It shall be unlawful for any solicitor or canvasser, as defined in §
171-35 of this article, to engage in such business within the corporate limits of the City of Amsterdam without first obtaining a permit and license therefor in compliance with the provisions of this article.
A. Except as noted in Subsection
C of this section, it shall be unlawful for any person(s), whether a resident of the City of Amsterdam or not, to sell or offer to sell any commodity by means of door-to-door canvassing or solicitation of residential or business property without first obtaining a permit in compliance with Chapter
171, Article
II, of the Code of the City of Amsterdam.
B. "Person"
shall include singular and the plural and shall also mean and include
any individual, society, club, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of person.
C. Exceptions.
(1) Individuals
under the age of 16 years who vend Boy Scouts/Girl Scout cookies,
candy, lemonade or similar items.
(2) No
permit shall be required of a religious institution soliciting directly
from its members.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
CANVASSER or SOLICITOR
Any individual, whether a resident of the City of Amsterdam
or not, traveling either by foot, wagon, automobile, motor truck or
any other type of conveyance, from place to place, from house to house
or from street to street, taking or attempting to take orders for
sale of goods, wares and merchandise, electric or gas utility contracts,
personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery or
for services to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or
not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the
subject of such sale or whether he is collecting advance payments
on such sales or not, provided that such definition shall include
any person who, for himself or for another person, firm or corporation,
hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, tent, railroad
boxcar, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or any other
place within the City for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and
taking orders for future delivery.
CITY CLERK
The City Clerk of the City of Amsterdam.
COMMODITY
An item bought and sold, something that people find useful
or of value.
LICENSE
A license issued pursuant to this chapter.
Such applicant as defined in §
171-35 of this article shall file, with the application for permit, a surety bond in the sum of $5,000 per individual or $5,000 per company and $1,000 for each individual applicant of said company.
Applicants and persons soliciting or selling for and on behalf
of the applicant are required to exhibit the identification material
at all times provided by the City Clerk following approval by the
Chief of Police.
A. Material shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Identification cards or badges which shall be prominently displayed
on the person while soliciting or canvassing.
(2) Placard for automobile(s) used in solicitation identifying company.
All license plate numbers of vehicles that will be used by licensed
solicitators/canvassors must be registered with the City Clerk and
the Amsterdam Police Department.
No license or badge issued under the provisions of this article shall be used or worn at any time by any person other than the one to whom it was issued. If any solicitors are to be replaced by another individual, that individual shall apply for a permit as stated in §
171-36. All material provided to the solicitor being replaced must be turned in to the office of the City Clerk before the new license will be issued.
No licensee shall use or operate any loudspeaker, public address
system, radio, sound amplifier or similar device to attract the attention
of the public.
No licensee shall have any exclusive right to any location within
the municipal limits of the City of Amsterdam, nor shall any be permitted
a stationary location, nor shall be be permitted to operate in any
congested area where his operation might impede or inconvenience the
public. For the purpose of this article, the judgment of a police
officer, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to
whether the area is congested or the public impeded or inconvenienced.
No licensee shall solicit within 1,000 feet of the grounds of any
elementary or secondary school between 1/2 hour prior to the start
of the school day or 1/2 hour after dismissal at the end of the school
day.
Each applicant (A company who employs more than one individual
shall be considered the applicant in this case.) shall provide to
the City of Amsterdam's official newspaper, local radio stations and
to the City of Amsterdam for inclusion on the City's website, all
information pertinent to its solicitation so as to provide the public
a full knowledge of such solicitation or selling. Such notification
shall be done no less than five days prior to the start to solicitation.
It shall be the duty of any police officer of the City of Amsterdam
to require any person seen peddling and who is not known by such officer
to be a duly licensed solicitor to produce such license and to enforce
the provisions of this article against any person found to be violating
the same. The Chief of Police shall report to the City Clerk all convictions
for violations of this article and the City Clerk shall maintain a
record of each license issued and record the reports of violations.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police or the City Clerk in the denial of an application for a permit or license as provided in §
171-37 of this article or in the decision with reference to revocation of a license as provided in §
171-47 of this article shall have the right to appeal to the City of Amsterdam Common Council. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Council within 14 days after notice of the action complained of has been mailed to such person's last-known address, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal and notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant in the same manner as provided in §
171-47B of this article for notice of hearing on revocation. The decision and order of the Council on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000,
by imprisonment not to exceed 90 days or by both such fine and imprisonment.