[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Baldwin 1-21-1985 by Ord. No. 553; amended in its entirety 9-17-2019 by Ord. No. 898. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell
or offer to sell, by personal solicitation or by printed or written
cards, circulars or any other artifices whatsoever, any goods, wares,
merchandise, literary products, magazines, periodicals, fruit, fish,
vegetables, produce, oysters, milk or any other article of trade whatsoever
from house to house or in the public streets or alleys within the
limits of the Borough of Baldwin, or to circulate, distribute, and/or
indiscriminately deliver from house to house advertising flyers or
pamphlets (except in the ordinary course of mail) without first having
procured a permit or license from the Department of Police of the
Borough of Baldwin for such privileges. Nothing in this section shall
preclude the distribution of political or religious flyers, pamphlets
or tracts at no cost, or require that individuals merely engaging
in religious or political speech be required to register under this
act. In addition, the solicitation of funds on residential property
from Borough residents for any religious, charitable, or nonprofit
cause is not precluded by this section, nor is there a requirement
for these individuals to register under this act.
B.
For the protection of the public against fraud and imposition, all
persons making sales or soliciting orders of goods, wares or merchandise
as set forth heretofore shall first provide to the Department of Police
with the following information in order to obtain an identification
card for these purposes.
(1)
Full identification, including proof thereof by a voter's registration
card, vehicle operator's license or some other accepted method
of identification, with residence and an office address.
(2)
The name of the organization for which the applicant is soliciting,
together with the address of that organization.
(3)
The purpose of the solicitation in the Borough.
(4)
The periods and times during which the solicitation is to be conducted.
(5)
A certified Pennsylvania police criminal records check and a certified
police criminal records check from the state the applicant currently
resides. Both criminal records checks shall be current, that is they
shall have been obtained within 30 days of the date of the solicitation
application.
C.
The application shall be accompanied by two photographs of the applicant
not larger than two inches by two inches, one of which shall be attached
to the written request or application and the other to be attached
to the certificate given by the Department.
D.
(Reserved)
E.
After examination of the applicant and his application and, where
deemed necessary, after verification of the references or other means,
the Department of Police may issue to the applicant the required certification.
F.
The application for a permit shall be kept on file by the police
and shall be available for public inspection. Permits issued pursuant
to this chapter shall be valid for no more than three months from
the date of issuance.
G.
The Chief of Police may deny the application for a Borough Permit if the application is incomplete, is not accompanied by a fee, or if applicant or applicant's organization has been convicted of or has plead guilty or nolo contendere to i) violating the provisions of this Chapter 127 within a period of one year prior to the date of the application, or ii) any burglary, violent crime, or any felony or misdemeanor involving fraud or misrepresentation.
H.
An application for a Borough permit shall be approved or rejected
within a period of five days from the date it is submitted. If an
application for a Borough permit is rejected, the Chief of Police
shall set forth the reasons therefore in writing.
I.
The police department shall keep a permanent record of all permits
issued and all applications rejected under this chapter.
A.
There shall be exempt from the provisions of § 127-1 hereof persons selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such articles, and the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to newsboys nor to the acts of merchants or their employees in delivering goods in the regular course of business, nor shall the terms of this chapter be held to include or apply to any farmer or truck gardener who shall vend, sell or dispose of or offer to sell, vend or dispose of the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him; nor shall it apply to any manufacturer or producer in the sale of bread and bakery products, meat and meat products or milk or milk products. 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.
B.
In addition, this chapter shall not apply to boys or girls under
the age of 18 years who take orders for and deliver newspapers, greeting
cards, candy and the like, or who represent the Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts or similar organizations and take orders for and deliver cookies
and the like.
C.
Individuals who are seeking or the taking of orders by insurance agents or brokers licensed under the insurance laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are expressly exempt from registration under § 127-1 hereof.
D.
Any person soliciting funds for any religious, charitable, or nonprofit
cause is not required to register under this act.
In the course of a solicitation, each solicitor shall comply
with the following:
A.
No solicitor shall solicit at any residence which has a "No Solicitation"
sign posted on the residence.
B.
If no signs pursuant to § 127-3A are posted at a residence, no solicitor shall solicit before 9:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m.
C.
The solicitor shall:
(1)
If requested by a resident of the Borough, provide to the resident
the name and address or telephone number of a representative of the
soliciting organization to who inquiries can be addressed; and
(2)
Provide to each resident a full and fair description of the purpose
for which the solicitation is being made.
D.
The solicitor shall comply with all applicable laws, statutes, regulations,
rules or ordinances of the United States of America, the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, and the Borough of Baldwin.
E.
No solicitor shall make any untrue statement or misrepresentation
in the course of soliciting, or omit to state any material fact necessary
to prevent any statement made from being misleading. No solicitor
shall utilize any unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the course
of soliciting. In determining whether or not a practice is unfair
or deceptive under this subsection, definitions, standards or interpretations
relating thereto under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and
Consumer Protection Law, as amended from time to time, shall apply.
F.
Persons regulated by this chapter shall carry their identification
cards, which shall be issued by the Chief of Police, at all times
while soliciting within the Borough and shall show their identification
cards to residents or police when requested in order to identify themselves
prior to any actual solicitation of funds. Any loss of such identification
card shall be immediately reported to the Department of Police by
the person to whom such card was issued.
A.
Borough permits issued under this chapter may be revoked by the Chief
of Police, after notice and hearing, for any of the following causes:
(1)
Fraud misrepresentation, or false statement contained in, or material
fact omitted from, the application for a Borough permit;
(2)
Fraud, misrepresentation, false statement, or material omission made
in the course of soliciting;
(3)
Failure to observe a "No Solicitation" notice posted by a resident
or "No Solicitation" list provided by the Borough;
(5)
Conviction, whether before issuance of the Borough permit or during
the term of the Borough permit, of any burglary, violent crime or
any felony or misdemeanor involving fraud or misrepresentation.
B.
Notice of the hearing for revocation of a Borough permit shall be
given in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint
and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be transmitted
by certified mail, postage prepaid, to the permittee at his last known
address at least seven days prior to the date set for hearing.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police in the denial of a Borough permit as provided in § 127-1 shall have the right of appeal to the Borough Council of Baldwin. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Borough Manager, within 14 days after notice of denial has been mailed to such person's last known address, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The Borough Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal and notice of such hearing shall be given to appellant in the same manner as provided in § 127-4 for notice of hearing on revocation.
Concurrently with the submission of the solicitation application,
the applicant shall pay a fee in an amount as established from time
to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
No licensee or any person in his or her behalf shall shout,
cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound or amplifying device
upon any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public places in the
Borough of Baldwin or upon private premises where sound of sufficient
volume is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly
heard upon the streets, avenues, alleys, parks or other public places
for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise
which such licensee proposes to sell.
No licensee 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 or sidewalks.
Every person, whether principal or agent, entering into or desiring
to conduct a transient retail business in the Borough for the sale
of the goods, wares or merchandise and who hires, leases or occupies
a room, apartment, store, shop, building or other place or structure
for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares or merchandise shall,
before commencing such business, take out a license to do so from
the Chief of Police. The fee for such license shall be $25 per month
or fractional part thereof, and shall be paid monthly in advance to
the Department of Police.
For the purpose of interpreting this chapter, words used herein
shall have the following definitions:
Any individual, association, partnership, firm, or corporation,
however styled.
To go from door to door in the Borough i) soliciting contributions
or pledges for contributions, or ii) selling or attempting to sell
subscriptions, products or services, or taking orders or attempting
to take orders for subscriptions, products or services from or to
an occupant of a residence.
Acts of individual solicitors on behalf of a particular person.
A person who solicits.
Includes any person, corporation, partnership, association
or any agent thereof who conducts a business in the Borough, either
from door to door or in any other manner where the vendor does not
have either a residence or a business office within the geographic
limits of the Borough.
No transient vendor shall deposit any refuse or waste on the
streets or alleys or any private or public property in the Borough,
nor may be or she be parked or stopped for a longer time than is necessary
for the reasonable conduct of his or her business.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to prosecution before a Magisterial District Judge and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $300 plus costs of prosecution. Each day that a violation occurs or is committed shall constitute a separate offense. Violations may also result in the revocation of the violator's permit, as specified in § 127-4.
Any resident of the Borough of Baldwin may register with the
Borough of Baldwin Police Department by signing a registration list
or application indicating that such owner or resident of such home
does not wish to be solicited. The Borough of Baldwin shall place
the name of such individual upon a registration list for the same
and provide that individual with a "NO SOLICITATION" sticker, which
that party may display on the upper left-hand side of his or her front
door. Any person seeking a licensing permit under the provisions of
this chapter shall, in signing the application to obtain the same,
agree that he or she will not solicit homes whose owners or residents
have signed a registration list which indicates that such owner or
resident of such home does not wish to be solicited. Such a list shall
be made available to the residents of the Borough and shall be held
by the Department of Police, and a copy thereof shall be given to
each person obtaining a license and identification card under the
provisions of this chapter. In the event that such person soliciting
within the boundaries of the Borough shall fail to recognize the wishes
of the homeowner or the resident of such home as expressed in the
notice, then any such attempt to solicit such home shall result in
a revocation of the solicitor's license and identification card
after a hearing held before the Borough Council of the Borough of
Baldwin.
