licensee proposes to sell, if a sufficient volume of such sound is emitted or produced so that it is capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, avenues, alleys, parks or other public places. The Town Board, in its reasonable discretion, may waive or modify the prohibitions contained in this § 126-7 for a particular licensee or licensees.
A.
No peddler shall have any exclusive right to any location
in the public streets, nor shall he or she be permitted a stationary
location, nor shall he or she be permitted to operate in any congested
area where his or her operations might impede or inconvenience the
public. For the purpose of this chapter, the judgment of a police
officer, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to
whether the area is congested or the public impeded or inconvenienced.
B.
No licensee shall peddle within 250 feet of any school
building or playground or public park.
Licensees are required to exhibit their licenses
at the request of any citizen.
If a licensee uses a vehicle or mobile unit
(such as a portable food stand) in connection with the business that
is the subject of the license, the Town Board can impose reasonable
restrictions on the use of such vehicle or mobile unit and can require
the licensee to move the vehicle or mobile unit from time to time
as determined by the Town Board in its reasonable discretion.
A.
Grounds for revocation. Licenses issued under the
provisions of this chapter may be revoked by the Town Board, after
notice and public hearing, for any of the following causes:
(1)
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained
in the application for a license.
(2)
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in
the course of carrying on the business licensed under this chapter.
(3)
Any violation of this chapter.
(4)
Conviction of any crime involving moral turpitude.
(5)
Conducting the business licensed under this chapter
in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach
of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety or general
welfare of the public.
B.
Notice of hearing. Notice of hearing for revocation
of a license shall be given in writing, setting forth specifically
the grounds of complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice
shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the licensee at his or her last
known address at least five days prior to the date set for hearing.
The license fee provided for by this chapter
shall not be so applied as to occasion an undue burden on interstate
commerce. In any case where an applicant or licensee believes that
the fee places an undue burden upon interstate commerce, he or she
may apply to the Town Board for an adjustment of the fee so that it
shall not be discriminatory, unreasonable or unfair to such commerce.
Such application may be made before, at or within six months after
payment of the prescribed license fee. The applicant shall, by affidavit
and, if required by the Town Board, by verbal testimony, show his
or her method of doing business, including place of origin of the
goods sold or to be sold, and such other information as the Town Board
shall require in order to determine the extent, if any, of any undue
burden on such commerce. In the event the Town Board shall determine
that the fee for the license is an undue burden upon interstate commerce,
the Town Board shall direct the Town Clerk to refund all or such part
of such fee, as the Town Board shall determine to be such undue burden.
Before any license as hereinbefore provided
shall be issued to a licensee, the applicant shall file with the Town
Clerk, as a part of the application, an appointment of the Town Clerk
as the applicant's true and lawful attorney with full power and authority
to receive service or notice of process for or on behalf of said applicant
in respect to any matters connected with or arising out of business
transacted under said license, in the same manner and with the same
effect as if personally served upon the applicant. Immediately upon
service of process upon the Town Clerk as herein provided, the Town
Clerk shall send to the licensee at his or her address shown on the
application, or such other address as provided to the Town Clerk by
the licensee, by certified mail, a copy of said process.
Nothing herein contained shall require the licensing
of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors or marines of the military
and naval service of the United States who have obtained a license
from the County Clerk in connection with § 32 of the General
Business Law, nor shall anything in this chapter apply to the peddling
of meats, fish, fruit or farm produce by farmers or persons producing
such commodities, nor shall anything in this chapter be held to apply
to persons soliciting or collecting for any bona fide religious or
charitable organizations or schools, nor shall anything in this chapter
be held to apply to retail sales of milk by persons licensed by the
State of New York, nor shall anything in this chapter be held to apply
to the occasional garage sale or yard sale conducted by residents
of the Town for noncommercial purposes.
Any person committing an offense against any
provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation punishable
by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of
an offense against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute,
for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense.
