[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
(now Township Council) of the Township of Bristol 8-20-1975 by Ord. No.
886. Amendments noted where applicable.]
To protect the people against the nuisance of
and incident to the promiscuous distribution of handbills and circulars,
particularly commercial handbills, as herein defined, with the resulting
detriment and danger to public health and safety, the public interest,
convenience and necessity requires the regulation thereof, and to
that end the purposes of this chapter are specifically declared to
be as follows:
A.
To protect the people against the unlawful activities
or operations of dissolute persons of criminal habits or tendencies,
representing themselves as solicitors, canvassers or handbill distributors,
by requiring the registration of all such solicitors, canvassers or
handbill distributors, together with the names of their employers,
and by regulating the business of handbill and advertising distribution
through the imposition of reasonable license fees.
B.
To protect local residents against trespassing by
solicitors, canvassers or handbill distributors upon the private property
of such residents if they have given reasonable notice that they do
not wish to be solicited by such persons or do not desire to receive
handbills or advertising matter.
C.
To protect the people against the health and safety
menace and the expense incident to the littering of the streets and
public places by the promiscuous and uncontrolled distribution of
advertising matter and commercial handbills.
D.
To preserve to the people their constitutional right
to receive and disseminate information not restricted under the ordinary
rules of decency and good morals and public order, by distinguishing
between the nuisance created by the promiscuous distribution of advertising
and commercial circulars and the right to deliver noncommercial handbills
to all who are willing to receive the same.
A.
COMMERCIAL HANDBILL
(1)
(2)
(3)
HANDBILL DISTRIBUTOR
NEWSPAPER
NONCOMMERCIAL HANDBILL
PERSON
PRIVATE PREMISES
PUBLIC PLACE
The following words, terms and phrases, when used
in this chapter, have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Includes any printed or written matter, any sample or device,
dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, paper, booklet or any other printed
or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter or literature
which:
Advertises for sale any merchandise, product,
commodity or thing;
Directs attention to any business or mercantile
or commercial establishment or other activity for the purpose of either
directly or indirectly promoting the interests thereof by sales; or
While containing reading matter other than advertising
matter, is predominately and essentially an advertisement and is distributed
or circulated for advertising purposes or for the private benefit
and gain of any person so engaged as advertiser or distributor.
Includes any person engaging in the business for hire or
gain of distributing commercial or noncommercial handbills, other
than newspapers distributed to subscribers thereof, and any person
receiving compensation directly or indirectly for the distribution
of such handbills.
Includes any newspaper of general circulation as defined
by general law, any newspaper duly entered with the United States
Postal Service in accordance with federal statute or regulation and
any newspaper filed and recorded with any recording officer as provided
by general law; and, in addition thereto, shall mean and include any
periodical or current magazine regularly published with not less than
four issues per year and sold to the public.
Includes any printed or written matter, any sample or device,
dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, newspaper, magazine, paper, booklet
or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of
any matter or literature not included in the aforesaid definitions
of "commercial handbill" or "newspaper."
[Amended 10-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-17]
Includes any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Includes any dwelling, house, building or other structure
designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential
purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited
or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch,
steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling,
house, building or other structure.
Includes any and all streets, boulevards, avenues, lanes,
alleys or other public ways, and any and all public parks, squares,
spaces, plazas, grounds and buildings.
B.
Words singular in form may include the plural; any
words plural in form may include the singular; and words in the masculine
gender shall include the feminine and neuter genders.
It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit,
place, throw, scatter or cast any commercial handbill in or upon any
public place within this Township, and it shall be also unlawful for
any person to hand out or distribute or sell any commercial handbill
in any public place; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful
for any person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver
thereof, any noncommercial handbill in any public place to any person
willing to accept such noncommercial handbill.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute,
deposit, place, throw, scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in or upon any automobile or other vehicle. The provisions
of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit the handing, transmitting
or distributing of any noncommercial handbill to the owner or other
occupant of any automobile or other vehicle who is willing to accept
the same.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute,
deposit, place, throw, scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in or upon any private premises which are temporarily or
continuously uninhabited or vacant.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute,
deposit, place, throw, scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial
handbill upon any premises if requested by anyone thereon not to do
so or if there is placed on said premises in a conspicuous position
near the entrance thereof a sign bearing the words: "No Trespassing,"
"No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement" or any similar notice
indicating in any manner that the occupants of said premises do not
desire to be molested or to have their right of privacy disturbed
or to have any such handbills left upon such premises.
No person licensed under the provisions of this
chapter or any other person shall distribute, deposit, place, throw,
scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon
any private premises which are inhabited except by handing or transmitting
any such handbill directly to the owner, occupant or any other person
then present in or upon such private premises; provided, however,
that in case of inhabited private premises which are not posted as
provided in this chapter, the aforesaid licensed or other person,
unless requested by anyone upon such premises not to do so, may place
or deposit any such handbill in or upon such inhabited private premises
if such handbill is so placed or deposited as to secure or prevent
such handbill from being blown or drifted about such premises or elsewhere,
except that mailboxes may not be so used when so prohibited by federal
postal laws or regulations.
It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute,
deposit, scatter, hand out or circulate any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in any place, under any circumstances, which does not have
printed on the cover, front or back thereof, the name and address
of the person who caused the same to be distributed; provided, however,
that in the case of a fictitious person or club, in addition to such
fictitious name the true names and addresses of the owners, managers
or agents of the person sponsoring said handbill shall also appear
thereon.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the
business of a handbill distributor for hire, or for any person to
distribute commercial or noncommercial handbills, without first complying
with the terms of this chapter and all other relevant laws and regulations;
provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall apply to any
person advertising his business or activity upon his own premises,
if such business or activity is regularly established at a definite
location, and also if a license has been obtained therefor, if such
license is required under the terms of any applicable law or ordinance.
B.
Any person desiring to engage, as principal, in the
business of distributing commercial or noncommercial handbills for
hire shall make application to and receive from the Director of the
Office of Licenses, Zoning and Inspections, or other officer empowered
to issue the same, a license in the manner and for the period prescribed
by the terms of this chapter and by all relevant provisions of the
Township Code. Such applicant shall make written application to the
Township upon a form or forms provided for such purpose by the Director
of the Office of Licenses, Zoning and Inspections. Such form shall
contain, among other things that may be required, the name, the business
address and a brief description of the nature of the business to be
conducted by the applicant, the probable number of agents and employees
so to be engaged, together with a request for a license for the period
for which the applicant seeks to engage in such business.
[Amended 10-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-17]
C.
Without excluding other just grounds for revocation,
the Township Council or official so empowered by law may revoke any
license obtained under an application containing a false or fraudulent
statement knowingly made by the applicant with intent to obtain a
license by means of false or fraudulent representations, or for violation
of this chapter or any other grounds specified by law. Such application
shall be accompanied by the fee hereinafter provided for in this chapter.
No license issued under this chapter shall be transferable; and if
any such license shall be surrendered by the licensee therein named
or shall be revoked for cause, neither the licensee named in such
license nor any other person shall be entitled to any refund of any
part of such fee.
[Amended 10-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-17]
E.
Persons acting for licensees, as agents or employees,
in the distributing of any such handbills, shall not be required to
obtain a license or pay a fee, but each such person shall comply with
each and all of the other provisions hereof and be subject thereto.
The provisions of this chapter shall not be
deemed to apply to the distribution of mail by the United States nor
to newspapers as defined in this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to post,
to hand out, distribute or transmit any sign or any commercial or
noncommercial handbill which:
A.
May reasonably tend to incite riot or other public
disorder, or which advocates disloyalty to or the overthrow of the
government of the United States or of this state by means of any artifice,
scheme or violence, or which urges any unlawful conduct or encourages
or tends to encourage a breach of the public peace or good order of
the community; or
B.
Is offensive to public morals or decency, or which
contains blasphemous, obscene, libelous or scurrilous language.
This chapter shall not be deemed to repeal,
amend or modify any ordinance ever ordained either prohibiting, regulating
or licensing canvassers, hawkers, peddlers, transient merchants or
any person using the public streets or places for any private business
or enterprise or for commercial sales not covered herein.
[Amended 10-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-17]
Any person who shall violate any provision of
this chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine
or penalty of not more than $600, plus costs of prosecution, and in
default of payment of such fine and costs, shall be imprisoned for
a term not exceeding 30 days.
