[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Manchester as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted by Ord. No. 97-014 (Sec. 4-2A of the 1996 Revised
General Ordinances)]
The purpose of this article is to authorize
Manchester Township First Aid Squads and Fire Departments to solicit
contributions on roadways or highways within the municipality and
to establish procedures for the same.
Each duly authorized and incorporated volunteer
First Aid Squad or Fire Department for the Township of Manchester
may solicit contributions on roadways or highways within the municipality
twice a year.
The First Aid Squad or Fire Department seeking
to engage in such conduct must make application to the Municipal Clerk
for a permit to conduct the highway or roadway solicitation.
The permit shall issue upon approval by the
Chief of Police of Manchester Township.
No person other than a volunteer member of the
duly authorized and incorporated First Aid Squad or Fire Department
for the Township of Manchester may engage in the conduct of charitable
solicitation pursuant to this article.
No person engaged in the charitable solicitation
pursuant to this article shall stand on a highway or roadway so designated
and marked, to stop, impede, hinder or delay the progress of a vehicle
for the purpose of soliciting the purchase of goods, merchandise or
tickets, or for the purpose of soliciting contributions.
The Township shall not authorize charitable
duly authorized volunteer First Aid Squads or Fire Departments for
the Township of Manchester to solicit charitable contributions on
any county highway or intersection of a county highway without approval
of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Ocean County.
The Township shall not authorize charitable
duly authorized volunteer First Aid Squads or Fire Departments for
the Township of Manchester to solicit charitable contributions on
any state highway or intersection of a state highway without approval
of the State Commissioner of Transportation.
A permit may issue only upon the presentation
of a certificate of insurance to the Municipal Clerk.
Any person who violates any provision of this
article shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $100.
[Adopted 2-27-2012 by Ord. No. 12-004; amended in its entirety 11-27-2017 by Ord. No. 17-028]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes the words "patriotic," "philanthropic," "social
service," "welfare," "benevolent," "educational," "civic" and "fraternal,"
either actual or purported.
Includes the words "alms," "food," "clothing," "money," "subscriptions,"
"property" and "donation" under the guise of a loan or money or property.
Includes hawkers, peddlers and salespeople, their agents,
servants, employees or representatives who, with or without any form
of container, vehicle or other conveyance, shall, on the streets or
other public places of said township or otherwise from door to door
or from house to house, sell, cause to be sold, offer for sale or
cause to be offered for sale goods, wares or merchandise of any description
whatsoever, or who solicit funds or subscriptions of any kind, except
as hereinafter excluded.
Any individual, firm, association, corporation, partnership,
society or organization, or any agent, employee or representative
thereof.
Shall not mean and include the word "charitable" as herein
defined, but shall be given their commonly accepted definitions.
The request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property,
financial assistance or other thing of value on the representation
that such money, credit, property, financial assistance or other thing
of value will be used for a charitable or religious purpose.
The purpose of this article is as follows: to prevent unfair
competition and dishonest business practices by requiring persons
intending to engage in any of the occupations to be licensed by this
article to furnish certain preliminary information, to conform to
the requirements of this article and, to the extent set forth in this
article, to regulate the conduct of persons engaged in any of such
occupations.
It shall be unlawful for any person, as an itinerant salesman or vendor, to sell, offer for sale or cause to be sold or offered for sale within the corporate limits of the Township of Manchester any goods, wares or merchandise of any kind whatsoever, or to solicit funds, subscriptions or contributions, except as herein particularly allowed, without first having applied for and obtained a permit for such purpose. Permits are not transferrable from the person to whom issued to any other person. A separate permit must be obtained by each itinerant salesman or vendor and each agent or employee working for him in accordance with § 301-18.
This article is intended to particularly exclude wholesalers,
holders of special privileges and all the persons exempted by operation
of law including the following exempt categories:
A.
Any charitable, educational, nonprofit or religious body that shall
conduct sales of personal property when the proceeds thereof shall
be applied to the payments of the expenses thereof and to the charitable,
educational, nonprofit or religious body for which the body exists.
B.
Any public utility or its employees, which said utility is subject
to regulation by the State Board of Public Utility Commissioners;
provided, however, that such employees shall wear a plainly visible
identification badge on the upper left corner of their torso, pursuant
to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 48:3-42 et seq.
C.
Any person not otherwise subject hereto, engaged in the delivery
of goods, wares or merchandise or other articles or things in the
regular course of business, to the premises of persons who had previously
ordered the same or were entitled to receive the same by reason of
a prior agreement.
D.
Any person canvassing for a governmental agency.
E.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any private streets
unless the management association of an individual private community
requires a Township permit as part of its regulations. Permission
must be obtained from the management association of the individual
private community before any activities described in this chapter
can be conducted within the confines of any private streets or communities.
A list of the private communities and streets can be obtained from
the Township Clerk.
An application for a permit as required in § 301-13 hereof shall be made to the Township Clerk upon forms provided by the Township of Manchester and shall contain any and all information that the Township Clerk may deem reasonable and necessary. The application shall include the following information and must be updated by the applicant as necessary:
A.
The name, description, address or headquarters of the person applying
for the license.
B.
If the applicant is not an individual, the names and addresses of
the applicant's principal officers, operating managers and all
members of the applicant's Board of Directors.
C.
If the applicant is a corporation of the State of New Jersey, a certified
copy of its certificate of incorporation, together with any amendments
or supplements thereto.
D.
If the application is a corporation, an in-state registered agent
must be identified by name and street address.
E.
If the applicant is an individual, the permanent home address and
full local address of the applicant.
F.
A brief statement of the nature of the business and description of
the merchandise or service to be sold.
G.
The name and address of the person or persons who will be in direct
charge of conducting the sale or offer of merchandise or service(s)
and the names of all promoters connected or to be connected with the
proposed sale or offer.
H.
If a vehicle is or vehicles are to be used, a description of such
vehicles and license plate numbers.
I.
Such other information as may be reasonably required by said Chief
of Police in order for him or her to determine the kind and character
of the proposed solicitation and whether such solicitation is in the
interest of and not inimical to the public welfare.
J.
A temporary license may be issued for a period not to exceed 60 days
upon the written recommendation of the Chief of Police.
A.
For each applicant, full fingerprinting and a criminal background
check shall be performed in accordance with the procedures established
by the Manchester Township Division of Police.
B.
No person shall be licensed as a canvasser, peddler, itinerant vender or owner or employee of a door-to-door sales enterprise unless the Chief of Police certifies that the person has no New Jersey criminal history record of a conviction for an offense enumerated in Subsection C(1) of this section.
C.
A person subject to Subsection B of this section whose criminal history record background check reveals a conviction for any of the following crimes and offenses shall be disqualified from receiving a license to conduct, canvass, peddle, itinerant vendor to perform door-to-door sales:
(1)
If the conviction was in New Jersey, for a crime:
(a)
Involving danger to the person, meaning those crimes and disorderly
persons offenses set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1
et seq., N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 2C:14-1 et seq. or N.J.S.A.
2C:15-1 et seq.; or
(b)
Against the family, children or incompetents, meaning those
crimes and disorderly persons offenses set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:24-1
et seq. or N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 et seq.; or
(c)
Involving theft as set forth in Chapter 20 of Title 2C of the
New Jersey Statutes: or
(d)
Involving any controlled dangerous substance or analog as set
forth in Chapter 35 of Title 2C of the New Jersey statutes except
Paragraph (4) of Subsection a of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10.
(2)
If the conviction was in any other state or jurisdiction, for conduct constituting any of the crimes described in Subsection C(1) of this subsection.
(3)
The Chief of Police is authorized to receive criminal history record
information from the State Bureau of Identification in the Division
of State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation consistent
with applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations. The
applicant shall bear the cost, if any, for the criminal history record
background check, including all costs of administering and processing
the check.
D.
A permit may also be denied for repeated or egregious violations
of the requirements of this chapter, repeated complaints from the
general public substantiated and documented by the Township of Manchester
Police Department, of illegal practices during previous service under
a previous issued permit, fraudulent or illegal activity of any kind.
E.
Following review, the Chief of Police or the Chief's designee
shall issue a written report to the Township Clerk detailing the results
of the required background investigation and inspection and recommending
approval or rejection of the applicant based on the criteria set forth
in this article.
A.
The Township shall issue the permit, provided that the applicant has properly filled out and signed the application, the permit fee is paid, the background check is complete and satisfactory in accordance with § 301-16.
B.
The permit holder is required to carry the permit with him or her
while engaged in the permitted activity in the Township of Manchester.
He or she shall produce the permit at the request of any Township
official or employee or any resident of the Township with whom he
or she wishes to conduct business.
C.
Vehicle permits must be displayed on the vehicle dashboard.
A.
For each permit to sell any goods, wares or merchandise, the applicant
shall pay to the Township of Manchester the sum of $150, and said
permit shall expire December 31 next ensuing the date of issuance.
The first permit shall cover one person and one vehicle.
B.
No such permit shall be effective for more than one person and one
vehicle, but duplicate permits may be issued in like manner for an
additional fee of $10 for each additional person who will sell any
goods, wares or merchandise, and an additional $150 for each additional
vehicle being used in the sale of said goods, wares or merchandise.
No rebate shall be allowed from any fee herein specified for a term
of less than one year.
C.
No selling or soliciting shall be permitted except between sunrise
and sunset, provided that home deliveries of milk, bread and the like
shall not be circumscribed hereby; provided, further, that trucks
peddling coffee, doughnuts and similar items to work sites shall not
be limited to the hours herein provided.
Any signs utilized by any person to sell his or her goods, wares
or merchandise shall be located on the vehicles being used by said
person in the sale of his or her goods, wares and merchandise.
An application for a permit shall be granted or denied within
30 days from the date that the fully complete application and the
background check information is submitted to the Township Clerk, and
in the event of denial the Township Clerk shall notify the applicant
by certified mail, setting forth the reasons for denial. Within five
days thereafter, the applicant may file with the Township Clerk a
written request for a hearing on the said application to be heard
by the Township Council.
Any permit which may have been issued may be revoked and canceled
by the Township on a showing that any of the provisions of this article
have been violated or for other good cause. Upon learning of the alleged
violation of any provisions of this article, or for other good cause,
the Township shall immediately suspend the permit and give the holder
thereof written notice by certified mail of a hearing to be held by
the Township Council within 10 days of such suspension to determine
whether or not the permit should be revoked and canceled.
A.
All residents of the Township of Manchester may register their address
with the Township Clerk to be placed on the Do-Not-Knock Registry,
indicating that they do not want peddling, itinerant vending and door-to-door
sales enterprises to approach their homes on their premises. Registration
shall be by completion of a form made available by the Township Clerk's
office.
B.
Residents shall remain on the Do-Not-Knock Registry until such time
as they advise the Township Clerk in writing that they wish to be
removed from the list.
C.
Any resident registered on the Do-Not-Knock Registry, pursuant to Subsection A herein, shall be able to procure from the Clerk's office a sticker for display at the residence indicating enlistment on the Manchester Township Do-Not-Knock Registry. The first sticker shall be provided free of charge and may be picked up in person during regular business hours. If a replacement sticker is required, the individual may pick up a replacement at the Clerk's office at no charge. A fee for processing and mailing will be applied for any individual who desires to have the sticker mailed to him or her, which shall be payable to the Township Clerk. The sticker must be displayed in a clearly visible location.
D.
The Township Clerk shall maintain the Do-Not-Knock Registry and allow inspection of the addresses on the registry to all persons or entities required to obtain a permit under Chapter 301. A copy of the Do-Not-Knock Registry can be provided for a fee in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a
fine of not more than $1,000, by imprisonment for a term not to exceed
90 days and/or by a period of community service not to exceed 90 days,
in the discretion of the Judge. The continuation of such violation
for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the
person or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation
may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
