[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Willingboro as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Derived from Sec. 5-1 of the 2003 Revised General Ordinances]
When used in this article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
A person who sells goods, the proceeds of which are devoted
exclusively to the purpose of a philanthropic, charitable or religious
society on whose behalf the person acts as agent, with or without
pay, but excluding those individuals or organizations soliciting funds
or other things of value for which no merchandise, wares or services
are required.[1]
Includes any person, whether a resident of the Township of
Willingboro or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place
or from street to street conveying or transporting goods, wares or
merchandise and offering or exposing the goods, wares or merchandise
for sale or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers.
A.
This article, except as provided in § 257-13, shall not affect any non-profit-making vendor or any person duly licensed by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance or the Real Estate Commission of the State of New Jersey.
B.
The terms of this article shall not be held to include the acts of
persons selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such
articles, and nothing contained herein shall be held to prohibit any
sale required by statute or by order of any court.
C.
This article shall not affect any person engaged in delivering wares,
goods, or merchandise, or other articles or things in the regular
course of business, to the premises of the person ordering or entitled
to receive the wares, goods, merchandise or other articles or things.
It shall be unlawful for any hawker or peddler, as defined in
this article, to engage in any such business or operations in the
Township of Willingboro without having first obtained a license therefor
in compliance with the provisions of this article and, in any event,
only in accordance with the terms and provisions of this article and
only in parts or locations of the Township of Willingboro as permitted
herein.
A.
Applicants
for a license under this article must file with the Township Clerk
a sworn application, in writing, which shall give the following information:
(1)
Name and physical description of the applicant.
(2)
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant.
(3)
A description of the nature of the business and the goods, services
or wares to be sold.
(4)
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with
credentials therefrom establishing the exact relationship.
(5)
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired
and the days of the week and the hours of the day within which the
business will be conducted.
(6)
The source of supply of the goods or property or services proposed
to be sold; where the goods, services or products are located; and
the method of delivery.
(7)
Three recent photographs of the applicant, which shall be approximately
two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant
in a clear and distinguishing manner.
(8)
Appropriate evidence as to the good character and business responsibility
of the applicant as will enable an investigator to properly evaluate
the applicant's character and business responsibility.
(9)
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted
of any crime, misdemeanor or violation of any municipal ordinance
other than traffic violations; the nature of the offense; and the
punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
B.
The applicant shall be fingerprinted, if requested by the Director
of Public Safety, who shall determine whether the fingerprints are
necessary for proper identification, which fingerprint records shall
be immediately processed for classification and identification.
C.
At the time of filing the application, a fee as provided in § 150-9A of the Code of the Township of Willingboro shall be paid to the Township Clerk to cover the costs of investigation of the facts stated herein.
D.
No license shall be issued until the application shall have been
approved by the Police Department, allowing adequate time for investigation
of the facts stated in the application.
E.
Applications for partners shall be signed by all partners, with the
foregoing provisions of this section answered in detail as to each
partner, and applications of corporations shall have attached thereto
individual statements, in accordance with all of the provisions of
this article relating to each and every employee, agent or servant
who shall engage in any of the functions authorized by this article
and signed by each agent, servant or employee, and full compliance
herewith by each individual.
Each application shall be referred to the Director of Public
Safety or officer in charge of the Police Department who shall immediately
institute such investigation of the applicant's business and moral
character as the Director or officer in charge deems necessary for
the protection of the public good and shall endorse the application
in the manner prescribed in this article within a reasonable period
of time after it has been filed by the applicant. If, as a result
of the investigation, the applicant's character or business responsibility
is found to be unsatisfactory or the products or services are not
free from fraud, the Director of Public Safety shall endorse on the
application the Director's disapproval and the Director's reasons
for the disapproval and shall return the application to the Township
Clerk, who shall notify the applicant that the application is disapproved
and that no license will be issued.
Every applicant for a license under this article shall pay a license fee as provided in § 150-9A of the Code of the Township of Willingboro.
Prior to the issuance of any license or permit to any licensee,
the prospective licensee shall file with the Township Clerk a bond
to the Township in the amount of $1,000, which bond shall be executed
by the proposed licensee, as principal, and a surety company licensed
to do business in the State of New Jersey. The bond shall be in accordance
with and for the purposes provided in N.J.S.A. 45:24-5, and the bond
shall remain in force for the term of the license to be issued and
shall be conditioned as follows:
A.
To indemnify and pay the Township of Willingboro any penalties or
costs incurred in the enforcement of any of the provisions of this
article and to indemnify or reimburse any purchaser of personal property
from the licensee in a sum equal to at least the amount of any payment
the purchaser may have been induced to make through the misrepresentation
as to the kind, quality or value of the personal property, whether
the misrepresentations were made by the licensee or the licensee's
agents, servants, or employees either at the time of making the sale
or through any advertisement printed or circulated with reference
to the personal property or any part thereof.
B.
The bond shall be declared forfeited upon proof of falsification
in the application for a license.
C.
The bond shall be deemed forfeited upon proof of the violation of
any of the provisions of this article by the licensee or the licensee's
agents, servants or employees.
A.
All licensees who shall offer to sell, display for sale or sell or
deliver fruits and vegetables and farm products from any vehicles
which are wholly or in part open on any of the sides thereof shall,
at all times, keep all fruits, vegetables and produce of any kind
and nature completely screened and covered with satisfactory materials
in order to avoid and eliminate the accumulation of flies or any other
insects from alighting around or upon any and all the merchandise.
B.
All licensees offering for sale, displaying for sale, selling or
delivering seafood, meats, poultry or dairy products shall transport
the same solely in refrigerated vehicles, and all the products shall
remain in the refrigerated portion of the vehicle at all times to
the time of sale or delivery, and the refrigerated portion, during
the uses thereof in accordance herewith, shall be maintained at a
properly low temperature to completely safeguard all of the products
from a health and sanitary standpoint to the fullest reasonable extent
possible for safety and welfare of the public.
C.
No licensee shall at any time permit any waste materials or parts
of produce or any other merchandise to remain in or upon any street,
roadway, curb, or walk, and the licensee shall at all times remove
any debris that may have fallen from the vehicle, so that the same
is immediately placed in the metal containers, as hereinabove provided.
D.
All sales of merchandise by any licensee shall, at the time of the
sale, be placed in bags or other like suitable containers when the
same shall be handed to customers of the licensee.
A.
No licensee shall at any time permit any debris, waste material,
rotting produce or merchandise of any kind or any unfit product to
remain in or upon the vehicle, unless the same is contained in a metal
leakproof container having a metal properly fitted cover on the container.
B.
No licensee shall sell or attempt to sell any article to pedestrian
or vehicular traffic, other than when the licensee's vehicle shall
be properly parked immediately adjacent to the curb of a public street
in a permitted locality, and the licensee shall at no time double
park when dealing with any of the licensee's trade and in no event
shall transact business operations other than on the curb side of
the licensee's vehicle.
C.
The licensee shall prohibit, as reasonably as possible, the eating
of any merchandise directly from the licensee's vehicle.
D.
Before a licensee shall use a vehicle or mode of transportation in
furtherance of the permitted business, the licensee shall submit the
vehicle to the Township of Willingboro Director of Health for inspection
and approval relative to compliance with this article and shall, whenever
requested during the term of the license, submit the vehicle for reasonable
reinspections for that purpose. No vehicle or mode of transportation
shall be used by any licensee unless it has been approved for use
by the Director of Health, and the written approval shall remain in
and upon the vehicle at all times and shall be shown by the operator
thereof to any member of the Township of Willingboro Police Department,
any official of the Township of Willingboro, or any member of the
public who may request to be shown the same.
A.
No person subject to the provisions of this article shall sell or attempt to sell in accordance with the terms of this article except as set forth in the preceding sections before 8:00 a.m. and not after 9:00 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, except where expressly invited in the home of the occupant thereof, and except as further provided in Subsection B below.
B.
No peddler or hawker shall sell or attempt to sell any manufactured, ready-to-eat food products such as ice cream or custard on days when public school is in session, except between the hours of 3:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and on other days, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., prevailing time, subject to all other restrictions, and except as provided in § 257-12 herein. This section shall be strictly construed.
Every person to whom a license is issued under the terms of
this article shall be governed by the following rules and regulations:
A.
All circulars, samples or other matter shall be handed to an occupant
of the property or left in a secure place located on the premises.
B.
No person subject to the terms of this article shall enter or attempt
to enter the house of any resident in the Township of Willingboro
without an express invitation from the occupant of the house.
C.
No person subject to this article shall behave in a manner so as
to become objectionable to or annoy an occupant of any house.
D.
No licensee or any person in the licensee's behalf shall shout, cry
out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound-making or amplifying
device upon any of the streets, parks or other public places of the
Township or upon private premises where sound of sufficient volume
is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly heard
upon the streets, avenues, parks or other public places for the purpose
of attracting attention to any goods, wares, merchandise or services
which the licensee proposes to sell, with the exception that such
sound shall be permitted as may attract attention but which will not
disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the inhabitants, providing
the sound is produced or caused to be produced only between the hours
of 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon and between 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., prevailing
time, in the months of April through September, inclusive, and between
the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon and between 2:00 p.m. and 7:00
p.m., prevailing time, in the months of October through March, inclusive.
E.
All licensees and their respective vehicles or modes of transportation
in carrying on their permitted business shall at all times fully comply
with all of the terms, covenants and conditions of this article and
all other applicable municipal ordinances and all other applicable
state laws, regulations or provisions pertaining thereto and particularly,
but not in limitation thereof, that may deal with provisions of health,
safety and general welfare.
No licensee shall have any exclusive right to any location in
the public streets, nor shall any licensee be permitted a stationary
location thereon, except as hereinafter provided, nor shall any be
permitted to operate in a congested area where the operation might
impede or inconvenience the public use of the streets. For the purpose
of this article, the judgment of a police officer, exercised in good
faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested
and the public impeded or inconvenienced. For special events to which
the public is generally invited, stationary sales will be permitted,
subject to all other restrictions, for the hours commencing 1/2 hour
before the start of the public event and terminating 1/2 hour after
the conclusion of the public event.
A.
B.
Upon being satisfied that the person is a non-profit-making vendor,
the Township Clerk or Director of Public Safety shall endorse the
approval on the application. Each representative or agent of the non-profit-making
vendor shall carry proper identification or credentials indicating
the name of the organization and the name and address of the representative
and shall display same upon request.
A.
Any veteran who holds a special state license issued under the laws
of the State of New Jersey shall be exempt from securing a license
as provided herein for hawking and peddling, but shall be required
to comply with all other applicable sections of this article and shall
be required to produce from the Township Clerk a special veterans
permit, which shall be issued by the Township Clerk upon proper identification.
B.
Any person to whom a valid mercantile license shall have been issued
under provision of laws other than this article shall be exempt from
securing a license as provided in this article, but the person or
persons' employees, agents or servants shall be required to procure
from the Township Clerk a permit, upon proper identification and compliance
herewith.
Licensees are required to exhibit their certificate of license
at the request of any citizen or member of the Police Department.
The Director of Public Safety shall report to the Township Clerk
all convictions for violation of this article, and the Township Clerk
shall maintain a record for each license issued and shall record the
reports of violation therein.
Before any license shall be issued, the prospective licensee
shall file with the Township Clerk a certificate of insurance issued
by an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of New
Jersey, showing insurance for liability arising out of the operation
of any motor vehicle to be utilized by the prospective licensee in
the conduct of the licensed business in an amount of at least $100,000
to $300,000, with the notation on the certificate that the policy
of insurance shall not be canceled or otherwise changed without at
least 30 days' prior notice thereof to the Township Clerk.
[Added 3-5-2013 by Ord.
No. 2013-1]
[Derived from Sec. 5-2 of the 2003 Revised General Ordinances]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A person who goes from house to house or place to place selling
goods, wares and merchandise by sample or taking orders for future
delivery, with or without accepting an advance payment for the goods
or offering to purchase any real property or any interest in real
property either on their own behalf or as an agent or broker on behalf
of any third party. The provisions of this article shall apply to
the person who comes in personal contact with the buyer through the
delivery of the goods or the acceptance of any money in payment thereof.
For purposes of this article, a canvasser or solicitor shall also
be deemed to be anyone who is not in the business of selling goods,
but rather makes surveys, research analyses, opinion polls, rating
data and any similar work, the nature of which involves a door-to-door
or place-to-place activity.
[Amended 3-5-2013 by Ord.
No. 2013-1; 2-6-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-1]
A.
This article shall not apply to anyone who solicits any votes or
support of a bona fide political candidate seeking public office.
B.
This article shall not affect any person engaged in delivering wares,
goods, or merchandise, or other articles or things in the regular
course of business, to the premises of the person ordering or entitled
to receive the same.
No person except as in this article provided shall canvass,
solicit, distribute circulars or other matter or call from house to
house in the Township of Willingboro without first having reported
to and received a written license from the Township Clerk or Director
of Public Safety.
A.
Applicants
for a license under this article must file with the Township Clerk
or Director of Public Safety a sworn application, in writing, which
shall give the following information:
(1)
Name and physical description of the applicant.
(2)
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant.
(3)
A description of the nature of the business and the goods, services
or wares to be sold.
(4)
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with
credentials therefrom establishing the exact relationship.
(5)
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired
and the days of the week and the hours of the day within which the
business will be conducted.
(6)
The source of supply of the goods or property or services proposed
to be sold; where the goods, services or products are located; and
the method of delivery.
(7)
Three recent photographs of the applicant, which shall be approximately
two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant
in a clear and distinguishing manner.
(8)
Appropriate evidence as to the good character and business responsibility
of the applicant as will enable an investigator to properly evaluate
the character and business responsibility.
(9)
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted
of any crime, misdemeanor or violation of any municipal ordinance
other than traffic violations; the nature of the offense; and the
punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
B.
The applicant shall be fingerprinted, if requested by the Director
of Public Safety, who shall determine whether the fingerprints are
necessary for proper identification, which fingerprint records shall
be immediately processed for classification and identification.
C.
No license shall be issued until the application shall have been
approved by the Police Department, allowing adequate time for investigation
of the facts set forth in the application.
D.
Applications for partners shall be signed by all partners, with the
foregoing provisions of this section answered in detail as to each
partner, and applications for corporations shall have attached thereto
individual statements, in accordance with all of the provisions of
this section relating to each and every employee, agent or servant
who shall engage in any of the functions authorized by this article
and signed by each agent, servant or employee, and full compliance
herewith by each individual.
License fees are listed in § 150-9A(4) of the Code of the Township of Willingboro. License fees are per person licensed and acting as solicitors within the Township. Application is required; however, license fees do not apply to nonprofit canvassers or solicitors or political canvassers.
Every person to whom a license is issued under the terms of
this article shall be governed by the following rules and regulations:
A.
All circulars, samples or other matter shall be handed to an occupant
of the property or left in a secure place on the premises.
B.
No person subject to the provisions of this article shall canvass,
solicit or distribute circulars or other matter except during the
hours of 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
C.
No person subject to the terms of this article shall enter or attempt
to enter the house of any resident in the Township of Willingboro
without an express invitation from the occupant of the house.
D.
No person subject to this article shall behave in a manner so as
to become objectionable to or annoy an occupant of any house.
E.
No licensee shall canvass or solicit orders for any articles from
pedestrians or vehicular traffic other than when the vehicle is properly
parked immediately adjacent to the curb of a public street in a permitted
location, and the licensee shall at no time double park when dealing
with any of the trade and in no event shall transact business other
than on the curb side of the vehicle.
F.
All licensees and their respective vehicles or modes of transportation
shall comply with all terms, covenants and conditions of this article
and all other applicable municipal ordinances and all applicable state
statutes, laws and regulations pertaining thereto and particularly,
but not in limitation thereof, that may deal with provisions of health,
safety and general welfare.
No licensee shall have any exclusive right to any location in
the public street, nor shall any licensee be permitted a stationary
location therein, nor shall any be permitted to operate in a congested
area where such an operation might impede or inconvenience the public
use of the streets. The discretion of a police officer shall be deemed
conclusive as to whether the area is congested and the public impeded
or inconvenienced.
[Amended 2-6-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-1]
A.
Any charitable, religious, patriotic, community service or philanthropic organization, society or association desiring to solicit or have solicited in its name money, donations of money or property or financial assistance, for which no merchandise, wares or services are offered, or desiring to distribute literature for which a fee is charged or solicited from persons or members of such organizations for shall be exempt from §§ 257-22, 257-23, 257-27 and 257-28, provided there is filed a sworn application in writing with the Township Clerk which gives the following information:
(1)
Name and purpose of the cause for which the license is sought.
(2)
A copy of the duly issued New Jersey nonprofit registration for the
charitable, religious, patriotic, community service or philanthropic
entity.
(3)
Names and addresses of the officers of the organization.
(4)
Names and addresses of the agents or representatives who will solicit,
canvass or distribute literature in the Township.
B.
Upon being satisfied that the purpose of the organization, society
or association is charitable, religious, patriotic, community service
or philanthropic in nature, the Township Clerk or Director of Public
Safety shall endorse approval on the application.
C.
Each representative or agent of such charitable, religious, patriotic,
community service or philanthropic entity shall carry proper identification
indicating the name of the organization and the name and address of
the representative and shall display same upon request.
[Amended 2-6-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-1]
Any veteran who holds a special state veterans license/permit
issued under the laws of the State of New Jersey shall be exempt from
securing a municipal license as provided herein but shall be required
to comply with all other applicable sections of this article and shall
be required to deliver to the Township Clerk a copy of the special
veterans permit.
Each application shall be referred to the Director of Public
Safety or officer in charge of the Police Department, who shall immediately
institute such investigation of the applicant's business and moral
character as the Director or officer in charge deems necessary for
the protection of the public good and shall endorse the application
in the manner prescribed in this article within a reasonable period
of time after it has been filed by the applicant. If, as a result
of the investigation, the applicant's character or business responsibility
is found to be unsatisfactory or the products or services are fraudulent,
the Director of Public Safety shall endorse on the application the
Director's disapproval and reasons for the same and shall return the
application to the Township Clerk, who shall notify the applicant
that the application is disapproved and that no license will be issued.
Licensees are required to exhibit the license certificate at
the request of any citizen or member of the Police Department.
[Added 2-6-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-1[1]]
A.
To protect residents from unwanted and potentially criminal activities
and safeguard their privacy, there is hereby established a No-Knock
Registry of properties where canvassing and soliciting are prohibited.
The Township Clerk shall maintain the No-Knock Registry.
B.
The Township Clerk shall prepare a list of addresses of those premises
whose owners or occupants have notified the Clerk that canvassing
or soliciting are not permitted on their premises. Notification shall
be accomplished by filling out and filing the form available online,
or at the Clerk's Office during regular business hours. The premises
shall remain on the Registry unless the owners or occupants notify
the Township Clerk in writing that they wish the property to be removed
from the Registry. The inclusion of a premises on the Registry shall
be deemed a revocation of any privilege of any licensee or other person
to enter or attempt to enter the property to canvass or solicit as
regulated by the article.
C.
Owners or occupants who have requested to be listed on the Willingboro Township No-Knock Registry, pursuant to Subsection A herein, may procure from the Clerk's office a notice for display on the premises indicating the enlistment on the Township's No-Knock Registry. The notice shall indicate which solicitors may contact residents and shall read substantially as follows:
"These premises are listed on the Township of Willingboro's 'No-Knock Registry' (Township of Willingboro Code Sec. § 257-30). You may not enter or attempt to enter these premises for the purpose of canvassing or soliciting, which includes offering to purchase real estate on behalf of any person or organization. Charitable, political, and religious organizations are exempt from this law. Any person found in violation of Township of Willingboro Code Sec. § 257-30 shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty."
D.
The Township Clerk shall distribute the current Willingboro Township
No-Knock Registry to a licensed canvasser or solicitor at the time
of license issuance.
E.
The Township shall post a No-Knock Registry application form on the
Township webpage, provide copies of the application to the public
and undertake reasonable efforts in education and distribution, to
further public awareness of the No-Knock Registry.
The Director of Public Safety shall report to the Township Clerk
all convictions for violation of this article, and the Township Clerk
shall maintain a record for each license issued and shall record the
reports of violation therein.
