[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Vandergrift as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Disorderly conduct — See Ch. 337, Art. I.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 416, Arts. VI and X.
[Adopted 2-8-1941 (Ch. XV, Part 5, of the 1970 Code of Ordinances)]
[Amended 4-22-1955 by Ord. No. 7-1955]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, not a resident of Vandergrift Borough and not maintaining a fixed and permanent place of business therein, to engage in the business of transient photography within the Borough without having obtained a valid license therefor under this article. Any violation of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any such license shall constitute a violation of this article.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
TRANSIENT PHOTOGRAPHER
One who, without a fixed and permanent place of business in the Borough, or not being a resident thereof, makes, develops, prints, finishes, mounts, frames, sells or delivers photographs within Vandergrift Borough.
The Mayor is hereby authorized in his discretion to grant a transient photographer's license upon the payment by the applicant of a fee of $8 per day for each person and $35 per day for each firm or corporation for each day that said applicant is engaged in the business of soliciting, making, developing, printing, finishing, mounting, framing, selling or delivering any photographs within Vandergrift Borough. Each application shall state the name and place of residence and the length of time for which he desires to engage in such transient business.
[Amended 4-22-1955 by Ord. No. 7-1955; 1-10-1989 by Ord. No. 2-1989]
Any person, firm or corporation who or which violates any provision of this article or of any term, condition or provision of any license granted under this article shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 or more than $600 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
[Adopted 6-4-2007 by Ord. No. 5-2007]
This article shall define, regulate and provide procedures for lawful peddling and solicitation within Vandergrift Borough, including licensing, application process, investigation, hours permitted, activities prohibited and sanctions available, subject to due process and hearing procedures.
The following words and terms, when used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:
APPLICATION
The official application which was enacted as a part of this article and which is available at Vandergrift Borough Municipal Building.
BOROUGH
Borough of Vandergrift, County of Westmoreland and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
NONTRANSFERABLE
Not subject to change of ownership by way of purchase, gift or any other means.
PEDDLER
Any person, whether a resident of this Borough or not, who travels by foot, motor vehicle, or any other conveyance from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street, carrying, offering or exposing goods, wares, merchandise or food products for sale or taking or soliciting orders for goods, wares, products and merchandise for future delivery, whether the person collects advance payment for such sales or not; or who, without traveling from place to place, sells or offers for sale from a wagon, motor vehicle, temporary stand or other conveyance stationed upon public or private property goods, wares, merchandise or food products.
PERMANENT MERCHANT
A direct seller who, for at least one year, has continuously operated an established place of business in this Borough or has continuously resided in the Borough for at least one year and now legally does business from his residence.
PERSON
Includes an individual person, a firm, corporation, partnership or associations, whether owner, agent, bailee, cosignee or employee.
SOLICITOR
Any person who solicits or attempts to solicit from house to house or upon public streets orders for commercial goods, wares, subscriptions, publications, periodicals, merchandise or services to be delivered or fulfilled at a future date.
TEMPORARY
Any business which operates for less than three days per week on a monthly basis.
TRANSIENT MERCHANT
A transient merchant includes every merchant, whether an individual person, a firm, corporation, partnership or association, who brings or causes to be brought within the Borough any goods, wares or merchandise of any kind, nature or description, with the intention of temporarily or intermittently selling or offering to sell at retail such goods, wares or merchandise. Temporary association with a local merchant, dealers, trader or auctioneer for conducting such transient business and connection with, as a part of or in the name of, any local merchant, dealer, trader or auctioneer does not exempt any such person, firm or corporation from being considered a transient merchant.
Peddlers, solicitors and/or transient merchants shall conduct business between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., each day, and no peddlers, solicitors and/or transient merchants shall conduct business on Sundays or legal holidays.
No person shall engage in business as a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant in this Borough without first having obtained a license as herein provided, except that no license shall be required for the following:
A. 
Farmers selling their own produce;
B. 
Any person offering for sale goods, wares, food, merchandise, services or subscriptions in conjunction with a charitable or other civic nonprofit club or organization the proceeds of which are to be applied to any charitable or philanthropic purpose;
C. 
A garage sale on the premises of a homeowner in which the items offered for sale are primarily items belonging to the homeowner;
D. 
Any individual employed by or representing a church, Borough civic association, scouting organization or school;
E. 
Delivery of newspapers, fuel or other printed materials on established routes;
F. 
Delivery of dairy products, baked goods or other prepared food products on established routes; and
G. 
Persons selling at wholesale to business establishments, professional offices or institutions exclusively.
Every person desiring to engage in peddling, solicitation or transient retail business in the Borough shall first make application to the Police Department and remit a twenty-five-dollar investigation fee at the time of filing said application. Said twenty-five-dollar investigation fee will be credited to the applicant's license fee in the event the application is approved. The application shall, at a minimum, contain the following information:
A. 
Name, permanent residence, social security number of the applicant;
B. 
Address while in the area;
C. 
Name, address and phone number of the firm, corporation, partnership or association for whom applicant is conducting business, if any;
D. 
Address of location where business will be conducted or the manner in which the business will be conducted;
E. 
Date of proposed sale;
F. 
Description of products, merchandise, etc., being sold;
G. 
The make, model, year, license number and state of registration of any vehicle being used in connection with said business;
H. 
Name of the most recent three previous communities in which applicant was licensed or operated;
I. 
Statement as to whether applicant has been convicted of any crime or ordinance violation related to the applicant's transient merchant business within the last five years;
J. 
The nature of the offense and place of conviction; and
K. 
Whether or not applicant has ever applied for a license within this Borough.
A. 
The following license fees shall be paid to Vandergrift Borough by the applicant at the time the license is issued:
(1) 
Two dollars per day.
(2) 
Ten dollars per week.
(3) 
Fifty dollars per month.
B. 
No license shall be issued or granted for a period of more than one year.
Each person issued a license shall, at all times while doing business in this Borough, keep in his or her possession and display publicly at his or her place of doing business his or her license and shall, upon the request of a prospective customer, exhibit the license as evidence that he or she has complied with all of the requirement of this article.
A. 
No licensee under this article shall, within the Borough boundaries, call attention to the licensee's business, nor to the goods, wares, merchandise or related services which are being sold or offered for sale, by crying out, by blowing any horns, by ringing loud bells, by public address speaker system, or other loud or unusual noise or disruptive or disturbing sounds. There shall be no signs displayed in any location, nor shall there be any signage or notices placed on any public location, within Vandergrift Borough nor on any telephone pole, tree or other upright or erect structure to announce the licensee's business. This section is not intended to prohibit the playing of music or ringing bells on motorized carts associated with neighborhood seasonal sales of frozen dairy products by street vendors. Any violation of this section shall be considered as a basis for a license revocation pursuant to the requirements of § 341-19 herein.
B. 
No licensee under this article shall, within the Borough boundaries, allow to remain overnight any items, materials, debris, vehicles or any other evidence that the licensee was operating any type of a transient merchant business within the Borough boundaries. Any violation of this section shall be considered as a basis for a license revocation pursuant to the requirements of § 341-19 herein.
C. 
No licensee under this article shall, within the Borough boundaries, sell, offer for sale or present any materials or items which would qualify under the ordinance of Vandergrift Borough relating to sexually explicit materials, as more specifically defined in Ordinance No. 3 of 2003.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 500, Zoning, and in particular § 500-28D.
D. 
No licensee shall conduct any business activities beyond the times identified in this article for the sale or offer for sale of lawful items as a transient merchant, peddler or solicitor from any other location or at any other times other than as listed in the application and as approved by the Borough.
Any resident or other entity of the Borough who wishes to exclude peddlers, solicitors and/or transient merchants from premises occupied by him or her may place upon or near the usual entrance to such premises a printed placard or sign bearing the following notice: "Peddlers and Solicitors Prohibited." Such placard shall be at least four inches long and six inches wide, and the printing thereon shall be clear and legible. No peddler shall enter in or upon any premises or attempt to enter in or upon any premises where placard or sign is placed and maintained.
A. 
No peddler, solicitor and/or person engaged in a transient retail business shall:
(1) 
Have any exclusive right to any location on any of the streets, alleys or sidewalks in the Borough;
(2) 
Be permitted a stationary location for a period in excess of two hours except under circumstances where the person would be part of a farmers' market or a community activity where, by invitation, the transient merchant, peddler or solicitor is engaged in an approved market-type setting, such as an approved temporary farmers' market;
(3) 
Be permitted to operate in a congested area where his operations might impede traffic or inconvenience the public.
B. 
For the purpose of this section, the judgment of a police officer, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested, the traffic impeded or the public inconvenienced.
A. 
Licenses issued under the provisions of this article may be revoked by Vandergrift Borough after notice and hearing for any of the following causes:
(1) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained in the application for license;
(2) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in the course of carrying on such licensed business;
(3) 
Any violation of this article;
(4) 
Conduct of the business in any unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a menace to health, safety or general welfare of the Borough's citizens;
(5) 
Operating under any conditions which would evidence a lack of sanitation, sanitary facilities for the conducting of any such licensed business operation or operating without appropriate permit or permits as may be required by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or any state or federal entity for the operation of any such licensed business entity.
B. 
The license may be revoke by delivering a notice to the licensee indicating that the license has been revoked and setting forth the reason for the revocation. The notice may be delivered by any police officer on behalf of Vandergrift Borough and may be based upon the discretion of a police office or the discretion of the Code Enforcement Officer of Vandergrift Borough. Once served with the notice, the licensee must immediately terminate operation and shall be subject to the police jurisdiction of Vandergrift Borough relative to any law or laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or ordinance of Vandergrift Borough for failing to remove himself or herself from any location or by failing to cease and desist from the activity which has since been prohibited by license revocation.
C. 
Revocation of any license shall bar the licensee from being eligible for any license under this article for a period of two years from the date of revocation.
Any person aggrieved by the denial of an application for license or a decision with reference to the revocation of a license shall have the right of appeal to the Vandergrift Borough Council. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Vandergrift Borough Secretary, within 10 days after notice of the action complained of shall have been mailed or delivered to such persons personally or at the last known address, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The Vandergrift Borough Secretary shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal within 60 days of receipt of the appeal, and notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant in the same manner as provided in this article for notice of revocation of license. The decision and order of the Vandergrift Borough Council on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
Any person violating the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding $100. Each day the violation continues to exist shall constitute a separate offense.