[Adopted 12-23-1974 as § 4-1 of the 1974 Code, as amended through Ord. No. O-93-16]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
FOOD
A raw, cooked or processed edible substance, ice, beverage or ingredient used or identified for use or for sale in whole or in part for human consumption, or chewing gum.
[Added 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
ITINERANT MERCHANT or TRANSIENT VENDOR
Includes persons, commonly referred to as either "transient merchants" or "itinerant vendors,” who engage in merchandising business in the Township with the intent to close out or discontinue such business within one year from the date of commencement, including those who, for the purpose of carrying on such business, hire, lease or occupy any building, lot, structure, or railroad car for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares and merchandise, provided that nothing herein shall be construed to affect the sale of fruit, vegetables and farm products, such as meats, poultry, butter and eggs.
[Amended 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
MOBILE RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT/VENDOR
Any movable restaurant, truck, van, trailer, cart, bicycle or other movable unit, including hand carried, portable containers in or on which food or beverage is transported, stored, or prepared for retail sale or given away at temporary locations. Mobile retail food establishment licenses are issued for the specific purpose of providing necessary service to construction sites and isolated industrial locations therefor. Mobile food establishments shall not operate within 1,000 feet of any permanent retail food establishment, excepting that mobile food establishments renting space at markets and special functions will not be governed by this requirement.
[Added 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
PEDDLER or HAWKER
Any person, whether a Township resident or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place or from street to street conveying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise or services and offering or exposing the same for sale or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers.
SOLICITOR or CANVASSER
Any person, whether a Township resident or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street soliciting or taking or attempting to take orders for sale of services, goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines, books, periodicals, photographs or personal property of any nature whatsoever, for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries, or exposes for sale a sample, or the subject for such order, or whether or not he is collecting advance payment on such orders.
TEMPORARY LOCATION
Any location on public or private property which the mobile retail food establishment equipment occupies or where the mobile food establishment/vendor conducts business in any manner for a total cumulative time period of no more than one hour in any twenty-four-hour period, commencing at 12:00 midnight. Any interruption or removal of equipment and/or of the establishment/vendor during any twenty-four-hour period shall not constitute the commencement of a new one-hour period.
[Added 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
A. 
This article shall include any person who distributes circulars for business or commercial purposes from house to house in the Township.
B. 
This article shall not include or apply to:
(1) 
Any person soliciting votes or support for any bona fide political candidate seeking public office, including primary election; any activity or conduct connected with or relating to voter registration; or any conduct or activity relating to the expressing of opinion on, or soliciting support for, any public candidacy or public issue or question.
(2) 
Any person who is domiciled within the Township and who is a solicitor or canvasser on behalf of any religious, educational or charitable corporation, organization, association, or society created for nonpecuniary profit or who is a solicitor or canvasser on behalf of any local, i.e., having its principal situs in the Township, charitable or civic organization, association or society. Any religious, educational or charitable corporation, organization, association or society approved by the Internal Revenue Department of the United States for income tax deductions for contributions thereto or local charity, organization, or civic association or society approved by a Chamber of Commerce serving the Township or the immediate areas contiguous thereto shall presumably be considered to be qualified as the type of corporation, organization, association or society for which a person domiciled within the Township may solicit or canvass and be exempt from this article.
[Amended 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
It is unlawful for any peddlers or solicitors to engage in any such business or operations in the Township without obtaining a license in compliance with this article and only in the Township locations as permitted herein. Transient merchants shall also be licensed in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 45:24-1 et seq.
A. 
All licensees who shall offer to sell, display for sale or sell or deliver fruits and vegetables and farm products from any vehicles which are wholly or in part open on any of the sides thereof shall at all times keep all fruits, vegetables and produce of any kind and nature completely screened and covered with satisfactory materials in order to avoid and eliminate the accumulation of flies or any other insects from alighting around or upon any merchandise.
B. 
All licensees offering for sale, displaying for sale, selling or delivering seafood, meats, poultry or dairy products, excepting eggs, shall transport the same solely in refrigerated vehicles, and all such products shall remain in the refrigerated portion of the vehicle at all times, to the time of sale or delivery, and the refrigerated portion, during the use thereof, shall be maintained at a properly low temperature to completely safeguard all of the products from a health and sanitary standpoint to the fullest reasonable extent possible for safety and welfare of the public.
C. 
No licensee shall at any time permit any debris, waste material, rotting produce or merchandise of any kind or any unfit produce to remain in or upon his vehicle unless contained in a covered, metal, leakproof container.
D. 
No licensee shall canvass or solicit orders for any articles from pedestrians or vehicular traffic, other than when his vehicle is properly parked immediately adjacent to the curb of a public street in a permitted locality, and the licensee shall at no time double park when dealing with any of his trade and in no event shall transact any of his business operations other than on the curb side of his vehicle.
E. 
No licensee shall at any time permit any waste materials or parts of produce or any other merchandise to remain in or upon any street, roadway, curbs, or walks, and a licensee shall at all times remove any such debris that may have fallen from his vehicle so that the same is immediately placed in the metal containers, as hereinabove provided.
F. 
All sales of merchandise by any licensee shall, at the time of the sale, be placed in bags or other like suitable containers when the same is handed to customers of the licensee.
G. 
All licensees and their respective vehicles or modes of transportation in carrying on their permitted businesses shall at all times fully comply with this article and all Township ordinances and other applicable state laws and particularly, but not in limitation thereof, that which may deal with provisions of health, safety and general welfare.
This article shall not include the acts of persons selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such articles, and nothing contained herein shall be held to prohibit any sale required by statute or by order of any court.
A. 
Applicants for a license under this article shall file with the Township Clerk a sworn application in writing which shall give the following information:
(1) 
Name and physical description of applicant.
(2) 
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant.
(3) 
A description of the nature of the business and the goods, services or wares to be sold.
(4) 
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with credentials therefrom establishing the exact relationship.
(5) 
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired and the days of the week and the hours of the day within which the business will be conducted.
(6) 
The source of supply of the goods or property or services proposed to be sold, where such goods, services or products are located and the method of delivery.
(7) 
Three recent photographs of the applicant, which shall be approximately two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinguishable manner.
(8) 
Appropriate evidence as to the good character and business responsibility of the applicant, as will enable an investigator to properly evaluate such character and business responsibility.
(9) 
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor or violation, the nature of the offense and the punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
B. 
The applicant and the applicant's employees intending to peddle or solicit within the Township of Howell shall be fingerprinted and submit the appropriate documentation granting permission to have the Howell Township Police Department or MorphoTrack, Inc. do a criminal background check of said applicant and the soliciting or peddling employee. Each individual shall be fingerprinted in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations. The Township official or officer shall be authorized to exchange fingerprint data with and receive criminal history record information from the State Bureau of Identification, the Division of State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fingerprinting requirement of this section shall not apply to an applicant or an employee of an applicant intending to peddle or solicit within the Township who is under the age 18 years old. Fingerprinting and background checks must be accomplished and submitted with the application every three years.
[Amended 10-18-2005 by Ord. No. O-05-37; 8-21-2007 by Ord. No. O-07-32; 9-1-2009 by Ord. No. O-09-50]
C. 
No license shall be issued until the application is approved by the Township Police Department, allowing adequate time for investigation of the facts set forth in the application.
[Amended 10-18-2005 by Ord. No. O-05-37]
D. 
Applications for partners shall be signed by all partners with the foregoing provisions of this section answered in detail as to each partner. Applications for corporations shall have attached thereto individual statements in accordance with all of the provisions of this section relating to every employee, agent or servant who shall engage in any of the functions authorized by this article, and each person shall comply with this article.
A. 
Upon submission of the required application and permission to obtain fingerprints, the Township Clerk shall immediately forward said information to the Howell Township Police Department. Alternatively, the applicant may submit the criminal history and fingerprint card obtained from MorphoTrak, Inc. to the Township Clerk, along with the completed application. The Howell Township Police Department shall institute such investigation of the applicant's qualifications for a license, including moral character, business responsibility, fingerprinting of the applicant, and nature of product or services, which shall be reasonably necessary for the protection or the public welfare, and if the application is approved, notation of the same shall be forwarded to the Township Clerk to issue the necessary license. If as a result of said investigation and criminal background check the applicant and/or individual shall be given notice of denial by the Police Department, with a copy of same forwarded to the Township Clerk. If denied, the applicant and/or individual shall have the right to an appeal to be heard before the Township Manager or his designee not less than 10 days nor more than 20 days from the notice of said denial. The results of said hearing shall be forwarded to the Township Council for its final action based on the recommendation of the Township Manager.
[Amended 10-18-2005 by Ord. No. O-05-37; 9-1-2009 by Ord. No. O-09-50]
B. 
If, as a result of such investigation, the application is not approved because the applicant's character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, or the product or services are not free from fraud, or for other valid reasons the applicant does not qualify for a license, the Township Clerk shall endorse on such application his disapproval and the reasons therefor and shall notify the applicant in writing at his last known address that his application has been disapproved and the reasons therefor.
A. 
Every applicant for a license shall be charged by the Township Clerk a fee as set forth in Chapter 139, Fees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Specific fee amounts were removed from this subsection in conjunction with Ord. No. O-09-13, adopted 4-28-2009. For current license fees, see Ch. 139, Fees, Art. XVIII, Licenses and Permits (Miscellaneous), § 139-49.
B. 
Any person honorably discharged from the military service of the United States, possessing a peddler’s license issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 and N.J.S.A. 45:24-10 and any person who is an exempt firefighter, as defined by N.J.S.A. 45:24-9 and 45:24-10, possessing a license in conformity with said law shall be exempt from the licensing fee. However, any persons claiming an exemption pursuant to the aforementioned law shall exhibit to the Clerk a copy of the license issued by the Clerk of the county. Additionally, any such person claiming exemption must comply with the rules and regulations set forth herein relative to securing a license. The exemption only applies to the fee, not the rules and regulations.
[Amended 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
Every person to whom a license or permit is issued hereunder shall be governed by the following rules and regulations:
A. 
All circulars, samples or other matter shall be handed to an occupant of the property and not left on or about the same.
B. 
No person subject to this article shall canvass, solicit or distribute circulars or other matters or call from house to house except during reasonable hours during the day. Reasonable hours shall be between 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday of any given week. No such canvass, solicitation or distribution shall take place on Sunday. No individual or group of individuals may knowingly enter property that has displayed a "no knock" sticker or is on the "no knock" registry. See Article III, § 223-22. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to the penalties and violations set forth in § 1-4.
[Amended 10-19-2015 by Ord. No. O-15-39]
C. 
No person subject to this article shall conduct himself in such a manner as to become objectionable or to annoy any person.
D. 
Unless expressly permitted by action of the Township Council, solicitation or peddling for more than one hour in one location within any twenty-four-hour period, commencing at 12:01 a.m., is specifically prohibited. Any interruption or removal of equipment, vehicles, and/or wares during any twenty-four-hour period shall not constitute the commencement of a new sixty-minute period.
[Added 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
E. 
No individual issued a license under this article shall solicit any goods or services, including but not limited to food, ice cream and soft drinks, in any municipal park or other place of recreation or cultural activity or upon any public street or right-of-way adjacent to such municipal park or place of recreational or cultural activity unless specifically authorized by the governing body of the Township of Howell.
[Added 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
No peddler or solicitor nor any person on his behalf shall shout, make any cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell, or use any sound device, including any loudspeaking radio or sound-amplifying system, upon any of the streets, parks or public places or private premises of the Township, where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced to be capable of being primarily heard upon the streets, parks or other public places, for any purpose directly or indirectly associated with attracting attention to or selling or disposing of any goods, wares, merchandise, articles or services which such licensee proposes to sell or otherwise dispose of or distribute.
[Amended 6-28-2011 by Ord. No. O-11-20]
No itinerant merchants or transient vendors, whether licensed or not, shall sell or offer for sale any goods or services from roadsides or parking lots within the Township, except as provided under § 223-2B and 9D.
Licensees and permit holders are required to exhibit their certificate of license at the request of any citizen or law enforcement officer.
The Township Violations Clerk shall report to the Township Council all convictions for violation of this article, and the Township Clerk shall maintain a record for each license issued and record the reports of violation therein.
A. 
Licenses issued hereunder may be revoked by the Township Council after notice and hearing for any of the following causes:
(1) 
Fraud, misrepresentation, or a materially incorrect statement contained in the application for license.
(2) 
Fraud, misrepresentation, or a materially incorrect statement made in the course of carrying on his business as solicitor or peddler.
(3) 
Any violation of this article.
(4) 
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor.
(5) 
Conducting the business of peddler or solicitor, as the case may be, in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
B. 
Notice of the hearing for revocation of a license shall be given by the Township Clerk in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the licensee at his last known address at least five days prior to the date set for hearing or shall be delivered by a police officer in the same manner as a summons at least three days prior to the date set for hearing.
A. 
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Township Clerk in the denial of an application for a license as provided herein shall have the right to appeal to the Township Council. Such application shall be taken within 14 days after notice of the denial of the application has been mailed to such person's last known address.
B. 
The Township Council shall set a time and place for hearing on such application, and notice of such hearing shall be given to the applicant in the same manner as provided in § 223-14 for notice of a hearing on revocation.
All annual licenses issued hereunder shall expire at 12:00 midnight on December 31 in the year when issued. Other than annual licenses shall expire at 12:00 midnight on the date specified in the license.
This article shall not affect any person engaged in delivering wares, goods or merchandise, services, or other articles or things in the regular course of business to the premises of the person ordering or entitled to receive the same.