[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Upper Darby 9-18-2002 by Ord.
No. 2926. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
DEPARTMENT
OFF-STREET RETAIL SALES
PEDDLING
PERSON
SERMONIZING
SOLICITING
TOWNSHIP
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have meanings
give to them in this section.
Upper Darby Township Department of Licenses and Inspections.
The sale of any goods, wares or merchandise by any individual,
partnership, association, corporation or other entity, or by an agent
thereof, at a site located on private property and rented from or
owned by any other individual, partnership, association, corporation
or other entity when the goods, wares or merchandise are not being
sold or exhibited by the proprietor in connection with the proprietor's
existing business being conducted upon the same premises for which
the off-street site is already being used.
The selling or offering for sale of any goods, wares, merchandise
or service for immediate delivery upon any of the streets or sidewalks
or from house to house within Upper Darby Township.
Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation.
Seeking or disseminating information house to house within
the Township.
The seeking or taking of contracts or orders for any goods,
wares, merchandise or service for future delivery, or seeking contributions
of money, property or services, upon any of the streets or sidewalks
or from house to house within the Township.
Upper Darby Township.
B.
In this chapter, the singular shall include the plural, and the masculine
shall include the feminine and the neuter.
No person, unless exempted by any other provision of this chapter,
shall peddle or solicit upon any of the streets or sidewalks or from
house to house within the Township without first securing and carrying
in his possession a license for such peddling or soliciting from the
Township.
A.
Every person desiring to engage in peddling or soliciting or to operate
an off-street retail sales business in the Township shall first file
an application for a license at the Department on a form provided
by the Department and shall furnish all information required thereby.
Upon the approval of the application and payment of the license fee
herein required, the Department shall grant and issue to each applicant
a license to peddle, solicit or operate an off-street retail sales
business.
B.
The application for a license for peddling or soliciting shall include
the following:
(1)
The name, address and social security number of the applicant;
(2)
The name and address of the employer, firm, organization or person
the applicant represents;
(3)
The nature of the merchandise to be sold or offered; the services
to be furnished; or the type of article, device, subscription, product
or contribution for which the applicant wishes to sell or solicit
within the Township;
(4)
The place or places of residence of the applicant for the preceding
three years;
(5)
The type of vehicle, if any, the applicant uses in the course of
his peddling and solicitation and its registration number and state;
(6)
Whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime other
than a violation of the Motor Vehicle Code and, if so, when, where
and the nature of the offense;
(7)
Names of other municipalities in Pennsylvania in which the applicant
has worked as a peddler or solicitor or operated an off-street retail
sales business in the past two years;
(8)
The date(s) upon and the location(s) at which the applicant intends
to peddle, solicit or operate an off-street retail sales business
within the Township.
C.
The application shall also be accompanied by a letter or other written
statement from the individual, firm, corporation or organization the
applicant represents, certifying that the applicant is authorized
to act as such a representative.
D.
No such application shall be filed more than three months prior to
the time such peddling or soliciting shall commence.
E.
To obtain an off-street retail sales license, the applicant must
provide a letter or lease signed by the owner of the premises at which
the off-street retail sales will be conducted, which authorizes the
use of such premises for the purpose of off-street retail sales.
F.
Each applicant for an off-street retail sales license must provide a reference sketch plan drawn accurately to scale of the property, indicating thereon: the exact sales location on the site which is to be used and its relationship to the other businesses, structures, streets and sidewalks already existing at the site; that the available parking provided in the existing paved off-street parking area complies with the requirements of § 550-33A of Chapter 550, Zoning, as amended; and the proposed lighting if nighttime operation is planned.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
A.
All applicants shall pay to the Department a license fee in the sum
as set by Township Council for a one-year license. In addition, applicants
shall pay to the Department a license fee in the amount as set by
Township Council for each employee of the applicant who will be peddling,
soliciting or operating an off-street retail sales business within
the Township.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
When the application is made for an organization, in addition to
the basic license fee, 1/2 of the amount of the license fee shall
be added for each person constituting a part of such organization
who shall be engaged in peddling, soliciting or off-street retail
sales within the Township.
C.
All licenses shall expire on the last date that the applicant intends to peddle, solicit or engage in off-street retail sales, as set forth on the application, but in no event shall they expire later than December 31 of the year in which they were initially issued. An expired license must be renewed, and an applicant for renewal shall pay the fee provided for in § 405-4A and complete a new application.
D.
Licenses are not transferable and may not be used by anyone other
than the person to whom they are initially issued.
The Director of the Department or his designee shall, within
10 days from the date that an applicant files an application containing
all required information, issue to the applicant a license permitting
the applicant to peddle, solicit or operate an off-street retail sales
business at the location within the Township set forth on the applicant's
application, beginning on the date such license is issued, unless
it shall be determined that any of the information provided on the
application is false. Any applicant supplying such false information
shall be subject to the penalties provided for violation of this chapter
and any other penalties prescribed by law, and the application shall
be denied.
Residents of the Township may post a sign stating "No Solicitation"
at their residence. No one, whether licensed or unlicensed, shall
solicit, peddle or sermonize at any property where such a sign is
posted.
B.
Off-street retail sales licenses and mercantile tax licenses shall
be conspicuously posted at the location or locations of any off-street
retail sales business.
C.
All peddlers and solicitors shall carry their license card at all
times and shall present it, upon request, to any Department officer
or to any person upon whom they shall call or to whom they shall talk
in the conduct of their business or solicitation.
D.
No licensee shall permit any other person to possess or use his license
and shall immediately report its loss to the Department.
E.
No peddler, solicitor or sermonizer shall enter or attempt to enter
any dwelling without the invitation or permission of the occupant
and shall immediately leave any premises upon request of the occupant.
F.
No licensee shall represent his license to be an endorsement by the
Township of himself, his goods, his services, his employer or organization
which he represents.
G.
No licensee shall sell or offer for sale, seek or take orders or
contract for any goods, wares, merchandise, article, device, subscription,
contribution or service not stated in the application for which his
license has been issued. Nor shall any licensee use any vehicle for
soliciting, peddling or off-street retail sales other than the vehicle
listed on his application.
H.
While engaging in peddling, soliciting or off-street retail sales,
no licensee shall hawk or cry his goods, wares, merchandise, offers,
contracts or services nor use any loudspeaker on the streets or sidewalks
of the Township.
I.
Goods, wares and merchandise of any kind or description, whether
organic or inorganic, or a combination of both, may only be sold or
exhibited for sale in the public right-of-way beyond the confines
of a permanent building or structure where the same are sold or exhibited
for sale in connection with an existing business by the proprietor
of the existing business conducted in a permanent building or structure
upon the same premises for which a certificate of occupancy has been
issued and then only where permitted as set forth in the ordinances
of the Township of Upper Darby and the statutes of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
J.
Except when permitted by Subsection I or where being loaded or unloaded, no good, wares or merchandise or property of any description, whether for sale or otherwise, may be placed, deposited or hung in, on or over any public right-of-way.
K.
No peddling, soliciting, off-street retail sales or sermonizing shall
be conducted within a distance of 75 feet of the radius curve of any
street or highway intersection or from any other location which may
obstruct the normal flow of traffic.
L.
No sermonizer shall sell any goods, nor accept any contribution of
any kind, without obtaining a license and conducting himself in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter governing peddlers and solicitors.
A.
The following organizations and activities are not required to apply
for a license or pay the fee provided for in this chapter:
(1)
Merchants or their employees or agents who are delivering goods or
services in the regular course of their business;
(2)
Persons engaged in an activity defined in § 405-1A, in the definitions of "off-street retail sales," "peddling" and "soliciting," for which they are already licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including but not limited to real estate, insurance or securities brokers and salesmen;
(3)
Persons soliciting for funds or canvassing for purposes pursuant
to the Pennsylvania Election Code, 25 P.S. § 2601 et seq.,
as amended;
B.
Any persons, corporation, partnership, association or organization
and the agents and employees thereof are exempt from the licensing
and fee provisions of this chapter, provided that they:
(1)
Can demonstrate proof that they have complied with the provisions
of the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S.
§ 162.1 et seq., or § 501(c) or 509(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code or any other statute of like nature of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania of the United States Government concerning solicitation
for charitable, benevolent, patriotic or any other purpose; or
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
(2)
Are soliciting, peddling, or conducting off-street retail sales for
any civic, religious or charitable organizations that are representative
of any school, student organization, religion or place of worship,
fire company, veterans' organization, political organization or similar
institution.
C.
No person, corporation, partnership, association, organization, or the agents and employees thereof may claim an exemption available pursuant to the provisions of § 405-8B unless they first inform the Department in writing on a form to be provided by the Department that such a solicitation, peddling or off-street sales activity is going to begin and the basis for such an exemption. The informational form shall also state the following:
(1)
The time during which the solicitation, peddling or off-street sales
activity will be ongoing;
(2)
The area or areas of the Township in which the solicitation, peddling
or off-street sales activity will occur;
(3)
The name, address and phone number of the person, corporation, partnership,
association or organization on whose behalf the solicitation, peddling
or off-street sales activity is being made;
(4)
The name, address and phone number of the person responsible for
supervising the solicitation, peddling or off-street sales activity;
and
(5)
The name, address and phone number of each individual solicitor,
peddler or off-street salesperson who will be taking part in the solicitation,
peddling or off-street sales.
Every person licensed to peddle, solicit or conduct off-street
sales in the Township shall report in person on those days on which
any such activity is to take place and register with the Department
by signing a registration book indicating their name and license number
and the name and license number of the corporation, partnership, association
or organization they represent.
[Amended 4-19-2017 by Ord. No. 3037]
Peddling, soliciting and off-street sales shall be limited to
the following hours: 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
This chapter shall be enforced by the filing of a civil complaint
or by such other means as may be provided by the Pennsylvania Rules
of Civil Procedure. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any
building, housing, property maintenance, health, fire or public safety
code shall, upon being found liable in a civil proceeding, be ordered
to pay a penalty of not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution,
plus all Township attorneys' fees incurred in the prosecution of the
civil case. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any other
ordinance shall, upon being found liable in a civil proceeding, be
ordered to pay a penalty of not more than $600, plus the costs of
prosecution, plus all Township attorneys' fees incurred in the prosecution
of the civil case. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute
a separate violation of this chapter. Each subsection of this chapter
that is violated shall constitute a separate violation of this chapter.
The provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable,
and if any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter shall,
for any reason, be held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decisions
shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections, sentences,
clauses and phrases of this chapter, but they shall stand, notwithstanding
the invalidity of any other part.
