[Adopted 4-11-1989 by Ord.
No. 4-89]
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of peddling, huckstering or hawking, as defined in § 172-11 of this article, within the corporate limits of the Township of Mullica without first obtaining a license therefor as provided herein.
A.
PEDDLER
(1)
(2)
PERSON
Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes any entity or person, whether a resident of the Township
of Mullica 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, merchandise,
meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, goods, ice cream, fruit ices, soda water,
garden-farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale
or making sales and/or delivering articles to purchasers. The word "peddler"
shall also include the words "hawker" and 'huckster."
The word "peddler," where such refers to any employing entity licensed
under this article, whether such is an individual, proprietorship, partnership,
corporation or other form of business association, shall refer only to the
employing entity; and all employees of such a duly licensed entity and all
individual peddlers, hucksters or hawkers and their vehicles shall not have
to secure individual licenses while they are working for said employing entity.
The word "peddler," as used herein, shall not be interpreted to include
newsboys or newsmen handling the circulation, sale and delivery of a regularly
published newspaper; or recognized civic, charitable, religious or fraternal
organizations where the benefits from the sales by said organizations are
dedicated to charitable, religious, fraternal or civic purposes.
Includes the singular and plural and shall also mean and include
any person, firm or corporation, association, club, copartnership or society
or any other organization.
B.
Exemptions.
(1)
Nothing in this article shall be interpreted to apply
to merchants having bona fide permanently established places of business within
the Township of Mullica.
(2)
All honorably discharged members of the Armed Forces of the United States and all other persons exempt from the payment of the fees set forth herein by the laws of either federal statute or the laws of the State of New Jersey shall be exempt from the provisions of § 172-14 of this article but shall in all other respects comply with the provisions of this article.
A.
An applicant for a license under this article must file
with the Township Clerk a sworn application, in writing, in duplicate, on
a form to be furnished by the Township Clerk, which shall give the following
information:
(1)
The name and a description of the applicant.
(2)
The permanent home address and fall local address of
the applicant.
(3)
A brief description of the nature of the business and
the goods to be sold.
(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 the same,
together with the license number or other means of identification.
(7)
A photograph of the applicant taken within 60 days immediately
prior to the date of filing of the application, which picture shall be two
inches by three inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in
a clear and distinguished manner.
(8)
The fingerprints of the applicant.
(9)
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 inflicted therefor.
(10)
A health certificate secured from the Atlantic County
Board of Health within 30 days prior to the filing of said application where
said peddler, hawker or huckster is selling or distributing foodstuffs or
beverages that the certificate-holder's facilities are safe from all communicable
diseases.
B.
Where the applicant is an employing business entity,
whether such is a proprietorship, business association, partnership or corporation,
the provisions of Subsections G and H of this section shall not apply to the
individual employees of said entity if the employing entity, at its option,
files, upon the approval of its application for a license, a ten-thousand-dollar
surety bond with the Township Clerk of the Township of Mullica, conditioned
upon said bond proceeds being available to be used by any person within the
Township of Mullica injured by the omissions or commissions of the licensed
entity or any of its employees, whether such injury is by larceny, fraud or
other tortious or criminal taking or appropriation of said victim's goods
or money. Said surety bond shall be approved as to form and substance by the
insurance broker of record of the town and shall fully cover all employees,
servants or agents of said licensed entity.
A.
Upon receipt of such application, the original shall
be referred to the Chief of Police, who shall cause such investigation of
the applicant's business and moral character to be made as he deems necessary
for the protection of the public good.
B.
If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant's
character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, the Chief
of Police shall endorse on such application his disapproval of the same, and
he will state, in writing, his reasons for said disapproval, and the Chief
of Police shall then return said application to the Township Clerk, who shall
notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and the reason therefor
and that no license will be issued.
C.
If, as a result of such investigation, the character
and business responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory,
the Chief of Police shall endorse on the application his approval, execute
a permit addressed to the applicant for the carrying on of the business applied
for and return said permit, along with the application, to the Township Clerk,
who shall, upon payment of the prescribed license fee, deliver to the applicant
his permit and issue a license. Such license shall contain the signature and
seal of the issuing officer and shall show the name, address and photograph
of said license, the class of license issued and the kind of goods to be sold
thereunder, the amount of the fee paid, the date of issuance and the length
of time the same shall be operative, as well as the license number and other
identifying description of any vehicle used in such peddling, hawking or huckstering
and all employees to be engaged in said activity. The Township Clerk shall
keep a permanent record of all licenses issued.
D.
If the Chief of Police recommends that the application
for said license be disapproved, said disapproval, with the written statement
of the reasons therefor by the Chief of Police, shall be filed with the Township
Clerk, who shall notify the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested,
of said recommendation and furnish the applicant with a copy of the Chief
of Police's written reasons therefor. The applicant shall have the right,
at any time within 15 days after his receipt of said recommendation, to file,
in writing, with the Township Clerk of the Township of Mullica an appeal of
the Chief of Police's decision and a request for a hearing before the Mayor
and Council. Upon such a notice of appeal being filed with the Township Clerk,
the Mayor and Council shall immediately schedule a full hearing for the applicant
and set a hearing date not less than 10 nor more than 20 days after the receipt
of said notice of appeal, at which time the applicant shall have a right to
appear and present the basis for the appeal and the Chief of Police shall
present proof supporting his written recommendation of disapproval. The Mayor
and Council shall then determine by majority vote whether the applicant's
character and business responsibility are satisfactory. Should any applicant
fail to file notice of appeal within 15 days after receiving notice of the
Chief of Police's recommendation of disapproval, said recommendation shall
become final and said application shall be considered rejected and disapproved
for all purposes.
A.
The fees for all peddler's licenses shall be as follows:
(1)
For any annual license dating through December 31 immediately
following its issuance, the applicant shall pay $500 for the first category
of goods to be sold, as hereinafter listed, and $100 for each additional category
to be sold under said license.
(2)
Where the applicant desires less than a yearly license,
he may apply for a weekly license through the payment of a fee of $50 for
each week for the first category and $20 for each additional category of goods
to be sold by him.
(3)
Where an applicant does not desire either an annual or
a weekly license, he shall have the option to apply for a daily license at
a rate of $20 for each day less than one week for the first category and $5
for each additional category.
B.
The exclusion set forth in § 172-11A(1), which exempts the individual employees of a licensed employing entity from securing individual licenses as individual peddlers, hawkers or hucksters, shall not be applicable to any license secured pursuant to provisions of § 172-14A(2) and (3) above. Where the employing entity seeks a license on a weekly or daily basis, all of its individual employees, agents or servants so engaged within the Township of Mullica under said license shall secure separate individual licenses in the same manner as if said employees were in business for themselves as individual peddlers, hawkers or hucksters.
C.
The fees set forth in this section are specifically set
for the purpose of raising revenue, and no portion of said fees shall be prorated
for any part of the periods for which said license is issued. Every annual
license shall terminate on December 31 of the year in which it is issued and
may be renewed under the same terms and conditions for an additional one-year
period on or before the expiration thereof.
D.
For the purpose or this article, each of the following
items shall consist of a separate category, for which the fees as hereinabove
set forth in this section shall apply:
(1)
Clothing, which shall include wearing apparel of all
kinds and descriptions.
(2)
Furniture of all types and descriptions, including but
not limited to household furniture and furnishings, porch and garden furniture
and all electrical appliances.
(3)
Games, toys and novelties of all kinds and descriptions.
(4)
Drugs, cosmetics, toiletries and all other articles which
could be classified as sundries.
(5)
Groceries, food articles and beverages, whether such
are of a nature as can be immediately consumed or consumed or used in the
future.
(6)
Jewelry of all kinds and descriptions.
(7)
Motor vehicles, all other vehicles, automobile parts,
vehicle parts, petroleum products, automobile supplies and farm and garden
supplies and equipment of all types and description.
(8)
Hardware, sporting goods, seed, dust, sprays, insecticides
and all farm supplies.
(9)
All articles used in and about the household, including
but not limited to pots and pans, china, silverware, art objects and all other
household articles of all types and descriptions.
(10)
All other merchandise and goods carried by a peddler,
hawker or huckster not otherwise set forth in any of the above categories.
No license issued under the provisions of this article shall be used
at any time by any person other than the one to whom it was issued.
A.
Time and distance restrictions.
(1)
No peddler, hawker or huckster shall peddle or attempt
to peddle his wares within 1,000 feet of any public school between the hours
of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. during any school day.
(2)
No peddler, hawker or huckster shall peddle or attempt
to peddle his wares within 1,000 feet of any public hospital or nursing home.
B.
No peddler shall have any exclusive right to any location
in any public street, nor shall he take up any stationary location thereon.
C.
The municipal police of the Township of Mullica shall
have the right to forbid, at their discretion, any licensed peddler, hawker
or huckster from operating in any area where there are traffic hazards, unusual
congestion or any other conditions which would cause his operations to impede
or inconvenience the public or to jeopardize law enforcement in said area.
No person, whether licensed or not, shall sell, offer for sale, hawk or peddler in the Township of Mullica any of the items listed in § 172-14 of this article before 9:00 a.m. or after sunset on any weekday or at any time on a Sunday. However, nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit the delivery during prohibited hours or on Sunday of items previously ordered by the resident and delivered at such times at the specific request of the particular resident.
It shall be the duty of any police officer of the Township of Mullica
to require any person seen peddling and who is not known by such officer to
be duly licensed to produce his peddlers 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 Township Clerk all convictions
for violation of this article, and the Township Clerk shall maintain a record
for each license issued and record the reports of violations therein.
A.
Licenses issued under the provisions of this article
may be revoked by the Mayor and Township Council of the Township of Mullica
after a hearing on notice for any of the following causes:
(1)
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained
in the application for the license.
(2)
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in the
course of carrying on his business as peddler.
(3)
Any violation of this article.
(4)
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude.
(5)
Conducting the business of peddling in an unlawful manner
or in such manner as 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 in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and
the time and place of the 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.
C.
The licensee shall have a full right to produce at said
hearing such evidence as he sees fit in support of his position and to confront
and cross-examine all witnesses produced against him. The decision of the
Mayor and Council after said hearing shall be final.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon
conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or by imprisonment
not to exceed 60 days and/or by community service not to exceed 90 days. For
any subsequent offense after a conviction of violating this article and for
each subsequent offense, any person violating any of the provisions of this
article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by fine not more than
$1,000 and/or by imprisonment for not less than 30 nor more than 60 days and/or
by community service not to exceed 90 days.
Nothing in this article shall be interpreted as repealing or otherwise affecting Article I, Solicitors and Canvassers, and this article shall be considered mutually exclusive and shall not pertain to any activities regulated or controlled by this article.
