[Adopted 12-10-1931 by Ord. No. 740A (Ch. 317, Art. II, of the 2004 Code)]
[Amended 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577]
No person, firm or corporation shall engage in the business of huckster, hawker, peddler, soliciting sales or contractual agreements in the Township of Union in the County of Union, without first applying for and obtaining a license in the manner herein provided and paying the fee required for said license; provided, however, that the fee shall be waived in the case of persons exempt from payment of such fee by any statute of this state or any federal enactment or provision, and provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall prevent farmers and gardeners from selling, without license, the products of the farm or garden in the Township of Union owned or occupied by them, and provided, further, that the fee shall be waived in the case of any non-profit-making vendor, such "non-profit-making vendor" being herein defined as a person who sells goods, the proceeds of which are devoted exclusively to the purposes of a philanthropic, charitable or religious society, on whose behalf he acts as an agent without pay.
[Amended 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577; 12-11-1978 by Ord. No. 3427A]
A. 
Application procedure.
(1) 
Application for such license shall be in writing and shall set forth the kind of goods or merchandise to be sold or the purpose for which the canvass or solicitation shall be made by the applicant, the name, address, age and description of the applicant, and shall be accompanied by two photographs of the applicant taken within 30 days prior to the application, of a size approximately 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches, on thin paper, having a light background and clearly showing a front view of the applicant's face, one of which is to be pasted or attached to the application, and the other to be attached to the license, if granted.
(2) 
Such application form shall require the applicant to give the following information concerning himself:
(a) 
Name.
(b) 
Specific addresses for the past five years.
(c) 
Date and place of birth and citizenship.
(d) 
Marital status.
(e) 
Arrest or conviction at any time of any crime or for disorderly conduct, or of any municipal ordinance or regulation.
(f) 
Name and addresses of employers for the past five years and respective dates of employment.
(g) 
Identification and location of sponsor of project for which permit is sought.
(3) 
By the filing of the application, the applicant consents to the impression of fingerprints being taken by the Township and of the filing thereof with proper federal and state authorities.
(4) 
Such application shall be made to and licenses issued by the Chief of Police, after investigation by the Police Department.
(5) 
No license shall be granted until after an interval of 10 days from the presentation of a proper application for purposes of investigation and report thereon by the Police Department. This period may be waived upon consent of the Chief of Police for appropriate cause.
(6) 
Each license shall set forth the goods authorized to be sold or the purpose for which the canvass or solicitation is made and the time for which it is granted.
(7) 
No person shall sell, or offer to sell, any articles, except those permitted under such license, nor canvass or solicit for any purpose other than that authorized by such license, and said license shall be carried by the licensee and exhibited upon demand of any resident or citizen of the Township or any member of the Police Department.
(8) 
Upon the filing of the application hereinabove provided, the applicant shall deposit the sum of $5. In the event that the application for a permit is denied, said fee shall be returned to the applicant. If the license is granted, said deposit of $5 shall be credited towards the license fee.
(9) 
Upon the granting of the license hereinabove mentioned, each licensee, upon depositing $5 and as security therefor, shall be given a photo identification badge of such size and design as may be determined by the Township Committee. Each licensee is required to wear said photo identification badge at all times that said licensee is operating under the license, and said photo identification badge shall be worn on the outer garment at chest level and be visible at all times, and no licensee shall perform any of the acts authorized under this article, unless said photo identification badge is so worn. Each photo identification badge must be returned to the officer in charge of police headquarters at the end of each and every day and may be reissued to said licensee on each day for which his license authorizes him to operate within the Township of Union; and each licensee shall leave with the officer in charge of police headquarters as a deposit, each time that the photo identification badge is issued to him, the sum of $5, which said sum of $5 shall be returned to said licensee each time that the photo identification badge is returned to the officer in charge of police headquarters.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(10) 
The failure to return said photo identification badge as aforesaid without a justifiable reason therefor shall, in addition to any other penalty herein provided for, result in the forfeiture of the license issued to said licensee.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(11) 
Each such license shall be effective only for the period for which it was issued.
B. 
Approval.
(1) 
The approval hereinabove mentioned of the application shall be granted unless the Chief of Police finds any of the following:
(a) 
That the criminal record of the applicant shows that he has been convicted (including pleas of nolo contendere and forfeitures) of a crime involving moral turpitude or of a felony, within five years from the date of the application.
(b) 
That the applicant has been convicted (including pleas of nolo contendere and forfeitures) of more than one misdemeanor, excluding Motor Vehicle Code violations, within five years from the date of the application.
(c) 
That the applicant has made false, fraudulent or misleading material statements in the application.
(d) 
That the applicant has been convicted (including pleas of nolo contendere and forfeitures) of a violation of the laws of any jurisdiction relating to selling, vending, soliciting, peddling, hawking or canvassing, within five years from the date of the application.
(e) 
That the applicant has been convicted of a crime involving a fraud upon any person, whether or not such fraud was perpetrated in the course of his conducting a solicitation activity.
(f) 
That as a result of the investigation, the applicant's character and business responsibility are found to be unsatisfactory.
(g) 
Complaints were received against the applicant by authorities in the last municipalities in which the applicant conducted similar activities for which the application is filed.
(2) 
If it is found and determined as a result of such investigation that mitigating circumstances exist as to any of the foregoing, then notwithstanding the same, the application may be approved.
[Amended 11-25-1975 by Ord. No. 3041]
A. 
There shall be paid for each license issued a fee or fees as follows:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(1) 
One hundred fifty dollars for each license covering a period of a week, or any part thereof.
(2) 
Two hundred fifty dollars for each license for the period of a year, or any part thereof greater than one week.
B. 
All licenses shall expire according to their terms, and no license shall extend beyond the 31st day of December of the year in which it is issued.
No license issued under the provisions of this article shall be transferable, and no person except the one named in the license shall be entitled to the privileges and authority conferred by such license.
Licenses under this article shall be granted only to citizens of the United States.
[Amended 12-11-1979 by Ord. No. 3427]
The Chief of Police shall keep a record of applications and licenses issued and shall remit to the Township Treasurer before the end of each month all fees paid for the issuance of licenses during the preceding month.
The Township Committee is authorized to make rules and regulations governing the issuance of such permits and the keeping of records thereof as may be deemed necessary by the Committee for the proper enforcement of this article.
In case any licensee under this article shall use a cart, wagon, dray, wheelbarrow or any other vehicle in connection with hawking, huckstering or peddling of goods, there shall be issued to such licensee two plates to be furnished by the Township, which shall bear the name of the municipality, the number of the license, the year during which the same shall be in force and said plates shall be fastened securely on the sides of such vehicle in a conspicuous position, and there shall be painted upon each side of every such cart, wagon, dray, wheelbarrow or vehicle licensed, as aforesaid, the name and address of the owner, in plain letters and figures, at least two inches in height.
[Amended 6-14-1932 by Ord. No. 750A; 11-27-1934 by Ord. No. 800A]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any huckster, hawker or peddler to sell any article, other than in original packages, except from sealed scales, weights and measures, or to have in his possession any unsealed or altered scales, weights or measures.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any huckster, hawker or peddler to conduct any sales or to ply or carry on his business of huckstering, hawking or peddling, within a distance of 1,200 feet from any public school or any public school building of the Township of Union, in the County of Union, said distance to be measured in the normal way that a pedestrian would properly walk from said proposed place of sale to said public school or public school building.
Any license granted hereunder may be revoked by the Township Committee for violation of any of the provisions of this article or any municipal ordinance or any state or federal statute or for violating the terms of the license or for falsification in the application or for other good cause, and in the event of such revocation, the licensee shall not be entitled to the return of the license fee paid, or any part thereof. The licensed person whose license is sought to be revoked shall be granted a hearing, upon his request, but a license may be suspended by the department issuing the same for no more than two weeks, without such a hearing.
[Amended 6-27-1939 by Ord. No. 910A; 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577]
A. 
Each person to whom a license or permit has been granted under the provisions of this article and every person privileged to engage in any business herein described without a license shall use only such methods of attracting an owner, tenant or resident of a building as may be reasonable, and no licensee or permittee or other person shall annoy any such owner, tenant or resident, by use of indecent, offensive or insulting language, remarks or actions or by unnecessarily knocking upon a door, taken by the Police Department of or causing a bell or other alarm to function unnecessarily, and no licensee, permittee or other person shall delay his departure for any unreasonable length of time after such tenant, owner or resident has signified his or her lack of intention to purchase.
B. 
Approach to any building or property for canvassing or distribution of advertisements, circulars, literature or for any of the purposes enumerated in this article shall be made only on the walks or paths leading to the front door of said building or property and without crossing any lawns, shrubbery, flowers or private grounds.
C. 
It shall be unlawful to distribute advertisements, circulars or literature or to perform any of the objectives enumerated in this article in such manner as to litter or cause a littering of any street or public or private property, or in any manner to cause annoyance to any person.
This article shall not be construed to apply so as unlawfully to interfere with interstate commerce, nor to any sales conducted pursuant to an order of any court, nor to require a license for any person selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such articles, nor to salesmen or canvassers doing business with any factory, store or place of business in the Township of Union, nor to require a license from merchants having an established place of business in the Township of Union for soliciting, through themselves or employees, of orders from customers and delivering the same, but the provisions in this article as to manner of approach and deportment shall, nevertheless, apply.
[Amended 8-9-1938 by Ord. No. 888A; 6-27-1939 by Ord. No. 910A; 8-26-1947 by Ord. No. 1131A; 12-26-2017 by Ord. No. 5550]
A. 
No person shall canvass, solicit for business purposes, distribute business circulars, handbills, pamphlets or other matter or call from house to house in the Township of Union for any of the foregoing or other purposes, without having first applied for and received and paid for a license in the manner set forth in this article. The application for a license to distribute business circulars, handbills, pamphlets or other matter shall be accompanied with a copy of said business circular, handbill, pamphlet or other matter intended to be distributed along with a written proof of intended recipients' acknowledgment to receive such circular, handbills, pamphlets or other matter or call, provided that in the case of persons exempt from the necessity of a license by §§ 423-9 and 423-20 of this article, no such persons nevertheless shall canvass, solicit for business purposes, distribute business circulars, handbills, pamphlets or other matter or call from house to house in the Township of Union for any of the foregoing or other purposes without first setting forth, in writing, to the Police Department of Union Township the name, address, age and description of such person and sufficient data to show that such person is authentically engaged in the business indicated and is so exempt. Upon compliance, as indicated herein, the Chief of Police shall issue a certificate to such person indicating his exemption from the necessity of such license, and said person shall not be required to pay a fee therefor.
B. 
Any person, firm or corporation desiring to distribute circulars, handbills, pamphlets or other matter not for a business or commercial purpose and not for pecuniary profit shall first obtain a permit from the Chief of Police as herein set forth for that purpose but shall not be required to pay a fee for such permit.
C. 
Persons, firms or corporations granted certificates or permits as provided for in this section shall conform to the provisions of this article relating to orderly conduct as set forth in § 423-19 or elsewhere in this article.
D. 
It is hereby declared that the purpose of this provision is for revenue and also to prevent the molestation of inhabitants, the misuse or littering of streets or private property and to maintain public order.
[Amended 12-19-1935 by Ord. No. 826; 8-9-1938 by Ord. No. 888; 11-25-1975 by Ord. No. 3041; 10-28-1986 by Ord. No. 3879; 12-13-1988 by Ord. No. 3998; 12-26-2017 by Ord. No. 5550; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to one or more of the following: imprisonment in the county jail or in any other place provided by the municipality for the detention of prisoners for any term not exceeding 90 days or by a fine not exceeding $2,000 or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, to become effective on the effective date of this section. In addition to the above, any person, firm or corporation violating § 423-21 shall be subject to a fine of no less than $0.50 and no more than $10 per pamphlet, circular, handbill, coupon book or other matter distributed.
[Added 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577]
No person shall engage in any of the activities authorized under this article by his license in the Township between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., unless authorized by the Township Committee.
[Added 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577; amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Every person to whom a certificate or permit is issued as set forth in § 423-21 of this article shall be required to wear the photo identification badge mentioned in § 423-10 of this article and to post the deposit mentioned in said section.
[Added 3-22-1955 by Ord. No. 1577; amended 12-11-1979 by Ord. No. 3427; 4-22-1980 by Ord. No. 3441-A]
This article shall not apply to any of the following:
A. 
Employees of any public utility which is subject to the regulation of the Board of Public Utilities Commission of the State of New Jersey; provided, however, that such employee shall display the identification badge or card issued by his employer.
B. 
Any person calling upon any occupant of any dwelling or residence or building in the Township pursuant to a request to do such call.
C. 
Bona fide members of any church, social, civic, fraternal or philanthropic organizations; provided, however, that any such member of any such type of organization shall be required to advise the Chief of Police of his intention to canvass within the Township of Union, and in such event, the hours during which said canvassing shall be permitted shall be between the hours 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
All religious and charitable organizations must register with the Police Department.