[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Nottingham 9-21-2015 by Ord.
No. 107. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It shall be unlawful for any peddler, canvasser or transient merchant as defined in § 270-2 of this chapter to engage in any such business within the Township of Nottingham without first obtaining a permit therefor in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
Includes any person, whether a resident of the Township of
Nottingham or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place,
or from street to street, soliciting or attempting to take orders
from individuals for sale of goods, wares or merchandise, including
magazines, books, periodicals, or personal property of any nature
whatsoever for future delivery, or for service to be performed at
that time or 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.
Includes any person, whether a resident of the Township of
Nottingham or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place,
or street to street, to include placing or leaving flyers on mailboxes
or at residences, conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise
or offering or exposing the same for sale in any manner whatsoever,
or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers, or establishing
a temporary place of business in a fixed location.
A.
The terms of this chapter shall not be held to include the acts of
persons selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such
articles; nor to the acts of merchants or their employees in delivering
goods in the regular course of business including the following:
(1)
For farmers selling their own produce;
(2)
For the sale of goods, wares and merchandise donated by the owners
thereof, where the proceeds are to be applied to any charitable or
philanthropic purpose;
(3)
For person under the age of 18 years who take orders for and deliver
newspapers, grass cutting, yard work, snow removal, pet watching,
greeting cards, candy, sandwiches, bakery products and similar activities;
(4)
Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts and similar organizations;
(5)
Garage sales by residents.
B.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be held to prohibit any sale
required by statute or by order of any court, or to prevent any person
conducting a bona fide auction sale pursuant to law.
Applicants for a permit under this chapter must file, in person,
with the Secretary of the Township of Nottingham a sworn application
in writing on a form to be furnished by the Township. A processing
fee to be determined by the Board of Supervisors shall be paid by
the applicant and shall accompany the return of the application which
shall provide the following information:
A.
Name and physical description of applicant, to include two, two-inch-by-two-inch
color photographs;
B.
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant and, in
the case of transient merchants, the local address from which proposed
sales will be mailed;
C.
A brief description of the nature of the business and the goods to
be sold;
D.
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with
credentials therefrom establishing the exact relationship;
E.
The source of supply of the goods or property proposed to be sold,
or orders taken for the sale thereof; and the proposed method of delivery;
F.
A statement as to whether or not the applicant or any canvassers
have been convicted of a crime other than a summary traffic offense
and, if so, the nature of the offense and the punishment assessed
therefore;[1]
G.
Present a valid photo driver's license or state photo identification
card; no other form of identification will be acceptable;
H.
All applicants must present a criminal background check conducted
by the Pennsylvania State Police. If the applicant is not a resident
of Pennsylvania, the applicant will provide a current (no older than
one year) criminal background check from the state in which the applicant
resides.
All bona fide religious, charitable and political organizations,
societies associations or corporations shall be exempt from the application
of this chapter so long as the principal purpose of their solicitation
activities is the expression of religious, political or other philosophical
beliefs, as opposed to the sale or distribution of goods and merchandise.
A.
The Township of Nottingham Designated Municipal Official (DMO) shall
endorse on the application his/her approval and, upon payment of the
fees set by resolution of the Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors,
shall deliver to the applicant his/her permit and Township's approved
identification badge with photo enclosed, which shall be affixed to
the outer clothing of the solicitor in a manner so as to be permanently
displayed at all times during the course of solicitation.
B.
The permit shall issue upon filing of a completed application unless
the Township informs the applicant, in writing and within five business
days of the date the application is received by the Township, that
the person is seeking to engage in unsafe, illegal, fraudulent, or
criminal activity, has made a material misrepresentation on the permit
application or is a home improvement contractor and has failed to
register with the Pennsylvania Attorney General.
C.
Permits shall expire at the end of each quarter-year, and the term
during which a permit is valid and usable shall not exceed 92 days.
Permits can be renewed for additional quarter-year terms, upon payment
of the required fee; however, no permit renewal shall extend beyond
the calendar year in which the original permit was issued. Any permit
issued and the associated permit application information associated
therewith shall expire at the end of each calendar year.
D.
Group permits may be granted and permits may be issued for a period
up to one year without the necessity of a renewal during the year.
Upon the refusal of or failure to act on an application within a reasonable
time, the applicant may appeal to the Township Board of Supervisors
for relief.
E.
Permits of any nature are not transferable.
No permittee, nor any person on his behalf, shall shout, cry
out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound or amplifying device
upon any of the streets of the Township of Nottingham or upon private
premises for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares
or merchandise which such permittee proposes to sell.
A.
No permittee shall have any exclusive right to any location in the
public streets, 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;
B.
No permittee shall be permitted to solicit before 9:00 a.m., or after
8:00 p.m. prevailing time, or all day on Sundays or other business
holidays, recognized as such holidays by governments of the United
States or Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
C.
No permittee shall be permitted to solicit on property that displays
a "No Soliciting" sign visible from the road;
D.
No permittee shall be permitted to solicit within Township Parks
without the express consent of the DMO or Director of Public Works;
E.
All permittees are responsible to pick up all literature used for
the purpose of soliciting or sale that accumulates in any manner on
the streets, the property of residents or the Township of Nottingham.
Permittees are required to exhibit their permits at all times
when soliciting in any manner.
The Board of Supervisors, after notice and hearing, may revoke
any permit issued pursuant to this chapter for one or more of the
following reasons:
A.
Harassment of a resident in soliciting the sale of goods where a
police report has been filed;
B.
Failure to disclose a criminal conviction of the applicant after
permit is issued;
C.
Determination by the DMO that the applicant has made a material misrepresentation
on the application subsequent to the permit being issued;
D.
Failure to pick up literature used for solicitation after notification
to do so by the Township Zoning Officer.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, firm, corporation or association who or which violates
or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a
summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under
the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.
Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted
to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section
of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense.
