[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Batavia 4-18-2018 by L.L. No. 1-2018.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This local law also repealed former Ch. 173, Peddling and Soliciting, adopted 7-13-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1998.
The title of this chapter shall be "A Local Law Regulating and Licensing Peddlers and Solicitors within the Town of Batavia."
The Town Board finds that high-pressured and misleading, fraudulent, and threatening activities have been associated with hawking, peddling and soliciting activities in the Town of Batavia, and that it is the purpose and intent of this law to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the Town by regulating itinerant merchants.
Terms used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:
ESTABLISHED PLACE OF BUSINESS
A building or store in which the person transacts business and deals in the goods, wares and merchandise he hawks, peddles or solicits for during regular business hours.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association and any principal, agent or employee thereof and all other entities of any kind.
SOLICITOR
Any person who goes from place to place, or house to house, or who stands in any roadway or public place taking or offering to take orders for goods, wares or merchandise, or for services to be performed in the future, or for making, manufacturing or repairing any article or thing whatsoever for future delivery.
VENDOR, HAWKER or PEDDLER
Any person, either principal or agent, who, from any vehicle or any public road or public place, or by going from house to house or place of business to place of business, on foot or from any animal or vehicle, sells or barters, offers for sale or barter, or carries or exposes for sale or barter any goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines and other publications, except as hereinafter exempted.
It shall be unlawful for any person, unless exempt from the provisions of this chapter, within the limits of the Town of Batavia, to act as a vendor, hawker, peddler or solicitor without first having obtained and paid for, and having in force and effect, a license therefor.
This chapter shall not be held to apply to any sales conducted pursuant to statute or by order of any court; to any person selling personal property at wholesale to dealers in such articles; to farmers and truck gardeners who themselves or through their employers vend, sell or dispose of products of their own farms and gardens; to dealers in milk, baked goods, heating oil and daily newspapers; to persons having an established place of business within the County of Genesee or their employees soliciting orders from customers and delivering the same; to any honorably discharged member of the armed forces who has procured a license issued by the Genesee County Clerk as provided by the General Business Law of the State of New York; or to persons soliciting or collecting for any bona fide charitable organization, service, school or youth groups. This chapter shall also not apply so as to unlawfully interfere with interstate commerce. Nonprofit organizations and persons working for said organizations shall also be exempt.
Any person desiring to procure a license under this chapter shall submit to the Town Clerk a written application in duplicate, to be supplied by the Town Clerk, stating, under oath, the following information:
A. 
Name of applicant;
B. 
Permanent home address;
C. 
Name and address of firm represented or sponsoring entity, if any;
D. 
Length of time for which the license is requested;
E. 
Social Security number;
F. 
Date of birth;
G. 
Physical description of the applicant;
H. 
The license number and kind of vehicle to be used by the applicant in carrying on the business for which the license is desired;
I. 
The kind of goods, wares and merchandise desired to be sold or the kind of service to be performed;
J. 
The method of distribution, if applicable;
K. 
For the firm represented, if any, names and addresses of all partners, if a partnership, and the names and addresses of the principal officers, if a corporation, and the name and address of a natural person upon whom a legal notice of process may be served within the State of New York;
L. 
All felonies or misdemeanors of which the applicant has been convicted together with the disposition date and court having jurisdiction thereof;
M. 
Two photographs of the applicant, full face on a white background, two inches by two inches in size, taken within 30 days prior to the date of filing of the application;
N. 
Law enforcement background check from the county in which the applicant resides, as well a law enforcement background check from Genesee County. Background checks shall have been completed within the 30 days prior to the day of filing of the application.
O. 
A certificate from the Genesee County Sealer of Weights and Measures certifying that all weighing and measuring devices to be used by the applicant, if any, have been examined and approved.
A separate license shall be required for:
A. 
Each person, firm or entity represented or sponsoring the hawking, peddling or soliciting activity.
B. 
Each person engaging in the activity in the Town and each person operating a vehicle in support of such activity.
An applicant for a license as a solicitor who demands, accepts or receives payment or deposit of money in advance of final delivery shall file with the Batavia Town Clerk a cash deposit or a bond executed by a surety company or insurance company licensed to do business within the State of New York in the sum of $1,000, conditioned upon making a final delivery of the goods, wares or merchandise ordered or services to be performed in accordance with the terms of any order obtained or, failing therein, that the advance payment on such order be refunded. Any person aggrieved by the action of any licensed solicitor shall have the right by action on the bond for the recovery of money or damages, or both. The bond shall remain in full force and effect, and, in case of cash deposit, such deposit shall be retained by the Batavia Town Clerk for a period of three months after the expiration of any such license, unless sooner released by the Batavia Town Board for good cause shown.
A. 
The Town Clerk, with assistance from such law enforcement agencies as she shall deem necessary, shall investigate all applications and shall thereafter, with due dispatch, issue or deny such license to the applicant. All licenses shall become effective from the date thereof and shall continue in force for the term specified therein but shall not be transferable. No license shall be issued for a longer term than one year from the date thereof.
B. 
If, after investigation of any application, the Town Clerk shall deny the same, she shall endorse on such application such disapproval and the reason for the same, and the Town Clerk shall forthwith notify the applicant in writing of such denial and of his right to appeal as hereinafter set forth. A license may be refused by the Town Clerk if the applicant shall have been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony which in the judgment of the Town Clerk renders the applicant unfit or undesirable to carry on the purpose for which the license is requested. In addition, the Town Clerk may also refuse a license to any person who in her judgment shall be an undesirable person or incapable of properly conducting the trade or business for which the license has been requested.
C. 
Any licensee aggrieved by any action or determination of the Town Clerk hereunder may appeal to the Batavia Town Board for the issuance of a license within 14 days after notice of the action or determination complained of has been mailed to his last known address by filing a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for appeal. The Town Board shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal, and notice of such hearing shall be mailed to the applicant's last known address at least five days prior to the date set for the hearing. The decision and order of the Town Board on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
D. 
After a public hearing thereon at which the licensee shall have an opportunity to be heard, the Town Board may revoke any license issued under authority of this chapter to any applicant whom the Town Board shall determine to be an undesirable person or incapable of properly conducting the trade or business previously licensed.
E. 
A license shall not be assignable.
F. 
The holder of a license shall not permit it to be used by any other person.
G. 
Whenever a license is lost or destroyed on the part of the holder or his agent or employee, a duplicate in lieu thereof, under the original application and bond, may be issued by the Town Clerk upon the filing with her by the licensee of an affidavit, under oath, setting forth the circumstances of the loss and what, if any, search has been made for its recovery.
H. 
All licenses shall be issued from a properly bound book with proper reference stubs for that purpose, numbered in that order in which they are issued, and shall state clearly the kind of vehicle to be used, the kind of goods, wares and merchandise to be sold or service to be rendered, the number of each license, the date of issuance and expiration of the license, fee paid and the name and address of the licensee.
I. 
Such license shall include the right to use only one vehicle in carrying on the business for which the person is licensed, unless such license shall otherwise provide.
J. 
No license shall be granted to a person under 18 years of age.
K. 
Every licensee, while exercising his license, shall carry the license with him and shall exhibit the same upon demand.
The license fee to hawkers, peddlers, or solicitors shall be $200 per year, or such other fee as shall be established by the Town Board by resolution from time to time.
A licensed hawker, peddler or solicitor shall not:
A. 
Enter upon private property for the purpose of peddling or soliciting before the hour of 9:00 a.m., Monday through Saturday, nor after the earlier of 1/2 hour before sunset, Monday through Saturday or the hour of 7:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No solicitation shall be permitted on Sundays or holidays.
B. 
Ring the bell or knock upon or enter any building whereon there is painted or otherwise affixed or displayed to public view any sign containing any or all of the following words: "No Peddlers," "No Solicitors," "No Agents," or other wording, the purpose of which purports to prohibit peddling or soliciting on the premises. No peddler or solicitor shall peddle, vend or sell his or her goods or wares within 200 feet of any place occupied exclusively as a public or private school or for school purposes, nor shall be or she permit his or her car, wagon or vehicle to stand on any public highway within said distance of such school property.
C. 
Falsely or fraudulently misrepresent the quantity, character or quality of any article offered for sale. No person shall, by any trick or device, or by any false representation, obtain or attempt to obtain admission to the house, garage or barn of any person, firm or corporation in the Town of Batavia.
D. 
Blow a horn, ring a bell or use any other noisy device to attract attention to his wares, or shout or cry out his wares.
E. 
Stand or permit the vehicle used by him to stand in one place in any public place or street for more than 10 minutes, or in front of any premises for any time if the owner or any lessee of the premises objects.
F. 
Permit any vehicle used by him to stop or remain on any crosswalk.
G. 
Create or maintain any booth or stand or place any barrels, boxes, crates or other obstructions upon any street or public place for the purpose of selling or exposing for sale any goods, wares or merchandise.
All orders taken by licensed solicitors who demand, accept or receive payment or deposit of money in advance of final delivery shall be in writing made in duplicate, stating the terms thereof and the amount paid in advance, and one copy shall be given to the purchaser at the time the deposit is paid to the solicitor.
Any person, firm or entity who, individually or by his clerk, agent, servant or employee, shall act as a peddler, hawker or solicitor, as herein defined, without a license, or who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter, or who shall continue to act as a peddler, hawker or solicitor subsequent to the revocation of his license, shall be deemed to have committed a violation pursuant to the Penal Law of the State of New York and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a period of not more than 15 days, or both. Each day on which such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. This chapter may also be enforced by injunction.
Appropriate signs, as the Town Board of the Town of Batavia shall deem necessary, shall be erected by the Highway Department of the Town of Batavia, at such places as the Town Board directs, within the Town of Batavia, advising of the existence of this chapter.