[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Forestburgh 5-11-1978 by L.L. No. 2-1978 as Ch. 60 of the 1978 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
General penalties — See Ch. 1, Art. II.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of peddler, solicitor or canvasser, transient merchant, itinerant merchant or itinerant vendor as defined in § 124-2 of this chapter within the Town of Forestburgh, New York, without first obtaining a permit and license therefor as provided herein.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have meanings indicated:
CANVASSER or SOLICITOR
Any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee and whether a resident of the Town of Forestburgh or not, temporarily traveling either by foot, wagon, cart, truck, automobile 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 the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, 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 for 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, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or any other place within the Town for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
PEDDLER
Includes any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee, and whether a resident of the Town of Forestburgh or not, traveling by foot, wagon, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, carrying, conveying or transporting goods, wares, foodstuffs, ice cream products, merchandise, meats, fish and shellfish, vegetables, fruits, garden or truck farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers or who without traveling from place to place, shall sell or offer the same for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, cart, car or other vehicle or conveyance, and further provided that one who solicits orders and as a separate transaction makes deliveries to purchasers as part of a scheme or design to evade the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a peddler subject to the provisions of this chapter. The word "peddler" shall include the words "hawker" and "huckster."
PERSON
Includes the singular and the plural and shall also mean and include any person, firm or corporation, association, club, copartnership, society or any other organization.
TRANSIENT MERCHANT, ITINERANT MERCHANT or ITINERANT VENDOR
Any person, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee and whether a resident of the Town of Forestburgh or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods, wares and merchandise within said Town, and who, in furtherance of such purpose, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, motor vehicle, tent, car, boat, public rooms in hotels, lodging houses, apartments, shops or any street, alley or other place within the Town for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares and merchandise, either privately or at public auction. The person so engaged shall not be relieved from complying with the provisions of this local dealer, or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as a part of, or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer.
A. 
Applicants for a permit and license under this chapter must file with the Town Clerk a sworn application in writing, in duplicate, on a form to be furnished by the Town Clerk, which shall give the following information:
(1) 
Name and description of the applicant.
(2) 
Address, legal and local.
(3) 
A brief description of the nature of the business and the goods to be sold and in the case of products of farm or orchard, whether produced or grown by the applicant.
(4) 
If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with credentials, establishing the exact relationship.
(5) 
The length of time for which the right to do business is desired.
(6) 
If a vehicle is to be used, a description of same, together with the license number or other means of identification.
(7) 
Two photographs of the applicant, taken within 60 days immediately prior to the date of filing of the application, which picture shall be two inches by two inches showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner.
(8) 
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor or violation of any municipal ordinance, the nature of the offense and the punishment or penalty therefor.
(9) 
A certificate from the sealer of weights of the County of Sullivan, certifying that all weighing and measuring devices to be used by the applicant have been examined and approved.
(10) 
If food, ice cream, fish, produce, beverages and other edible products to be consumed by the public are to be vended, sold or conveyed, a certificate or report from a physician licensed to practice medicine that the applicant is free from communicable disease and a permit from the New York State Department of Health must be submitted.
(11) 
The serial number and date of issuance of any veteran's peddler license issued by the County of Sullivan, State of New York, pursuant to the provisions of § 32 of the General Business Law of the State of New York.
B. 
Application fees.
[Amended 4-3-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003; 12-7-2006 by L.L. No. 5-2006]
(1) 
At the time of filing the application, a nonrefundable fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board shall be paid to the Town Clerk to cover the cost of forms preparation and review.
(2) 
Each corporation, firm, partnership or company employing more than one peddler as defined in this chapter shall be required to make application for each peddler so employed within the Town of Forestburgh with a nonrefundable application fee required for each individual applicant in an amount as set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.
A. 
Upon receipt of each such application, the Town Clerk shall cause said application with all supporting documents to be reviewed by at least two members of the Town Board who shall endorse their approval on said application and return the same to the Town Clerk with all supporting documents, with the Town Clerk, upon receipt of the prescribed license fee, to issue a license.
B. 
Such license shall contain the following:
(1) 
The signature of the Town Clerk or Deputy Town Clerk.
(2) 
The Seal of the Town of Forestburgh.
(3) 
The name, address and photograph of said licensee.
(4) 
The class of license issued.
(5) 
The kind of goods sold thereunder.
(6) 
The amount of the fee paid.
(7) 
The date of issuance.
(8) 
The length of time the same shall be operative.
(9) 
A description of the applicant, including his photograph, as well as the license number and other identifying description of any vehicle to be used by the licensee.
C. 
The Town Clerk shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued.
Any applicant refused a license by the reviewing members of the Town Board may apply in writing to said Board for hearing on his application before said Town Board except as prohibited by Town Law of the State of New York.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 137 of the Town Law.
[Amended 4-15-1993 by L.L. No. 1-1993]
A. 
A license shall be issued for a term expiring December 31 of the year in which it is issued, and the fee therefor shall be such amount as may be fixed from time to time by resolution of the Town Board, payable upon issuance of the license, such license to be valid only between the hours 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. daily.
B. 
Corporations, firms, partnerships and companies employing more than one peddler as defined in this chapter shall be subject to a license fee in such amount as may be fixed from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for each such peddler so employed in the Town of Forestburgh.
C. 
A special holiday license may be granted for a period of not more than one week, including Saturday and Sunday, with the fee for such special license to be in such amount as may be fixed from time to time by resolution of the Town Board, with such license issued to be valid only for the dates and times denoted on said special license. The Town Clerk, in granting such special holiday licenses, may waive the applicable requirements and may, if the license is granted in regard to a specific parade, speech, opening or similar event with hours later than 8:00 p.m., endorse such license for use after 8:00 p.m. on specified days for use in conjunction with such event with such license issued to be valid.
No license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be used at any time by any person other than the one to whom it was issued.
No licensee, nor any person in his behalf, shall shout, make an outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell or use any sound device, including any loud-speaking radio or sound-amplifying system upon any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public places of said Town or upon any private premises in said Town where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, avenues, alleys, parks or other public places for the purposes of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise which such licensee proposes to sell. However, nothing contained in this section shall apply to the ringing of those small bells that are normally affixed and associated with ice cream vendor carts and vehicles by vendors of ice cream products.
A. 
No peddler shall have an exclusive right to any location in the public streets, nor shall he be permitted a stationary location, nor shall he be permitted to operate in any congested area where his operations might impede or inconvenience the public. For the purposes of this chapter, 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.
B. 
The issuance of a license will not constitute permission to peddle within 250 feet of any school or municipal building, church or house of worship, playground or public park or public ballfield, except in regard to events referred to in § 124-6C, in which case the Clerk may endorse the permit to permit use at such locations.
Licensees are required to exhibit their licenses by enclosing same in a glassine or plastic transparent frame and affixing same to the cart or wagon from which the merchandise is vended or sold so that the same is visible to the public. Where impractical to affix sale license, it must be carried by the licensee who shall be required to exhibit same at the request of any citizen.
A. 
Permits and licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked by the Town Board of the Town of Forestburgh after notice and public hearing, for any of the following causes:
(1) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained in the application for license.
(2) 
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in the course of carrying on the business licensed under this chapter.
(3) 
Any violation of this chapter.
(4) 
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
(5) 
Conducting the business licensed under this chapter 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 hearing for revocation of a license shall be given 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 the hearing.
A. 
Nothing herein contained shall require the licensing of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors or marines of the military and naval services of the United States who have obtained a license from the County Clerk in connection with § 32 of the General Business Law, except that they shall be required to comply with § 124-3A(10) and § 124-6A as they apply to peddling being restricted between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. dally and that they shall also be required to comply with §§ 124-7, 124-8, 124-9 and 124-10 of this chapter as heretofore covered, nor shall anything in this chapter apply to:
(1) 
The peddling of fish, meats, fruit or farm produce by farmers or persons producing such commodities.
(2) 
Retail sales of milk by persons licensed by the State of New York.
(3) 
Salesmen calling on and selling directly to governmental, business or commercial establishments.
(4) 
Minors 18 years of age or under engaged in such services as snow shoveling, grass cutting, leaf raking, lawn clearing, newspaper and magazine delivering and collecting, and other similar services as an independent contractor.
B. 
This law shall not apply to sales by any member of the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America or similar youth organizations; school groups; churches, fraternal organizations duly incorporated under the laws of the State of New York; a duly organized volunteer ambulance or fire company or district or an auxiliary thereof; or other bona fide charity who is acting on behalf of said organization, group, company, district or corporation where the organization, group, company, district or corporation shall have provided notice to the Town Clerk at least five days before the first activity on its behalf of the activity which is the dates of the activity will take place, and the names and addresses of the persons who will act on its behalf; and any real estate or insurance agent, broker or salesman duly licensed by the State of New York.
Violations of this chapter shall constitute a violation as defined in the Penal Law of the State of New York and shall be punishable as therein provided.
This chapter shall not apply to sales made by a Town resident at the home of said Town resident. This exception is intended to include and be limited to the type of sale promotion known as a "Tupperware Party." The use of the term "Tupperware" is for illustration only and is not intended to limit the type of product offered for sale.
An offense against any provision of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II of this Code.