[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Cape May as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 379.
[Adopted by Ord. No. 469 (Sec. 4-10 of the 1997 Revised General Ordinances)]
[Amended by Ord. No. 676; Ord. No. 698]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GOODS
Any goods or other property capable of being the object of a sale regulated by this article.
PERSON
Owner, lessee, or occupant of the premises, including individuals, families, partnerships, voluntary associations, organizations and corporations. All members of a household, whether related or not, and all members of a partnership, voluntary association, organization and corporation shall be considered one person.
PREMISES
Any dwelling house, building, or other structure designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and this shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, garage, steps or vestibule belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling house or other structure. Any vacant lot, regardless of the zoning district classification in which it is located, shall be included within the definition of the premises.
YARD SALE
All sales entitled garage sale, lawn sale, attic sale, rummage sale or flea market sale, or any similar casual sale of tangible personal property which is advertised by any means whereby the public at large is or can be made aware of the sale. "Yard sale" shall not include any sale in which new goods are sold, which said goods have been transferred to the yard sale premises from a commercial establishment normally selling same, for the express purpose of sale at such yard sale and for the commercial gain of the establishment. [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The definition of "Zoning Officer," which previously followed this definition, was deleted 11-14-2005 by Ord. No. 53-2005.
No yard sale shall be conducted at any premises as herein defined within the City except in conformance with the provisions of this article.
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 64-2006]
It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct any yard sale in the City without first filing with the Licensing Office the information hereinafter specified and obtaining from that officer a license so to do, to be known as "yard sale license." Such filing shall be made at least one week prior to the requested sale date. The fee for the license shall be and is hereby fixed at $2.
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 64-2006]
The license shall be issued to any one person only once within a twelve-month period regardless of whether the same person is the applicant. No such license shall be issued for more than two consecutive calendar days. Charitable or religious or civic organizations may be allowed more than one license within a twelve-month period with the approval of the City Manager. Each license must be prominently displayed on the premises and visible from the street upon which the yard sale is conducted, throughout the entire period of the licensed sale.
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 64-2006]
The information to be filed with the Licensing Office shall be as follows:
A. 
Name of person conducting the sale.
B. 
Name of the owner of the property on which the sale is to be conducted. Written consent of the owner of the premises must be secured if the applicant is other than the owner.
C. 
Location at which the sale is to be conducted.
D. 
Number of days of sale, not to exceed two days.
E. 
Date and nature of any previous sale.
F. 
Relationship or connection the applicant may have or have had with any other person conducting any previous sale and the date or dates of any and all such sales.
G. 
Whether or not the applicant (and/or the person represented by the applicant) has been issued any other vendor's or mercantile license by any local, state or federal agency.
H. 
Sworn statement or affirmation by the person signing the application that the information therein given is full and true and known by him to be so.
All yard sales shall be conducted between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. only, during the months of June, July and August, and between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. only, during all other months.
No sign for advertising or directing customers shall be posted any place other than on the premises at which the sale is conducted. One sign shall be permitted which shall not exceed three feet by three feet in size, and shall not be placed on the premises earlier than one week prior to the sale. This sign must be removed immediately upon the termination of the sale.
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 64-2006]
The person to whom the license is issued and the owner, occupant or tenant of the premises on which the sale or activity is conducted shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance of good order and decorum on the premises during all hours of the sale or activity. No such person shall permit any loud or boisterous conduct on the premises, nor permit vehicles to impede the passage of traffic on any roads or streets in the area. All goods offered for sale and all displays shall be located in such a manner as not to impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic or to create any condition dangerous to customers, residents of the area, or others. All persons involved in a sale shall obey the reasonable orders of any member of the Fire or Police Department of the City in order to maintain the public health, safety and welfare. All licensed premises shall at all times be subject to such reasonable rules as may be made by the City Council and shall be subject to inspection at all times by the Licensing Office, Chief of Police and Fire Chief, or any of their agents, or any other duly authorized representative of the City.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to offer for sale mattresses, bed springs, cots, lounges and sofas in any yard sale authorized under this article without first complying with the appropriate sections of N.J.S.A. 26:10-1 through 26:10-18, inclusive, with respect to the labeling, sterilizing and disinfecting of the mattresses, bed springs, cots, lounges and sofas.
B. 
No refrigerator or icebox having a capacity of 1 1/2 cubic feet or more, with an attached lid or door which may be opened and fastened shut by means of an attached latch, lock, or other similar device, shall be displayed, offered for sale or sold at a yard sale unless the attached lid or door shall first be removed and detached.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell at a yard sale new goods transferred from a commercial establishment for the express purpose of selling same at a yard sale for commercial gain of the establishment. See § 407-1.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to or affect the following persons or sales:
A. 
Persons selling pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction.
B. 
Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officials.
C. 
Any person selling or advertising for sale an item or items of personal property which are specifically named or described in the advertisement and which separate items do not exceed five in number.
D. 
Any publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other publication or communication media who publishes or broadcasts an advertisement relating to a yard sale in good faith without knowing of its false, deceptive or misleading character, or without knowledge of noncompliance with the provisions of this article by any person conducting the sale.
E. 
Any sale conducted by any merchant or mercantile or other business establishment from or at a place of business wherein such sale would be permitted by Chapter 525, Zoning, of the Code of the City or under the protection of the nonconforming use section thereof, or any other sale conducted by a manufacturer, dealer or vendor and which sale would be conducted from properly zoned premises and not otherwise prohibited in this or any other section of the Code.
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 64-2006]
This article shall be enforced by the Code Enforcement Official and the Police Department. It shall be the duty of the Code Enforcement Official and the Police Department to investigate any violation of this article coming to their attention, whether by complaint or arising from personal knowledge. If the violation is found to exist, a complaint shall be filed in the Municipal Court.
[Amended by Ord. No. 471]
Any person conducting any such sale or similar activity without being properly licensed therefor, or who shall violate any of the other terms of this article, shall, upon conviction, be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Article III, Penalty.