[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Newton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees and costs — See Ch. 100.
Junkyards and junk dealers — See Ch. 156.
Licensing — See Ch. 171.
Zoning — See Ch. 320.
[Adopted 6-8-1970 as Sec. 6-10 of the Revised General Ordinances]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ENFORCING OFFICIAL
The Town Manager of the Town of Newton or such person or official as he may designate in the manner prescribed by the Town Charter.
FIRE AND OTHER ALTERED GOODS SALE
A sale held in such manner as to reasonably cause the public to believe that the sale will offer goods damaged or altered by fire, smoke, water or other means.
GOING-OUT-OF-BUSINESS SALE
A sale held in such manner as to reasonably cause the public to believe that, upon the disposal of the stock of goods on hand, the business will cease and be discontinued, including but not limited to the following sales: adjusters, adjustments, alterations, assignees, bankrupt, benefit of administrator, benefit of creditor, benefit of trustee, building coming down, closing, creditors committee, creditors end, executor, final days, forced out, forced out of business, insolvency, last days, lease expired, liquidation, loss of lease, mortgage sales, receivers, trustees, quitting business.
GOODS
Includes any goods, wares, merchandise or other property capable of being the object of a sale regulated hereunder.
REMOVAL-OF-BUSINESS SALE
A sale held in such manner as to reasonably cause the public to believe that the person conducting the sale will cease and discontinue business at the place of sale upon disposal of the stock of goods on hand and will then move to and resume business at a new location in the Town or will then continue business from other existing locations in the Town.
A license shall be obtained by any person before selling or offering to sell any goods at a sale to be advertised or held by any means to be one of the following kinds:
A. 
Going-out-of-business sale.
B. 
Removal-of-business sale.
C. 
Fire and other altered goods sale.
A. 
Provisions to supplement other licensing ordinances. The provisions of this article are intended to augment and be in addition to the provisions of any other applicable licensing ordinances of the Town.
B. 
Licensed business requisite. Any person who has not been the owner of a business advertised or described in the application for a license for a period of at least six months prior to the date of the proposed sale shall not be granted a license, unless he shall produce clear and convincing proof of the bona fides of the proposed sale.
C. 
Exception for survivors of businessmen. Upon the death of a person doing business in this Town, his heirs, devisees or legatees shall have the right to apply at any time for a license hereunder.
D. 
Interval between sales. Any person who has held a sale as regulated hereunder at the location stated in the application within one year last past from the date of such application shall not be granted a license.
E. 
Restricted location. Where a person applying for a license hereunder operates more than one place of business, the license issued shall apply only to the store or branch specified in the application, and no other store or branch shall advertise or represent that it is cooperating with or in any way participating in the licensed sale, nor shall the store or branch conducting the licensed sale advertise or represent that any other store or branch is cooperating with or participating in any way in the licensed sale.
F. 
Persons exempted. The provisions of this article shall not apply to or effect the following:
(1) 
Persons acting pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) 
Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officials.
(3) 
Duly licensed auctioneers selling at auction.
(4) 
Any publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or other publication who publishes in good faith any advertisement without knowledge of its false, deceptive or misleading character, or without knowledge that the provisions of this article have not been complied with.
A person desiring to conduct a sale regulated by this article shall make written application setting forth the following information:
A. 
The true names and addresses of the owners of the goods to be the object of the sale.
B. 
The true name and address of the person from whom he purchased the goods to be sold and the price therefor, and if not purchased, the manner of such acquisition.
C. 
A description of the place where such sale is to be held.
D. 
The nature of the occupancy, whether by lease or sublease, and the effective date of termination of such occupancy.
E. 
The dates or the period of time during which the sale is to be conducted.
F. 
A full and complete statement of the facts in regard to the sale, including the reasons for the urgent and expeditious disposal of goods thereby, and the manner in which the sale will be conducted.
G. 
The means to be employed in advertising the sale, together with the proposed content of any advertisements.
H. 
A complete and detailed inventory of the goods to be sold at the sale, as disclosed by the applicant's records. The inventory shall be attached to and become a part of the required application. All goods included in the inventory shall have been purchased by the applicant for resale on bona fide orders without cancellation privileges. Such inventory shall not include goods ordered in contemplation of conducting a sale regulated hereunder. Any unusual purchase or additions to the stock of goods of the applicant made within 10 days before filing of an application hereunder shall be deemed to be of such character.
Any applicant for a license shall submit with his application a license fee, as set forth in § 100-5A. An applicant for a renewal license shall submit with his renewal application a renewal license fee, as set forth in § 100-5A(1).
A license shall be issued hereunder on the following terms:
A. 
License term. The license shall authorize the sale described in the application for a period of not more than 30 consecutive days, Sundays and legal holidays excluded, following the issuance thereof.
B. 
Renewal of license.
(1) 
Upon satisfactory proof by the licensee that the stock itemized in the original application has not been disposed of, the license may be renewed for an additional thirty-day period.
(2) 
The application for renewal shall be made on a form furnished by the Clerk and shall contain an itemized list of stock remaining on hand to be offered for sale. The content of the application for renewal shall be verified under oath by the applicant.
(3) 
The enforcing official shall cause the application for renewal to be examined and investigated, and, upon being satisfied as to the truth of the statements contained therein, he may authorize the issuance of a renewal license for a period not exceeding 30 days; provided, however, that no further renewal may be granted for any such sale for the same location within one year from the date of the original license.
C. 
Nature of sale. The license shall authorize only the one type of sale described in the application at the location named therein.
D. 
Salable goods. The license shall authorize only the sale of goods described in the inventory attached to the application.
E. 
Surrender of general license. Upon being issued a license for a going-out-of-business sale, the licensee shall surrender to the Clerk all other business licenses he may hold at that time applicable to the location and goods covered by the application for a license.
A. 
Adherence to inventory. During the period of the licensed sale, the licensee shall make no additions whatsoever to the stock of goods set forth in the inventory attached to the application for license.
B. 
Duplicate inventory. The licensee shall keep available at the place of sale a duplicate copy of the inventory submitted with the application and shall present such duplicate to the enforcing official upon request.
C. 
Advertising. The licensee shall refrain from employing any untrue, deceptive or misleading advertising. The licensee shall conduct the licensed sale in strict conformity with any advertising or holding out incident thereto.
D. 
Display of license. The licensee shall display the license in a prominent place on the window of the premises where the sale is to be held so that it is clearly visible from the exterior of the premises.
A. 
The enforcing official may make such rules and regulations for the conduct and advertisement of such sales as may be necessary to prevent deception and protect the public interest and welfare.
B. 
The enforcing official may, in his discretion, verify the details contained in an application for license or for a renewal thereof or cause a check and verification to be made of the items of stock sold during the sale. It shall be unlawful for any person to whom a license has been issued to fail or refuse to furnish the enforcing official or his designated representative with information concerning goods sold or on hand, or any other information that may be required in order to make a complete investigation of an application for license renewal.
Any person violating the provisions of this article shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty.
[1]
Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Adopted 6-8-1970 as Sec. 6-14 of the Revised General Ordinances]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GARAGE SALE
Includes all sales entitled "garage sale," "lawn sale," "attic sale," "rummage sale" or "flea market sale," or any similar casual sale of tangible personal property which is advertised by any means whereby the public at large is or can be made aware of the sale.
GOODS
Includes any goods, warehouse merchandise or other property capable of being the object of a sale regulated hereunder and which is owned by a licensee or consigned to him.
OCCUPANT
The owner or lessee of the premises.
PERSON
Includes individuals, partnerships, voluntary associations, corporations and members of the same family.
It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct a garage sale in the Town of Newton without first filing with the Town Clerk the information hereinafter specified and obtaining from such Clerk a license to do so, to be known as a "garage sale license."
A. 
A license to conduct a garage sale shall be issued to any one person no more than two times within a twelve-month period, and no such license shall be issued for more than two consecutive calendar days.
B. 
Each license issued under this article must be prominently displayed on the premises and visible from the street upon which the garage sale is conducted throughout the entire period of the licensed sale.
A. 
The information to be filed with the Town Clerk, pursuant to this article, shall be as follows:
(1) 
Name of the person, firm, group, corporation, association or organization conducting the sale.
(2) 
Name of the owner or lessee of the property on which said sale is to be conducted.
(3) 
Location at which the sale is to be conducted.
(4) 
Number of days of the sale.
(5) 
Date and nature of any past sale.
(6) 
Sworn statement or affirmation by the person signing that the information therein given is full and true and known to him to be so.
B. 
Upon the filing of the aforesaid application and the same being reviewed by the Town Clerk and found complete and accompanied by a permit fee as provided in § 100-5B, the Town Clerk is hereby authorized to issue a permit for the garage sale applied for, which permit shall be subject to compliance with the restrictions as set forth in this article.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
In the event of inclement weather, all persons issued a license for a particular date or dates pursuant to this article shall be permitted to utilize their license on an alternate date. Such alternate date(s) must be supplied to the Town Clerk at least 10 days prior thereto.
The person to whom such license is issued and the owner or tenant of the premises on which such sale or activity is conducted shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance of good order and decorum on the premises during all hours of such sale or activity. No such persons shall permit any loud or boisterous conduct on said premises, nor permit vehicles to impede the passage of traffic on any roads or streets in the area of such premises. All such persons shall obey the reasonable orders of any member of the Police or Fire Departments of the Town in order to maintain the public safety and welfare. A licensed premises shall at all times be subject to such reasonable rules that may be made from time to time by the Town and shall be subject to inspection at all times by the Code Enforcement Officer, Chief of Police and Fire Chief, or any of their agents, or any other duly authorized representative of the Town.
No more than five signs for advertising or directing customers may be posted off the premises of the applicant. The sign is not to exceed two feet by two feet in size, cannot be installed earlier than one week prior to the sale, and must be removed within 24 hours after the sale has terminated.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to nor affect the following persons or sales:
A. 
Any sale conducted by any merchant or mercantile or other business establishment from or at any place of business wherein such sales would be permitted by the zoning regulations of the Town, or under the protection of the nonconforming use section thereof, or any other sale conducted by a manufacturer, dealer or vendor, and which sale would be conducted from properly zoned premises and not otherwise prohibited in the ordinances.
B. 
Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officials.
C. 
Any persons selling or advertising for sale an item or items of personal property which are specifically named or described in the advertisement and which separate items do not exceed five in number.
D. 
Any bona fide charitable, educational, cultural or governmental institution or organization; provided, however, that the burden of establishing the exception under this subsection shall be on the organization or institution claiming such exemption.
The Newton Police Department and the members of the Newton Department of Code Enforcement shall have the right to issue summonses to all persons, firms or corporations violating any section of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
For violation of any provision of this article, the maximum penalty, upon conviction, shall be a fine not exceeding $100. Each day that such sale shall continue without being duly licensed shall be considered a separate violation.