[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Meriden 10-7-1963 as Ch. 19 of the 1963 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Jewelry auctions — See Ch. 129.
Milk and milk products — See Ch. 139.
Health nuisances — See Ch. 144.
Signs and posters — See Ch. 174.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 180.
STATUTORY REFERENCES
Junk dealers — See C.G.S. § 21-9 et seq.
Itinerant vendors — See C.G.S.
§ 21-27 et seq.
Hawkers and peddlers — See C.G.S.
§ 21-36 et seq.
[Amended 4-6-1981; 5-18-1987]
A.
PEDDLER
SOLICITOR
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Any person who shall sell, offer for sale, vend, hawk, peddle
or barter, or assist in selling, offering for sale, vending, hawking,
peddling or bartering, upon the streets, sidewalks or public places
or from house to house in the City, goods, wares, or other merchandise.
Any person, whether individually or on behalf of any trust,
foundation, group, association, partnership, corporation, society
or any combination of them, whether principal or agent, who shall
go from place to place within the City soliciting orders for future
delivery of any goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines and
other printed matter and any other services.
B.
No person shall act as a peddler or solicitor, as
defined herein, in the City of Meriden unless he has first obtained
a license to do so from the Chief of Police.
C.
This section shall not apply to newspaper carriers,
to sales by farmers and gardeners of the produce of their farms and
gardens or to the sale, distribution and delivery of milk, tea, coffee,
spices, groceries, and bakery goods, to sales on approval, to conditional
sales of merchandise, or the taking of orders for merchandise for
future delivery when payment is not required at the time of solicitation,
nor shall it apply to persons conducting business in a store or shop.
This section shall also not apply to representatives of any nonprofit
organization operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific,
literary, historic or educational purposes and exempt from taxation
pursuant to federal and state law, provided that such representatives
register with the Police Department with the current tax-exempt numbers
of the organization.
D.
This section shall not apply to persons who have or
have had a regular place of business in the City in the preceding
12 months.
[Amended 4-6-1981; 5-18-1987]
A.
Application for the license required by the preceding
section shall be made, under oath, to the Chief of Police, on a form
provided by the Police Department. The application shall include,
but not be limited to, the following information:
(1)
Proof of compliance with all state requirements;
(2)
Place of residence;
(3)
A physical description, including the submission of
two photographs taken within 60 days of the date of application;
(4)
A certified copy of the applicant's State of Connecticut
sales tax permit;
(5)
The nature of the applicant's business;
(6)
Whether such applicant has been convicted of any crime(s);
and
(7)
A certificate of adequate insurance.
B.
The Chief of Police may issue the license to qualified
applicants within 10 days of the date of application therefor.
C.
The fee for licenses under this chapter shall be $150.
[Amended 9-6-1994]
D.
Such licenses shall expire one year after the date
of issuance.
A.
Every license issued as provided in the preceding
section shall be a personal license to the licensee and shall not
be transferable.
B.
No itinerant vendor shall be relieved or exempted
from the provisions or requirements of this chapter by reason of associating
himself or herself temporarily with any local dealer, auctioneer,
trader or merchant or by conducting any temporary or transient business
in connection with or in the name of any local dealer, auctioneer,
trader or merchant.
C.
All licenses, with accompanying photograph affixed,
shall be displayed in a conspicuous place where business is transacted.
[Amended 4-6-1981]
Every person licensed under § 156-1 shall have the number of his license plainly inscribed on any vehicle which he uses under such license.
[Amended 9-15-1980; 4-6-1981; 9-6-1995]
Before any license, as provided by this chapter,
shall be issued for engaging in a transient or itinerant business,
as defined in this chapter, in the City of Meriden, such applicant
shall file with the City Clerk a bond running to the City of Meriden
in the sum of $3,000, executed by the applicant, as principal, and
two sureties upon which service of process may be made in the State
of Connecticut, said bond to be approved by the Corporation Counsel,
conditioned that said applicant shall comply fully with all the provisions
of the ordinances of the City of Meriden and the statutes of the State
of Connecticut regulating and concerning the sale of goods, wares
and merchandise and will pay all judgments rendered against said applicant
for any violation of said ordinances or statutes, or any of them,
together with all judgments and costs that may be recovered against
him by any person or persons for damage growing out of any misrepresentation
or deception practiced on any person transacting such business with
such applicant, whether said representations or deceptions were made
or practiced by the owners or by their servants, agents or employees
either at the time of making the sale or through any advertisement
of any character whatsoever printed or circulated with reference to
the goods, wares and merchandise sold or any part thereof. Action
on the bond may be brought in the name of the City to the use of the
aggrieved person. Such bond must be approved by the Corporation Counsel
both as to form and as to the responsibility of the sureties thereon.
No junk dealer, as defined by § 21-9 of the General Statutes, shall engage in business in the City without having obtained a license so to do from the Chief of Police. The fee for such license shall be $10 per year for each team or vehicle used in connection with such business. The Chief of Police may issue a junk dealer's license upon application made therefor in writing and the payment of the license fee. All such licenses shall expire one year after the date of issuance, and no such license shall be transferable.
[Added 1-18-2000]
A.
No vendor shall hold or make any sale upon or near
any street or sidewalk in the City in such manner as to obstruct or
prevent the free and convenient use thereof by pedestrian and vehicular
traffic.
B.
No vendor shall hold or make any sale upon any portion
of any street or sidewalk located within 500 feet of any school during
the period from one hour prior to the beginning of a school day session
to the period one hour after the close of a school day session.
The Chief of Police shall keep a record of all
licenses issued by him under the provisions of this chapter in a book
maintained for the purpose containing the number and date of each
license, the name, age and residence of the person licensed and the
amount of license fee paid.
[Added 9-16-1996]
A.
A licensed peddler, solicitor or vendor shall comply
with all applicable laws, regulations and ordinances relating to activities
for which a license is required under this chapter.
B.
Suspension or revocation of license.
(1)
The Chief of Police may suspend or revoke a license
for failure to comply with any applicable laws, regulations and ordinances
relating to activities for which a license is required under this
chapter. Such revocation shall occur following a hearing with respect
to which notice in writing, specifying the time and place of such
hearing and requiring the licensee to show cause why such license
should not be revoked, is mailed or delivered to such licensee, at
the address provided on the application for a license, not less than
10 days preceding the date of such hearing. Such notice may be served
personally or by first-class mail.
(2)
If the Chief of Police finds, after a hearing as provided in Subsection B(1) of this section, that a licensee has violated any applicable laws, regulations and ordinances relating to activities for which a license is required under this chapter, the Chief of Police shall revoke said license. Notice of the decision shall be made within 10 business days after the hearing, and notice of the decision shall be mailed to the licensee at the address provided on the license application.
(3)
The Chief of Police shall not issue a new license
to a former licensee whose license was revoked unless the Chief of
Police is satisfied that such former licensee will comply with all
applicable laws, regulations and ordinances relating to activities
for which a license is required under this chapter.
C.
Any person violating the provisions of this chapter
may be fined $50 to $90 for each violation.
