Village of Washingtonville, NY Chapter 128 PEDDLING, SOLICITING AND TRANSIENT MERCHANTS

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Washingtonville 9-9-1991 by L.L. No. 10-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 128-1 Definitions and word usage.

A. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

PERSON

Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation.

SOLICITING and PEDDLING

(1)

SOLICITING

— The seeking or taking of contracts or orders for any goods, wares, merchandise or services for future delivery or for subscriptions or contributions upon any streets or sidewalks or from house to house within the Village of Washingtonville.

(2)

PEDDLING

— The selling or offering for sale of any goods, wares, merchandise or services for immediate delivery which the person selling or offering for sale carries with him in traveling or has in his possession or control upon any of the streets or sidewalks or from house to house within the Village of Washingtonville.

(3) Neither the word "peddling" nor the word "soliciting" shall apply to:

(a) Farmers seeking or taking orders for or selling or offering for sale their own produce.

(b) The seeking or taking of orders for or the selling or offering for sale of bread or bakery products, meat or meat products, milk and milk products by any manufacturer or producer thereof.

(c) The seeking or taking of orders for or the selling or offering for sale of insurance by insurance agents or brokers licensed under the insurance laws of the State of New York.

SOLICITOR or PEDDLER

Any person who shall engage in soliciting or peddling, respectively, as hereinabove defined.

TRANSIENT MERCHANT

A person who engages or proposes to engage temporarily in merchandising business in the Village of Washingtonville and occupies a room, building, tent, lot, stand or other premises for the purpose of selling, trading or bartering goods, wares and merchandise.

B. Usage. The singular shall include the plural.

§ 128-2 Registration required.

No person shall engage in soliciting or peddling or acting as a transient merchant in the Village of Washingtonville without first registering with the Board of Trustees and the Village Clerk.

§ 128-3 Contents of license application.

A. Every person desiring to engage in soliciting or peddling in the Village of Washingtonville shall obtain approval from the Board of Trustees and register under oath with the Village Clerk. Upon such application, such person shall give his name, address and age; his previous criminal record, if any; the name and address of the person for whom he works and a letter appended to the application authorizing the applicant to represent the firm the applicant purports to represent, if any; the type or types of article, device, subscription, contribution, service or contract which he desires to sell or for which he wishes to solicit within the village; the length of time he wishes to be registered; the type of vehicle he uses, if any, and its registration number; the name, address and title of a company officer upon whom process or other legal notice may be served, if the applicant is a corporation or company.

B. Where a person makes application for himself and one or more helpers, all applicable personal information specified above shall be given for each helper, and an individual license shall be required for each helper. No license issued under this chapter shall be transferable from one person to another.

C. If the applicant for a license uses scales or measures in his business, he shall also file with his application for a license a certificate issued by the Orange County Sealer of Weights and Measures that his scales or measures have been tested and sealed.

§ 128-4 License fees.

No permit or license shall be issued under this chapter except upon payment of the fee established by the Board of Trustees to the Village Clerk. The fee shall be established by resolution of the Board of Trustees.

§ 128-5 Issuance of license.

Upon registering with the Village Clerk as aforesaid, each solicitor or peddler shall, subject to the prior approval of the Board of Trustees, be issued a license or permit and may, unless he shall have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, be permitted to solicit or peddle or act as a transient merchant within the village for the licensed period beginning on the date such license or permit is issued and ending on the expiration date thereof. Such license or permit shall not be transferable.

§ 128-6 Display and restriction on license.

A. Every solicitor or peddler shall, at all times while engaged in soliciting or peddling in the village, carry evidence of such registration upon his person and shall exhibit such evidence upon request to all police officers, village officials and citizens. Every solicitor or peddler using a vehicle shall also prominently display such evidence of registration prominently upon the vehicle.

[Amended 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

B. Every person holding a transient merchant license shall post said license in a prominent place in his business premises and shall maintain said license as such at all times.

C. No solicitor or peddler shall engage in selling or offering for sale or in seeking or taking of orders or contracts for any goods, wares, merchandise, article, device, subscription, contribution, service or contract not mentioned upon such license nor shall any person use any vehicle for soliciting or peddling other than the vehicle registered upon his license.

D. No license issued under the provisions of this chapter may be transferred from one person to another. The person designated in said license shall be the only person authorized to engage in such business thereunder.

§ 128-7 Days and hours of sale; exception.

[Amended 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

Peddling and soliciting are permitted any day from 9:00 a.m. to dusk only, except soliciting is permitted at other times upon invitation from or an appointment with the resident.

§ 128-8 Noise restrictions.

No person engaged in soliciting or peddling or as a transient merchant shall hawk or cry his goods, wares, merchandise, articles, contracts or services upon any of the streets or sidewalks of the village nor shall be use any loudspeaker or horn or any other device on public property for announcing his presence by which members of the public are annoyed.

§ 128-9 Vehicles restrictions.

[Amended 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

No person engaged in soliciting or peddling or as a transient merchant shall park any vehicle upon any street or alley or public place of the village in order to sort, rearrange or clean any of his goods, wares or merchandise or any samples, order books, contracts, circulars, literature or advertising matter. No such person shall park or stop any vehicle upon any street or alley or public place of the village longer than necessary to peddle or solicit his goods or wares to persons in the immediate vicinity.

§ 128-10 Prohibited acts.

[Amended 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

Except as otherwise permitted in this chapter:

A. No person engaged in soliciting or peddling or acting as a transient merchant shall occupy any of the streets or alleys or sidewalks of the village for the purposes of soliciting or peddling, with or without any stand or counter.

B. No person engaged in soliciting or peddling shall enter upon premises for the purpose of soliciting or peddling which are posted with signs indicating that soliciting or peddling thereon is prohibited.

C. No peddler, solicitor or transient merchant shall peddle, vend or sell his goods or wares within 200 feet of any church or place of worship, school or any place used for school-related purposes while such church, place of worship, school or other such place is occupied and used for such purposes at that time.

D. No person shall solicit any business whatsoever at the scene of any accident within the incorporated area of the Village of Washingtonville.

§ 128-10.1 Food products.

[Added 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

A. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall peddle, vend or sell any food or food products of any kind, except ice cream products.

B. Notwithstanding Subsection A above, a person may peddle, sell or vend food other than ice cream products, but only during certain hours and at certain location(s) as permitted by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees reserves the authority to limit the number of any such permits issued and in effect at any time.

C. The above prohibition and limitation on the peddling, selling or vending of food shall not apply to the soliciting of contracts or orders for future delivery of food.

§ 128-11 Sales on village property.

Notwithstanding any other provision, no person shall sell merchandise at any public function held in the Village of Washingtonville, New York, on lands owned by the Village of Washingtonville, New York, without first obtaining written permission therefor from the Board of Trustees; and the Board may, from time to time, adopt rules and regulations concerning such sales.

§ 128-12 Records and supervision.

The Chief of Police shall keep a record of all registrations made under this chapter, and the Chief of Police shall supervise the activities of all holders of such license.

§ 128-13 Exemptions.

[Amended 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

A. The following persons are exempt from certain provisions of this chapter:

(1) Persons soliciting contributions on behalf of organizations or nonprofit corporations registered pursuant to Executive Law § 172 or exempted from registration pursuant to Executive Law § 172-A.

(2) Salesmen, peddlers or solicitors duly licensed by the State of New York while engaged in the activity for which they are licensed.

(3) An honorably discharged member of the armed forces of the United States who is disabled as a result of injuries received while in the service of said armed forces and who has received a license issued by the County of Orange.

B. All persons described in Subsection A above shall be required to register with the Village Clerk and provide evidence to the Village Clerk of such other proper registration, license or authority obtained pursuant to law. In addition, all such persons shall be subject to the requirements and restrictions set forth in §§ 128-6, 128-7, 128-8, 128-9, 128-10, 128-11, 128-12, 128-14, 128-15, 128-16, 128-17 and 128-18 of this chapter.

§ 128-14 Revocation of license.

Any license hereinafter issued may be revoked by the Police Department or Village Clerk or Board of Trustees of the Village of Washingtonville upon the failure of the licensee to comply with the standards of conduct established in §§ 128-6 through 128-11, or upon ascertainment that the licensee has made any false statements in the application for license hereunder or upon such licensee's being arrested and convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.

§ 128-15 Hearing for reinstatement.

Any person whose license has been revoked shall be entitled to appear, with counsel if desired, before the Board of Trustees of the Village of Washingtonville at a regular or special meeting and be heard on behalf of a request for reinstatement of said license.

§ 128-16 Contents of permit or license.

Each permit shall be issued in card form, shall be carried by the person for whose benefit it is issued and shall contain the following: number of permit, fee paid, date of issue, expiration date and the name, age, weight, color, name of employer, address and signature of the holder. The reverse side of such permit shall contain any regulations then in effect and controlling the holder, as well as any conditions and/or limitations to which such permit is subject.

§ 128-17 Penalties for offenses.

A. Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a violation pursuant to the Penal Law of the State of New York, 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 hereunder.

B. In addition or as an alternative to the above-provided penalties, the Board of Trustees may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the village in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this chapter.

C. In addition, any person who violates any provision of the foregoing may be subject to a loss of license privilege herein granted.

§ 128-18 Enforcement.

[Added 4-5-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]

This chapter shall be enforced by the Village of Washingtonville Police Department and by any village officer or employee so designated by resolution of the Board of Trustees.