Privacy and crime prevention are important to Indian Wells residents
for a number of reasons. Indian Wells is predominately a senior community
as fifty-four (54) percent of its residents are age sixty-two (62)
or older. It is an affluent community with a median family income
of one hundred nineteen thousand one hundred ten dollars ($119,110.00).
Moreover, the City has between four thousand (4000) and five thousand
(5000) seasonal residents who spend their winter season in their Indian
Wells homes and live elsewhere the balance of the year. These factors
make it important that peddlers be licensed and their hours be restricted.
The City Council hereby finds that unregulated transient peddlers
can result in public nuisance and other dangers to public health and
safety. The City Council finds that the public interest, convenience
and necessity require the regulation of peddlers to promote free speech
activities while safeguarding the safety of the residents of the City.
Requiring registration and permitting of all peddlers will assist
in protecting the public against persons of criminal habits or tendencies
representing themselves as peddlers.
"Peddler" means any person who goes from house to
house, or from place to place in the City selling or taking orders
for, or offering to see or take orders for goods, wares and merchandise
for present or future delivery, or for services to be performed immediately
or in the future, whether or not such person has, carries or exposes
a sample of such goods, wares and merchandise, or not and whether
or not he is collecting advance payments on such sales or not.
Peddler within the City without having first obtained a license
issued pursuant to this Chapter.
Applicants for license under this Chapter shall file with the
Code Enforcement Officer an application in writing on a form to be
prescribed by the Code Enforcement Officer.
The application shall contain the following information:
(a) The
name and address of the peddler;
(b) The
name and address of the person, firm or corporation by whom the peddler
is employed;
(c) The
length of service of each peddler with such employer;
(d) The
place of residence and nature of the employment of the peddler with
such employer during the last proceeding year;
(e) The
nature or character of the goods, wares merchandise or services to
be offered by the peddler;
(f) A
personal description of the peddler, including height, weight, eye
color and hair color;
(g) A
Statement as to any convictions of any crimes, misdemeanors, violation
of municipal ordinances; and the date, the nature of the offense and
the penalty assessed therefore.
(h) A Statement that the applicant has not been convicted of any of the crimes specified in Section
9.48.090.
(i) Notification
by the California Department of Justice that it has completed review
of the applicant's fingerprints taken within thirty (30) days
by an agency approved by the Code Enforcement Officer.
Such information shall be accompanied by such credentials and
other evidence of good moral character and identity of each peddler
as may be reasonably required by the Code Enforcement Officer.
Each license identification card as required by this Chapter
will include a photograph of the peddler.
The City reserves the right to retain fingerprint records in
its files for permanent safekeeping, to send the fingerprint record
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice
at Washington, D.C., or to the Criminal Investigation Department of
the California Department of Justice at Sacramento, California. No
fingerprint records will be returned in the event the license applied
for is not issued or is subsequently suspended or revoked.
No individual shall solicit any contribution if that person
has been convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of any of
the following crimes, as defined in the California
Penal Code: murder,
mayhem, kidnapping, robbery, assault, battery, rape, arson, burglary,
possession of burglarious instruments or deadly weapons, or attempt
to commit any of the aforementioned crimes. If the applicant's
character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory,
the Code Enforcement Officer shall endorse on such application the
Code Enforcement Officer's disapproval and the reason therefore
and notify the applicant that the application is disapproved and that
no license will be issued. If the Code Enforcement Officer finds that
the applicant's character and business responsibility are satisfactory,
he shall approve the application and the Finance Officer shall promptly
issue the license and identification card. If the City has not completed
this investigation within sixteen (16) business hours of the receipt
of a complete application, a temporary identification card will nonetheless
be issued, subject, however, to administrative revocation upon completion
of the investigation.
Each peddler issued a license and identification card must be
in possession of the license and identification card at all times
when engaged in the business so licensed within the City. The peddler
must produce and show the license and identification card on the demand
of any person solicited or of any police officer or official of the
City. No person issued a license or an identification card shall alter,
remove or obliterate any entry made upon such license or card, or
deface such license or card in any way. Each license and card shall
be personal and not assignable or transferable, nor shall any license
or card be used by any person other than the license or the person
for whom the identification card is issued.
The following conditions and regulations shall also apply to
the exercises of the privileges granted by licenses issued under the
provisions of this Chapter in addition to those set forth in other
parts of this Chapter or elsewhere in this Code:
(a) Shouting-calling
Wares. No person acting under authority of any license issued under
this Chapter shall shout or call the person's wares in a loud,
boisterous or unseemly manner, or to the disturbance of residents
in the City.
(b) Order
to be Written in Duplicate. Any person acting under authority of any
license issued under this Chapter who solicits orders for future delivery
shall write each order at least in duplicate, plainly stating the
quantity of each article or commodity ordered, the price to be paid
therefore, the total amount ordered and the amount to be paid on or
after delivery. One copy of such order shall be given to the customer.
(c) Every
peddler shall, upon request of any person solicited, provide his/her
name, business address and telephone number and the name, business
address and telephone number of the person, organization, or entity
on whose behalf solicitation is being made.
(d) No
peddler shall use or attempt to use any entrance other than the front
or main entrance to the dwelling, or step from the sidewalk or indicated
walkway (where one exists) leading from the right-of-way to the front
or main entrance, except by express invitation of the resident or
occupant of the property.
In the event that any applicant or licensee desires to appeal
from any order, revocation or other ruling of the Code Enforcement
Officer, such applicant or any other person aggrieved shall file written
notice of such appeal with the City Clerk and such matters shall be
hard at the next regular meeting of the City Council, at which time
the City Council shall hear and receive evidence, written and oral
upon all matters involved. The decision of the City Council may be
final upon all parties concerned.
It is unlawful for any person described in Section
9.48.010 of this Chapter to perform or attempt to perform the acts described in such section by ringing the doorbell or knocking at the door or otherwise calling attention to the person's presence of or at any residence whereon a sign bearing the words "No Peddlers," "No Solicitors," or words of similar import is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view, and no such person, described in Section
9.48.010 shall perform or attempt to perform any of the acts described in such section in any building, structure or place of business whereon or wherein a sign bearing the words "No Peddlers," "No Solicitors," or words of similar import, is painted or affixed so as to be exposed to public view.
Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit persons from distributing
handbills door-to-door within the City without a permit.
No person, while conducting the activities of a peddler or solicitor,
whether licensed or unlicensed, shall enter upon any private property,
knock on doors or otherwise disturb persons in their residences between
the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
(Ord. 46 § 10(a-c), 1968; Ord. 553, § 1, 2004)