This article shall be commonly cited as the “Solicitation
Ordinance.”
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
1.1, adopted 5/6/14)
It is the intent and purpose of this article to protect residents
and other citizens of the city from the threats posed to personal
safety and property by unregulated merchants. This article is not
intended to proscribe a demand for payment for services rendered or
goods delivered, nor is it intended to restrict the right to free
speech as protected under the United States and Texas constitutions.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
1.2, adopted 5/6/14)
This article provides regulatory standards throughout the city’s
incorporated municipal boundaries (i.e., city limits).
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
1.3, adopted 5/6/14)
Intentionally or recklessly making any physical contact with
or touching another person in the course of the solicitation without
the person’s consent;
Following the person being solicited, if that conduct is:
Continuing to solicit a person within five feet of the person
being solicited after the person has made a negative response;
Intentionally or recklessly blocking the safe or free passage
of the person being solicited or requiring the person, or the driver
of a vehicle, to take evasive action to avoid physical contact with
the person making the solicitation;
Using obscene or abusive language or gestures toward the person
being solicited;
Approaching the person being solicited in a manner that:
Is intended to or is likely to cause a reasonable person to
fear imminent bodily harm or the commission of a criminal act upon
property in the person’s possession; or
Is intended to or is reasonably likely to intimidate the person
being solicited into responding affirmatively to the solicitation.
A device, linked to a bank’s account records, which
is able to carry out banking transactions. A device commonly referred
to by the acronym, “ATM.”
The area comprised of one or more automatic teller machines,
and any adjacent space that is made available to banking customers.
Includes a bank, savings bank, savings and loan association,
credit union, trust company, or similar financial institution.
A vehicle operated by a transit authority for public transportation.
A location within the city limits that is zoned for retail,
commercial, offices, or industrial purposes, and upon which improvements
have been constructed or an enterprise is operating.
A person in the business of cashing checks, drafts, or money
orders for consideration.
Includes the sale of anything of value on any premises not
considered a retail business establishment and licensed to do business
in the city, and/or the state. For purposes of this article, the term
includes and is synonymous with estate sales, patio sales, rummage
sales, and yard sales.
Tangible chattels of every kind and character.
A retailer who does not operate any “place of business”
as defined by the Texas Administrative Code, as may be amended. The
term expressly includes the following:
Commercial traveler.
A person who is employed by or who represents a manufacturer,
wholesaler, or importer who sells or exhibits goods to parties who
engage in the business of purchasing such goods for the purpose of
resale to the general public.
Itinerant merchant.
A person who moves stocks of goods or samples of goods into
the city for the purpose of selling or offering for sale or taking
orders for the sale of such goods with the intention of removing such
samples or the unsold portion of goods away from the city before the
expiration of one month and who has no fixed place of business within
the city or county for which definite arrangements have been made
for the use, occupancy, hire, rental, or lease of such place for a
term of at least one month.
Peddler.
A person who carries goods upon a truck or other vehicle
on the streets of the city for the purpose of exhibiting, selling,
or offering for sale such goods from such truck or other vehicle or
who within the city goes from door to door of residences, public facilities,
or businesses to display, sell, offer for sale, or take orders for
the sale of goods or to exhibit brochures, sales literature, or price
lists for the purpose of taking orders for the sale of goods or who
within the city exhibits, sells, offers for sale, or takes orders
for the sale of goods from a vacant lot, parking lot, tent, boat,
storage bin, stall, or unenclosed structure.
Transient vendor.
A person who within the city engages in the temporary business
of exhibiting, delivering, selling, or offering for sale any goods
or exhibiting brochures, sales literature, or price lists for the
purpose of taking orders for the sale of goods and who has no fixed
place of business within the city or county that is used, occupied,
hired, rented, or leased for a period of at least one month for the
purpose of operating or conducting such business thereon. This includes
persons who temporarily set up business out of a vehicle, trailer,
tent, portable shelter or empty storefront for the purpose of exposing
or displaying for sale good, wares or other personal property.
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For purposes of this article, the term “itinerant vendor”
does not include the following: persons who make such sales sporadically
for the purposes of raising funds for an incorporated charitable,
fraternal, educational, or religious institution; street musicians
who play free of charge but accept donations; garage sales; produce
stands where vendors sell fruits and/or vegetables grown in the county.
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An individual, corporation, organization, government agency,
business, trust, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.
An established outlet, office, or location operated by a
retailer, the retailer’s agent, or the retailer’s employee
for the purpose of receiving orders for taxable items. The term “place
of business” includes any location at which three or more orders
are received by the retailer in a calendar year. A location such as
a warehouse, storage yard, or manufacturing plant is not a “place
of business,” unless at least three orders for taxable items
are received by the retailer at the location during a calendar year.
An outdoor area to which the public has access and includes,
but is not limited to, a sidewalk, street, highway, park, parking
lot, alleyway, pedestrian way, or the common area of a school, hospital,
apartment house, office building, transport facility, or shop.
A person who sells tangible goods by small quantities, in
broken lots or parcels (e.g., not in bulk) directly to the consumer,
in contrast to a sale for further sale or processing.
To request, by the spoken, written, or printed word, or by
other means of communication an immediate donation or transfer of
money or another thing of value from another person, regardless of
the solicitor’s purpose or intended use of the money or other
thing of value, and regardless of whether consideration is offered.
A temporary event, gathering or organized activity, including
but not limited to parades, bike races, marathons, walk-a-thons, fireworks
displays, concerts, carnivals, or other types of races and festivals,
involving fifty (50) or more persons not related by consanguinity
(blood/adoption) or affinity (marriage), and which involves one or
more of the following activities:
Closing a public street;
Use of city-owned property;
The provision of food or beverages in exchange for monetary
compensation (for-profit or as donations); and/or
Erection of temporary structures such as a stage, band-shell,
trailer, van, portable building, tent, grandstand, or bleachers.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
2, adopted 5/6/14)
(a)
Enforcement.
The city shall have the power to administer
and enforce the provisions of this article as may be required by governing
law. Any person violating any provision of this article is subject
to suit for injunctive relief as well as prosecution for criminal
violations. Any violation of this article is hereby declared to be
a nuisance.
(b)
Criminal penalty.
Any person violating any provision
of this article shall be fined by a sum not exceeding five hundred
dollars ($500.00) per offense. Each day that a provision of this article
is violated shall constitute a separate offense. An offense under
this article is a class C misdemeanor.
(c)
Civil remedies.
Nothing in this article shall be construed
as a waiver of the city’s right to bring a civil action to enforce
the provisions of this article and to seek remedies as allowed by
law, including, but not limited to the following:
(1)
Injunctive relief to prevent specific conduct that violates this
article or to require specific conduct that is necessary for compliance
with this article;
(2)
A civil penalty up to one hundred dollars ($100.00) a day when it
is shown that the defendant was actually notified of the provisions
of this article and after receiving notice committed acts in violation
of this article or failed to take action necessary for compliance
with this article; and
(3)
Other available relief.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
3, adopted 5/6/14)
A person commits an offense if the person solicits:
(1)
In
an aggressive manner;
(3)
At
a marked crosswalk;
(4)
Within
twenty-five (25) feet of the entrance or exit of a school attended
by minors or a child-care facility;
(5)
By
approaching a patron on the sidewalk or patio area of a bar or restaurant;
(6)
By
approaching an occupied vehicle that is on or adjacent to a public
right-of-way; or
(7)
At
a private residence, public facility, or business between 7:00 p.m.
and 9:00 a.m.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
3.1, adopted 5/6/14)
A culpable mental state is not required, and need not be proved, for an offense under section 4.03.006(2), (3), (4), or (6).
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
3.2, adopted 5/6/14)
Section 4.03.006(7) does not apply where the person is on the property by express prior invitation of either the owner or the person residing on the premises.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
3.3, adopted 5/6/14)
(a)
Rights-of-way.
No person shall display, sell, solicit
orders for any goods, or leave behind signs or indicators displaying,
selling, or soliciting orders for any goods, within six (6) feet of
any public street or state, federal, or local roadway or attached
to any roadway sign poles.
(b)
Hours of operation.
No person may make solicitations
to private residences, public facilities, or businesses except between
the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., unless otherwise posted by the
private property owner or by someone with apparent authority to act
for the owner. This section does not apply where the person is on
the property by express prior invitation of the person residing on
the premises.
(c)
Property owners.
No property owner shall knowingly allow
the owner’s property to be used or occupied by an itinerant
vendor who conducts thereon a business operation or who exhibits or
offers for sale goods without first obtaining a permit as required
by the provisions of this article.
(d)
Trespass.
No person, including the holder of any permit
issued under this article, shall enter upon the land or premises of
another after receiving notice from the owner and/or resident that
such entry is forbidden. A sign on the premises stating approximately “no
solicitors commercial or charitable” or “no solicitors
except for nonprofit organizations,” shall constitute notice.
A conviction for the violation of this subsection shall result in
the automatic revocation of such convicted person’s peddler’s
and solicitor’s permit.
(Ordinance 14-0501, ex. A, sec.
3.4, adopted 5/6/14; Ordinance
16-0305, att. A, sec. 2, adopted 2/1/16)
