[1]
Editor's Note: The power of a municipality to enact ordinances to license and regulate canvassers and solicitors pursuant to its police powers was upheld in Moyant v. Paramus, 30 N.J. 528, 154 A. 2d (1959).
[Ord. No. 8-82,[1] § 1]
As used in this Article:
CHIEF OF POLICE
The duly appointed Chief of Police or such person as may be in charge of the Police Department and acting as the Chief of Police by resolution of the Borough Council in the absence, death or removal of the regularly appointed Chief.
SOLICITOR, CANVASSER, PEDDLER or HAWKER
A person who, traveling by foot, wagon, motor vehicle or any other type of conveyance, goes from place to place, from house to house or from street to street and who takes or attempts to take orders for the sale of goods, wares, merchandise or real or personal property whatsoever for future or present delivery or for services to be furnished or performed currently or in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such sale or whether or not he is collecting advance payments on such sales or services. Such definition shall include anyone who is distributing free samples of goods, wares, merchandise or personal property or distributing other promotional materials to promote the purchase of goods, wares, merchandise or personal or real property at present or in the future or to purchase services whether now or in the future. Such definition shall also include any person who goes from house to house on foot or with a conveyance, carrying with him goods, wares or merchandise for the purpose of selling and delivering to customers. Such definitions shall also include any person engaging in any of the above-mentioned activities from a stationary position or from a stationary vehicle. Such definition shall also include any person who, for himself or for another person, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, tent, railroad box car, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or any other place within the Borough for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery of personal property or taking orders for future services. This definition shall not be construed to apply to soliciting, canvassing, hawking, or peddling for the purpose of the sale of personal property at wholesale to retailers of such articles. Such definition shall not apply to children age thirteen (13) years and under.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Article 1, Solicitors and Canvassers, adopted as Ord. No. 3-82, as amended.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
No person shall engage in the business of solicitor, canvasser, hawker or peddler without first obtaining a license or special permit therefor as provided by this Article, nor shall any person hawk, vend or peddle in the Borough any fish, fowl, vegetable, dry goods, groceries, bakery products or any goods, wares or merchandise of any kind whatsoever without obtaining a license as provided in this Article.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
Every individual who wishes to solicit, canvass, hawk or peddle shall complete, sign and verify a written application, in duplicate, on forms furnished by the Borough Clerk.
(b) 
The application shall state:
(1) 
Name and description of the applicant.
(2) 
Permanent home address and full local address, if any, of the applicant.
(3) 
Brief description of the nature of the business, and the goods to be sold or services to be rendered.
(4) 
If employed, the name and address of the applicant's employer, together with credentials establishing the exact relationship.
(5) 
Length of time for which the right to do business is desired.
(6) 
Whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime or disorderly persons offense or violation of any municipal ordinance involving moral turpitude, and if so, the nature of the offense, the date of the offense and the punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
(7) 
If a vehicle is to be used, a description of the same, together with the state registration number and other identification details.
(8) 
Place where the goods or property proposed to be sold, or orders taken for the sale thereof, are manufactured or produced, where such goods or products are located at the time said application is filed and the proposed method of delivery.
(9) 
Names of at least two (2) reliable property owners of the County of Morris, who will certify as to the applicant's good character and business responsibility, or in lieu of the names of references, such other available evidence as to the good character and business responsibility of the applicant as will enable an investigator to evaluate properly such character and business responsibility.
(c) 
The application shall be accompanied by:
(1) 
Two (2) two-inch square photographs of the applicant taken within sixty (60) days prior to the filing of the application.
(2) 
The fingerprints of the applicant which shall be taken by the Police Department as hereafter provided.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
In the case of a corporation or like entity, the application shall be executed by a duly authorized agent thereof, and upon approval, a license issued authorizing said corporation or like entity to engage in the business of solicitor, canvasser, peddler or hawker, as defined herein, through its said duly authorized agent subject to the provisions hereof. If the authorized agent of the corporation or like entity is a nonresident of the State of New Jersey, said agent must agree to accept service of process for any litigation arising from the activities of the corporation or its agents in the Borough.
(b) 
Each individual who intends to solicit, canvass, hawk or peddle shall complete an application as required by Section 8-3 and shall meet the standards for licensing as set forth herein regardless of whether he shall be acting on his own or on behalf of a corporation.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
Upon the filing of the application in duplicate, the Borough Clerk shall forward the original thereof to the Chief of Police for investigation. The Police Department shall complete the application by taking the fingerprints of the individual applicants. The Chief of Police shall cause to be made an investigation of the individual applicant's moral character and business responsibility.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
If, as a result of the investigation, the moral character or business responsibility of the applicant shall be found to be unsatisfactory in the professional judgment of the Chief of Police, the Chief of Police shall endorse on the original of the application his disapproval and his reasons for such disapproval and shall return the original application to the Borough Clerk. The Clerk shall thereupon notify the applicant of the disapproval and that no license will be issued.
(b) 
If, as a result of the investigation, the moral character and business responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory, the Chief of Police shall endorse on the original application his approval thereof and return the original application to the Borough Clerk.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
The Borough Clerk shall promptly notify the applicant of the approval of his application as set forth in Section 8-6(b) and shall issue the license upon payment of the prescribed fee.
(b) 
The license shall contain the following:
(1) 
Name and address of the licensee.
(2) 
Description of goods to be sold or promoted or services to be rendered.
(3) 
Signature of licensee.
(4) 
Signature of Borough Clerk.
(5) 
Photograph of the licensee attached.
(6) 
Number of license.
(c) 
The Borough Clerk shall send a copy of the license to the Police Department to be kept on file there. The Borough Clerk shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued.
(d) 
The Clerk shall report to the Borough Council the number of licenses issued hereunder at least once a month.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1; No. 29-99, § 4]
(a) 
A fee as set forth in the Fee Schedule of the Borough, Chapter 2, Section 2-46, of the Revised Ordinances, shall be paid by the applicant for each license issued for the calendar year January 1 to December 31, or any part thereof.
(b) 
Said license shall be good only in the calendar year in which it is issued.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
At the time of delivery of the license, the Borough Clerk shall also issue a large orange badge which shall include a Polaroid photograph sealed in the badge so as to make it tamperproof and which shall contain, in letters and figures of a size easily discernible from a distance of 10 feet:
(1) 
The words "Solicitor's License."
(2) 
License number and period for which issued.
(b) 
Such badge shall, during the time such licensee is engaged in soliciting, canvassing, peddling or hawking, be worn by him constantly, on the front of his outer garment in such a way as to be conspicuous.
(c) 
Any person licensed under this article, engaged in vending, hawking or peddling in the streets and public places of the Borough, shall at all times when so engaged carry with him his license and shall exhibit it on demand to any citizen of the Borough.
(d) 
The licensee shall make a deposit of ten dollars ($10.) to the Borough Clerk upon the issuance of the badge. The badge and the license shall be returned at the end of the term of the license or prior thereto, and the deposit shall be refunded.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
A separate license must be obtained by a licensed solicitor, canvasser, hawker or peddler for every agent or employee working for him.
(b) 
The license issued shall not authorize any person, except the designated person named in said license, to engage in business thereunder and shall not be transferable from the person to whom issued to any other person.
(c) 
No license issued pursuant to the provisions hereof shall be used at any time by any individual other than the one to whom it was issued.
(d) 
The Borough Clerk shall issue with each license granted under the authority of this article, when a cart, wagon or other vehicle is to be used, duplicate metal plates bearing the words "Licensed Hawker, Borough of Morris Plains," together with the number of the license and the year for which it is issued, and all wagons, carts or other vehicles used for the purpose of hawking, or peddling and vending as aforesaid, shall have affixed on each side thereof one of the metal plates above-mentioned and the name of the licensee in letters at least three (3) inches in height written or painted clearly and distinctly thereon. Every person licensed under the provisions of this article shall be entitled to the use of one (1) cart, wagon or other vehicle for each license taken out by him, and no more.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
Any nonprofit, religious, charitable, civic or veteran organizations, service club or volunteer fire or first aid company desiring to solicit or have solicited in its name, money, donations or financial assistance of any kind or desiring to sell or distribute any item of literature for which a fee is charged, or sell cookies, candles or other merchandise as a means of raising money, shall be exempt from the provisions hereof, provided that there is filed a sworn application in writing with the Borough Clerk containing the following information:
(1) 
Name and address of the organization.
(2) 
Purpose for which the special permit is requested.
(3) 
Names and addresses of the officers and directors of the organization.
(4) 
Names and addresses of all representatives of the organization participating in the solicitation.
(5) 
Period during which the solicitation is to be carried on.
(b) 
The application shall be forwarded to the Chief of Police who shall, upon being satisfied that such person, organization or association is bona fide, issue a special permit without charge for a specified period.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
Any veteran who holds a special license issued under the laws of the State of New Jersey shall be exempt from the fee but shall be required to comply with all other sections of this article.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
No licensee nor any person in his behalf shall shout, cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound device including loud-speaking, radio or sound-amplifying system upon any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public or private places in the Borough.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
All soliciting, canvassing, hawking or peddling shall be permitted only between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and sunset Monday through Saturday. Such activity shall not be permitted on Sundays or holidays.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
This Article shall not be construed to include the selling of any article at wholesale to dealers in such articles or the delivery of milk, eggs, bread, newspapers or such other necessary and perishable articles of food or merchandise of a type commonly delivered on a house-to-house basis at regular intervals.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
Licenses and special permits issued pursuant to the provisions of this article may be revoked by the Chief of Police after a written five-day notice for any of the following causes:
(a) 
Misrepresentation or false statement contained in the application.
(b) 
Misrepresentation or false statement made in the course of carrying on activities regulated herein.
(c) 
Conviction of any crime or disorderly persons offense or violation of any municipal ordinance involving moral turpitude.
(d) 
Conducting the license business in an unlawful manner or in violation of this Article or in such a manner as to cause a breach of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
(a) 
Any person who has been refused a license or special permit hereunder, or whose license or special permit has been revoked, may have the right of appeal to the Mayor and Council by requesting a hearing in writing addressed to the Borough Clerk within ten (10) days of the refusal or revocation. Such request shall include an address at which all notices required may be mailed.
(b) 
The Borough Clerk shall immediately notify the Mayor and Council of the receipt of said request and within ten (10) days of such notification the Borough Council shall hold a hearing. The notification of the Mayor and Council may contain a call for a special meeting for the purpose of the hearing. The person requesting the hearing and the Chief of Police shall be notified in writing of the date, time and place of hearing at least five (5) days before the hearing. A letter addressed to the person requesting the hearing and mailed at least five (5) days prior to the hearing shall be sufficient to satisfy the requirement of notice.
(c) 
At the conclusion of the hearing, the Borough Council shall affirm the refusal or revocation or shall order the execution and issuance of the license or special permit or the reinstatement of the same. The Borough Council's decision will be based on its determination of whether the refusal or revocation was arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.
[Ord. No. 8-82, § 1]
The provisions of Section 1-9 of these Revised Ordinances shall be applicable to this article.