[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Commissioners of the Town
of Westernport 10-5-2015 as Ch.
207 of the 2015 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Town Clerk of Westernport or his or her designee.
A useful item with physical properties that can be transported.
Any police officer, any code enforcement officer, and the
Mayor.
Any person who leases or occupies any space or location in
any building or structure within the Town, for a period of not more
than six weeks' duration, for the purpose of selling or offering
to sell commodities and/or services of any type.
The Mayor of Westernport.
Any association or organization which, in accordance with
United States Internal Revenue Service regulations, distributes no
part of its income to its members, directors, or officers and which
is established for a civic, educational, cultural, religious, social,
political, scientific, philanthropic, or charitable purpose.
Any person who sells or offers to sell commodities and/or
services of any type from place to place, or from house to house,
or on the streets, or in any other public place, or who, without traveling
from place to place, sells or offers to sell commodities and/or services
of any type from a wagon, vehicle, boat, or other movable structure.
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm,
trust, institution, association, organization, or any other legal
entity.
Any work or act capable of being performed for a fee or donation.
Any person owning or operating a store, restaurant or shop
from a permanent structure in the Town.
License issued by the Town Clerk to do business as a peddler,
hawker, vendor, or itinerant merchant.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage, within the corporate limits of the Town of Westernport, in business as a peddler, hawker, vendor or itinerant merchant, as defined in § 161-1, without first obtaining a vendor license from the Town Clerk.
A separate vendor license shall be required for each individual who is in business as a peddler, hawker, vendor, or itinerant merchant, as defined in § 161-1, unless all sales take place within a temporary movable structure which would require only one vendor license issued to the manager or supervisor.
During events within the corporate limits of the Town, the Mayor
and Commissioners reserve the right to regulate issuance of said licenses
in such a way as to control the competition in the same type of commodities;
oversaturation could create a condition where it would not be financially
viable and/or profitable for any vendor to apply for such license
and offer such commodities at such events.
Persons engaged in any of the following activities are exempt
from the requirement of a vendor license:
A.
Businesses at a permanent location that are intended to be permanent
or ongoing for a year;
B.
Selling commodities and/or services directly to manufacturers, wholesalers,
or retailers for use in their business or for resale;
C.
Selling fresh fruits, vegetables, or other perishable food products
if the seller took any part in the production of said;
D.
Sales made by an auctioneer;
E.
Any sales ordered by any judicial process;
F.
Sales by a nonprofit organization;
G.
Sales by volunteer fire and rescue companies;
H.
Selling of Christmas trees, cards, greens, holly, and wreaths;
I.
Selling of religious goods;
J.
Conducting a yard, garage, or attic sale at a person's residence,
not more than four days within a twelve-month period;
K.
Minors conducting sales of commodities from their place of residence,
not more than 50 days in a twelve-month period;
L.
Taking orders for or making delivery of newspapers, magazines, milk,
dairy products, bakery goods, ice, fuel or fuel supplies; and
M.
Sales at residential premises pursuant to an invitation by an owner
or occupant of the residential premises.
An applicant for a vendor license shall file a written sworn
application on forms provided by the Mayor and Commissioners with
the Clerk, accompanied by a nonrefundable fee and if required deposit
set by resolution, signed by the applicant containing the following:
A.
The name, local and permanent addresses, and telephone number of
the person to be licensed;
B.
If the applicant is not going to be managing or supervising the business
to be licensed, or in the case of any firm or corporation to be licensed,
the name or names of all individuals, and their addresses and telephone
numbers, who will be conducting, managing, supervising, or administering
the business for or on behalf of the applicant;
C.
If the applicant proposes to sell or offer for sale commodities and/or
services from a fixed location, the place or places within the Town
where it is proposed to carry on the applicant's business, the
hours and days during which the applicant(s) proposes to conduct business
from the location, and the length of time during which it is proposed
that the business shall be conducted from the location;
D.
If the applicant proposes to sell or offer for sale commodities and/or
services from house to house, or from place to place, a statement
or description of the area or areas of the Town in which the applicant
proposes to conduct the business, a statement or description of any
routes of travel to be followed, and if sales are to be made from
a wagon, vehicle, boat or other movable structure, a complete description
of it, including any federal or state registration number, and the
license numbers of all vehicles to be used in the business;
E.
A statement or description of the nature and character of the business
to be conducted and the commodities and/or services sold or offered
for sale by the applicant;
F.
A statement as to whether or not the applicant, or any person who
will be conducting, managing, supervising, or administering the business
for or on behalf of the applicant, has been convicted of any crime
or has been found by a court to have committed a violation of any
municipal code or ordinance and, if so, the nature of the offense,
the jurisdiction in which the offense was heard, and the nature of
the punishment or penalty assessed;[1]
G.
Two photographs, at least two inches by two inches in size, showing
the head and shoulders of the individual in a clear and distinguishing
manner, for each individual applicant and for any person who will
be conducting, managing, supervising, or administering the business
for or on behalf of the applicant; and
H.
Any other reasonable information as to the identity or character
of the applicant or any other individuals who will be conducting,
managing, supervising, or administering the business for or on behalf
of the applicant, or the method or plan of conducting business, as
the Clerk may deem necessary and proper, in order to determine the
fitness of the applicant to have the vendor license issued, for the
protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.
Upon receipt of an application for a license under the provisions
of this chapter, the Clerk or his or her designee shall complete an
investigation of the facts submitted which shall include whether or
not the applicant has operated in the Town before and whether the
applicant paid all previous fees in a timely manner. This information
must be provided to the Mayor in not more than 10 days after the filing
of a completed application.
In the event that any applicant shall intentionally misrepresent
any facts or information required, he or she shall not be issued a
license, or if such misrepresentation is later discovered, the license
issued hereunder shall be forfeited.
The Mayor, upon receiving the report from the Clerk or designee
on or before the 10th day, will have until the 14th day to make a
decision on whether a license will be issued. In the event that the
decision is to reject a vendor, the Mayor shall notify the Commissioners
through memorandum of the particulars of the case and his decision.
No peddler, hawker, vendor or itinerant merchant shall conduct
business outside the hours of 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. unless stated
otherwise on the license.
It shall be unlawful for licensed peddlers, hawkers, vendors,
or itinerant merchants to conduct business at sites restricted by
resolution of the Mayor and Commissioners.
It shall be unlawful for any person to transfer a vendor license
to any other person.
Upon approval of the application, a person receiving a vendor
license from the Mayor and Commissioners of Westernport shall sign
an agreement indemnifying and holding harmless the Mayor and Commissioners
of Westernport for any injury to any person as a result of the negligence
of the peddler, hawker, vendor, or itinerant merchant.
The Mayor and Town Attorney are directed to prepare a written agreement to be executed by accepted vendors at the time of the issuance of the license consistent with § 161-13.
The site or location of a temporary sale shall be kept clean
and free from litter at all times. If any trash is produced in any
part of the sale, trash collection containers must be conveniently
placed to minimize litter. Any litter which shall fall on the property
of another shall be removed immediately. Upon the conclusion of the
temporary sale, the licensee shall be responsible for the removal
of all litter and trash from the site and adjacent property not later
than one day after the sale ends. If the licensee fails to do so,
the Town of Westernport may remove such trash or litter and charge
the cost thereof to the licensee.
Every peddler, hawker, vendor, or itinerant merchant shall carry
his or her license at any time he or she is engaged as a hawker, peddler,
vendor, or itinerant merchant or shall display said license on the
site of the business. Additionally, he or she shall show his or her
license to anyone who shall demand it while he or she is so engaged.
If a license is issued to a supervisor of a temporary movable structure,
said license must be posted on the structure.
A.
Any enforcement officer of the Town of Westernport may revoke any
license upon finding that the peddler, hawker, vendor, or itinerant
merchant engaged in the following:
(1)
Withheld or falsified any information required to obtain the vendor
license;
(2)
Perpetrated fraud or willful misrepresentation;
(3)
Violated any provision of this chapter;
(4)
Committed any unlawful act;
(5)
Refused to leave any private property immediately when requested
to do so by the owner-occupant; or
(6)
Conducted business in an unsafe manner as to constitute a menace
to the health, safety, or the general welfare of the public.
B.
Any license that has been revoked must be immediately returned to
the enforcement officer.
[Amended 7-10-2017]
Any person aggrieved by the Mayor in the denial of an application
for a vendor license as outlined in this chapter or in a decision
with reference to the revocation of a license as outlined in this
chapter shall have the right of appeal to the Mayor and Commissioners.
Said person shall file in the office of the Town Clerk a written petition
requesting a hearing and setting forth a brief statement of the reason
for appeal within 14 days after the day of the decision. Upon receipt
of such petition, the Mayor and Commissioners shall set a time and
place for such hearing and shall give the petitioner written notice
thereof. At such hearing, the petitioner shall be given an opportunity
to be heard and to show why said decision should be modified or withdrawn.
The hearing shall be held not later than 30 days after the day on
which the petition was filed, provided that, upon application of the
petitioner, the Mayor and Commissioners may postpone the date of the
hearing for a reasonable time beyond such thirty-day period if, in
their judgment, the petitioner has submitted a good and sufficient
reason for such postponement. Any decision pursuant to this chapter
shall automatically become effective if a written petition for a hearing
is not filed in the office of the Clerk within 14 days after such
decision is made.
[Amended 7-10-2017; 10-1-2018 by Ord. No. 9-4-2018B]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a municipal infraction subject to Chapter 135 of the Code of the Town of Westernport.
This chapter shall be known as the "Vendor Ordinance" and may
be cited as such.
