[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of Trustees of the
Village of Slinger as Sec. 16.05 of the former Municipal Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
It shall be unlawful for any peddler, canvasser or transient merchant as defined in § 377-3 of this chapter to engage in any such business within the Village of Slinger without first obtaining a license therefor in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. A peddler, canvasser or transient merchant may also be referred to generally as "solicitors" in other sections of the Code.
Fees for any applications, petitions, licenses or permits shall
be as set by the Village Board of the Village of Slinger by a duly
enacted resolution and may be changed from time to time.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes any person, whether a resident of the Village of
Slinger or not, who goes from house to house, place to place, or from
street to street soliciting, taking or attempting to take orders for
a sale of goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines, books,
periodicals, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future
delivery or for a service to be performed in the future, whether or
not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the
subject of such order or whether or not he is collecting advance payments
on such orders.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018; 4-17-2023 by Ord. No. 04-03-2023]
Includes any person, whether a resident of the Village of
Slinger or not, who goes from house to house, place to place, or street
to street conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, offering
or exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles
to purchasers. It shall not include vendors who distribute their products
to regular customers on established routes.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
Includes any person, firm or corporation, whether as owner,
agent, consignee, or employee, whether a resident of the Village of
Slinger or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and
delivering goods, wares, and merchandise within said Village, and
who, in furtherance of such purpose, hires, leases, uses or occupies
any building, structure, motor vehicle, trailer, tent, railroad boxcar,
or boat, public room in hotels, lodging house, apartments, shops or
any street, alley or other place within the Village for the exhibition
and sale of such goods, wares and merchandise, either privately or
at public auction, provided that such definition shall not be construed
to include any person, firm or corporation who, while occupying such
temporary location, does not sell from stock, but exhibits samples
for the purpose of securing orders for future delivery only. The person,
firm or corporation so engaged shall not be relieved from complying
with the provisions of this chapter merely by reason of associating
temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer,
or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as a
part of, or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant, or
auctioneer.
The terms of this chapter shall not be held to include:
A.
The acts
of persons selling property at wholesale to dealers in such articles;
newsboys, acts of merchants, or their employees in delivering goods
in the regular course of business. Nor shall the terms of this chapter
be held to include or apply to any farmer or truck gardener who shall
vend, sell or dispose of, or offer to sell, vend or dispose of, the
products from the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him, to
include the seasonal sale of Christmas trees. Nothing contained in
this chapter shall be held to prohibit any sale required by statutes
or by order of any court, or to prevent any person conducting a bona
fide auction or sale pursuant to law.
B.
Any persons
under the age of 18 who are residents of the Village or pupils in
the Slinger School District or a private or parochial school located
within the Village, and who are engaged in occasional door-to-door
sales in order to raise funds for school, school-related, school-extracurricular-related,
scouting-related, athletic or religious activities.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
C.
The Solicitor's fee may be waived in conjunction with special events
hosted by the Village.
[Added 5-6-2019 by Ord.
No. 05-01-2019]
Applicants for a license under this chapter must file with the
Village Clerk a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished
by the Village Clerk, which shall give the following information:
A.
Name and physical description of applicant;
B.
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant and, in
case of transient merchants, the local address from which proposed
sales will be made;
C.
A brief description of the nature of the business goods to be sold;
D.
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with
credentials therefrom establishing the exact relationship;
E.
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired;
F.
The source of supply of the goods or property to be sold, or orders
taken for the same sale thereof, where such goods or products are
located at the time said application is filed, and the proposed method
of delivery;
G.
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 punishment
or penalty assessed therefor;
H.
The last cities or villages, not to exceed three, where applicant
carried on business immediately preceding date of application, and
addresses from which such business was conducted in those municipalities.
Any organization, society, association or corporation desiring
to solicit or have solicited in its name money, donations, property,
financial assistance of any kind, desiring to sell or distribute any
item, literature or merchandise for which a fee is charged or solicited
from persons other than members of such organization upon the street,
in office or business buildings, by house or house canvass, or in
public places for a charitable, patriotic or philanthropic purpose
shall not be exempt from this chapter, but shall be exempt from payment
of a license fee.
A.
Upon receipt of each application, it shall be referred to the Village
Chief of Police, who shall immediately investigate applicant's business
and moral character as he deems necessary for the protection of the
public good and shall endorse on such application in the manner prescribed
in this section within three business days after it has been filed
with the Clerk.
B.
If as a result of such investigation, the applicant's character or
business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, the Village
Chief of Police shall endorse on such application his disapproval
and his reasons for the same, and return said application to the Village
Clerk, who shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved
and that no license will be granted.
C.
If as a result of such investigation, the character and business
responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory, the
Village Chief of Police shall endorse on the application to the Village
Clerk, who shall upon payment of the prescribed license fee, deliver
to the applicant his license. Such license shall contain the signature
of the issuing officer and shall show the name and address of said
licensee, the class of license issued and the kind of goods to be
sold thereunder, the amount of fee paid, the date of issuance and
the length of time the same shall be operative, as well as the license
number and other identifying description of any vehicle used in such
licensed business. Each peddler, canvasser or transient merchant must
secure a personal license. No license shall be used at any time by
any person other than the one to whom it was issued.[1]
No licensee, nor any person in his behalf, shall shout, cry
out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound-amplifying device upon
any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public places of the Village
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, alleys, parks or other public places, for the purpose
of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise which such
licensee proposes to sell.
No licensee shall have any exclusive right to any location in
the public street, nor shall any be permitted a stationary location
thereon, nor shall any be permitted to operate in a congested area
where such operation might impede or inconvenience the public use
of such streets. For the purpose of this chapter, the judgment of
the police department, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive
as to whether the area is congested and the public impeded or inconvenienced.
Licensees are required to exhibit their certificates of license
at the request of any citizen.
It shall be the duty of the police of the Village of Slinger
to require any person seen peddling, soliciting or canvassing, and
who is not known by such officer to be duly licensed, to produce his
license and to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any
person found to be in violation of the same.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
The Chief of Police shall report to the Village Clerk all convictions
for violation of this chapter and the Village Clerk shall maintain
a record for each license issued.
Licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be
revoked by the Village Clerk for any of the following causes:
A.
Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement contained in the
application for license;
B.
Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement made in the course
of carrying on his business as solicitor, canvasser, peddler, transient
merchant, itinerant merchant or itinerant vendor;
C.
Any violation of the ordinance;
D.
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor;
E.
Conducting the business of peddler, canvasser, and transient merchant,
as the case may be, in an unlawful manner as to constitute a breach
of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety, or general
welfare of the public.
[Amended 7-6-2020 by Ord. No. 07-01-2020; 4-17-2023 by Ord. No. 04-03-2023]
A.
Canvassers and peddlers. Licenses issued to canvassers and peddlers
shall be issued for a period of 60 days from the date of issue. All
licenses referenced herein are renewable upon expiration, provided
no justifiable complaint has been filed against the licensee. The
Village Clerk is empowered to revoke the license at any time, for
just cause, resulting in the forfeiture of fees paid. All licenses
granted under this section are nontransferable.
B.
Transient merchants. Licenses issued to transient merchants shall
be issued for a period of one year from the date of issue. All licenses
referenced herein are renewable upon expiration, provided no justifiable
complaint has been filed against the licensee. The Village Clerk is
empowered to revoke the license at any time, for just cause, resulting
in the forfeiture of fees paid. All licenses granted under this section
are nontransferable.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police or
the Village Clerk in the denial of a license as provided in this chapter
shall have the right to appeal to the Village Board of the Village
of Slinger. Such appeal shall be filed with the Village Board within
14 days after notice of the action complained of with a written statement
setting forth fully the grounds for the written appeal. The Village
Board shall set a time and place for hearing on such appeal, and notice
of such hearing shall be given to the appellant.
