[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Sayre 8-28-2019 by Ord. No. 957.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 111, Art. II
Peddling and soliciting in Howard Elmer Park — See Ch. 117, Art. II.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 125, Peddling and Soliciting, adopted 10-24-2005 by Ord. No. 835
Words as used herein are defined as follows:
CHARITABLE NONPROFIT AND PHILANTHROPIC
Includes political, patriotic, religious, service, welfare, benevolent, educational, civic or fraternal corporations, organizations, associations, societies and the like, not organized for private gain. Examples of nonprofit organizations include veterans groups and organizations which assist the poor, the aged, the sick, the physically or mentally challenged, or which aid victims of fire, flood or similar catastrophes. This enumeration is intended to be typical and shall not be construed as exclusive. All applicants shall provide satisfactory proof of nonprofit status upon request, including but not limited to evidence of tax exemption.
COMMERCIAL SOLICITOR
Any individual or person meeting the definition under this chapter as a solicitor, peddler or transient or itinerant merchant or vendor engaged in the sale of a product who does not meet the definition of an invited solicitor.
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
Includes local municipal agencies, school districts, county agencies, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and federal agencies. This will include but not limit the agencies obtaining survey data or information for government purposes, including census takers and assessment officials.
NONCOMMERCIAL SOLICITOR
Any individual or person who is a member of a bona fide religious, educational, charitable, nonprofit community service organizations or government agencies as defined in this chapter and candidates or campaign workers for political office or for legitimate campaign issues who travel door to door in the Borough who are not engaged in the sale of a product.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any property located in the Borough.
PEDDLER
Any person, whether a resident of the Borough of Sayre or not, traveling by foot, wagon, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, carrying, conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden or farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers or who, without traveling from place to place, shall sell or offer the same for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, railroad car or other vehicle or conveyance, and further provided that one who solicits orders and, as a separate transaction, makes deliveries to purchasers as a part of a scheme or design to evade the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a "peddler" subject to the provisions of this chapter. All peddlers involved in the sale of food products, including but not limited to dairy, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden or farm products, shall have all of the applicable and required licenses from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or the successor state agency.
PERSON
Includes the singular and the plural and shall also mean and include any person, firm or corporation, association, club, co-partnership or society or any other organization.
SERVICE ORGANIZATION
Includes benevolent, civic or fraternal organizations, associations, societies and the like, not organized for private gain. Examples of nonprofit organizations include organizations which provide a free community service, assist the poor, the aged, the sick, the physically or mentally challenged, or which aid victims of fire, flood or similar catastrophes. This enumeration is intended to be typical and shall not be construed as exclusive. All applicants shall provide satisfactory proof of nonprofit status upon request, including but not limited to evidence of tax exemption. Examples of service organizations as defined for the purposes of this chapter are as follows: Rotary, Kiwanis, Elks, Lions Club, etc.
SOLICITOR
Any individual, whether of the Borough of Sayre or not, traveling either by foot, wagon, automobile, motor truck or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, taking or attempting to take orders for sale of goods, wares and merchandise, personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery or for services to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such sale or whether he is collecting advance payments on such sales or not, provided that such definition shall include any person who, for himself or for another person, firm or corporation, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, tent, railroad boxcar, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or any other place within the borough for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
TRANSIENT MERCHANT
Any person, firm or corporation, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee, whether a resident of the Borough or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods, wares and merchandise within said Borough and who, in furtherance of such purpose, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, motor vehicle, tent, railroad boxcar or public room in hotels, lodging houses, apartments or shops or any street, alley or other place within the borough 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 only 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.
No person shall engage as a peddler, commercial solicitor or transient merchant within the Borough of Sayre without first having obtained a license as hereafter provided. All individuals involved in the sale of food products, including but not limited to dairy, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden or farm products shall have all of the applicable and required licenses from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or the successor state agency.
A. 
No license fee shall be charged under this section to farmers selling their own produce, for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, donated by the owners thereof, the proceeds whereof are to be applied to any charitable or philanthropic purpose or to any manufacturer or producer in the sale of bread and bakery products, meat and meat products, or milk or milk products, but the chapter may require any person, partnership, firm or corporation in any or all of these excepted categories to register with the borough and be subject to all other provisions of the chapter except those pertaining to the payment of license fees; provided, the term "milk or milk products" shall not include or apply to ice cream or other frozen desserts; and provided further that any transient retail business dealing in one or more of the excepted categories and selling other goods, wares and merchandise not excepted shall be subject to the license fee fixed by the chapter for its activities in connection with the sale of goods, wares and merchandise not in any of the excepted categories. All individuals involved in the sale of food products including but not limited to dairy, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden or farm products, shall have all of the applicable and required licenses from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or the successor state agency.
B. 
The license fee provisions of this chapter shall not apply to sales made to manufacturers, merchants and dealers for resale only.
C. 
Any commercial solicitor who was invited by the property owner to meet at the property owner's residence to discuss the sale of their product.
D. 
The license fee and registration provisions of this chapter shall not apply to individuals who participate in functions and events approved by the Borough Council.
Authorized representatives of bona fide religious, charitable, educational or service organizations, government agencies and political candidates or campaign workers may go door to door in the Borough without any requirement to register, provided they are not selling any products. Any of these organizations selling a product shall be exempt from the payment of any fee required by any section of this chapter. All such organizations shall be required to submit, in writing, to the Borough Secretary the name and purpose of the cause for which such activity is sought, the name and address of the immediate director of such activity and the period during which such activity is to be carried on in the Borough of Sayre. If the Chief of Police or his designee, after investigation, shall find that the organization is a bona fide charitable, religious, educational or service organization, he shall issue, free of charge, a license to carry on such activity for which the license was issued. However, there will be no requirement to register or pay a fee for any individual identified in this section who is not selling a product.
An application, in writing, shall be filed with the Police Department for a license under this chapter. Such application shall set forth the applicant's name, date of birth, social security number, permanent address, business address, physical description, and, signed wavier form giving permission to conduct criminal background check. The application shall also set for the applicant's employer, if any, and the employer's address, the nature of the applicant's business, the last place of such business and the type of activity to be conducted under the license.
A. 
Upon receipt of such application, including a driver's license or photo identification, the original shall be referred to the Chief of Police or other police officer in charge, who shall cause such investigation of the applicant's business responsibility to be made, as he deems necessary for the protection of the public good. The Police Department will have a period of at least five business days to investigate the applicant.
B. 
If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant's business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory for any reason, the Chief of Police or other police officer in charge shall endorse on such application his disapproval and his reason for the same and notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no permit and license shall be issued.
C. 
If, as a result of such investigation, the business responsible for the applicant is found to be satisfactory, the Chief of Police or other police officer in charge shall endorse on the application his approval and return said application to the applicant upon payment of the prescribed license fee, deliver to the applicant his license. Such license shall contain the signature and seal of the issuing officer and shall show the name and address of said driver's license shall be required, 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 activity. The Police Department shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued.
Each solicitor or peddler shall at all times while doing business in this Borough keep in his possession the license provided for in this chapter and shall, upon the request of prospective customers, exhibit the license as evidence that he has complied with all requirements of this chapter. Each transient merchant shall publicly display his license in his place of business.
No license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be used at any time by any person other than the one to whom it was issued.
No person licensed as a peddler under this chapter shall hawk or cry his wares upon any of the streets or sidewalks of the Borough, nor shall be use any loudspeaker or horn or any other device for announcing his presence by which the general public is annoyed.
A. 
Unless otherwise permitted by ordinance, no transient merchant shall be permitted to sell from any fixed location in the public streets nor shall any peddler, solicitor or transient merchant be permitted to operate in any congested area where his operations might impede or inconvenience the public. For the purpose of this chapter, the judgment of the Chief of Police or other police officer in charge exercised in good faith shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested or the public impeded or inconvenienced.
B. 
The Chief of Police or the officer in charge shall require any peddler, solicitor or transient merchant operating in a public street to wear a personal safety vest to alert the public as to their presence in the street, and the area that they're soliciting shall be designated with pylons for their personal safety.
It shall be the duty of any police officer of the Borough of Sayre to require any person seen peddling, soliciting or doing business as a transient merchant 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 violating the same.
The Police Department shall maintain a record for each license issued and record all violations therein.
A. 
Permits and licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked by the Chief of Police of the Borough of Sayre after notice.
(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 his business.
(3) 
Any violation of this chapter.
(4) 
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
(5) 
Conducting the business in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police or other police officer in charge in the denial of a license as provided in § 125-6 of this chapter or in the decision with reference to the revocation of a license as provided in § 125-13 of this chapter shall have the right to appeal to the Council of the Borough of Sayre. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Council, within five days after notice of the action complained of has been mailed to such person's last known address or otherwise placed in his possession, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal within 30 days after the date of filing, and such hearing shall be held not later than 60 days after the date of filing. Notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant by the Borough for revocation of a license shall be given in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the licensee at his last-known address or otherwise placed in his possession at least five days prior to the date set for hearing.
No license shall be issued under this chapter until the proper fee, as follows, shall be paid to the Borough of Sayre for the use of the borough unless changed by the Borough by resolution:
A. 
$20 per day.
B. 
$50 per week.
C. 
$200 per year.
D. 
For multiple employees of the same employer that are engaged as peddlers and/or solicitors requiring a police background check an additional $10 per individual employee shall be assessed.
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 30 days.