[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Fairfax 12-18-1984
by Ord. No. 409 (Ord. No. 409 of the 1984 Code).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:
- PEDDLER
- Any person, whether a resident of the City of Fairfax or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street, conveying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise or offering or exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers. This definition does not include vendors of milk, bakery products, groceries or ice who distribute their products to regular customers on established routes.
- SOLICITOR
- Any person, whether a resident of the City of Fairfax or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street, soliciting or taking or attempting to take orders for sale of goods, wares or merchandise, including magazines, books, periodicals, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or for service to be performed in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such order or whether or not he is collecting advance payments on such orders. Such definition includes any person who, for himself, or for another person, firm or corporation, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, motor vehicle, trailer, structure, tent, railroad boxcar, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop, or other place within the City for the primary purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
- TRANSIENT MERCHANT
- Any person, individual, copartnership, limited liability company, and corporation, both as principal and agent, who engage in, do, or transact any temporary and transient business in this state, either in one locality, or in traveling from place to place in this state, selling goods, wares, and merchandise; and who, for the purpose of carrying on such business, hire, lease, occupy, or use a building, structure, vacant lot, or railroad car for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares, and merchandise. The term "transient merchant" does not include a seller or exhibitor in a firearms collector show involving two or more sellers or exhibitors. See Minn. Stat. § 329.099. [1]
It is unlawful for any peddler, solicitor or transient merchant to engage
in any such business within the City of Fairfax without first obtaining a
permit therefor in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
The terms of this chapter shall not apply to sales made to dealers by
commercial travelers or selling agents in the usual course of business, nor
to bona fide sales of goods, wares, and merchandise by sample, catalog, or
brochure, for future delivery, or to hawkers on the street, or to peddlers
from vehicles, baskets, or packs carried on their backs, or to sheriffs, constables,
or other public officers selling goods, wares, and merchandise according to
law; nor to bona fide assignees or receivers appointed in this state selling
goods, wares, and merchandise for the benefit of creditors, nor to persons
who may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated
by themselves, nor to sales made by a seller at a residential premises pursuant
to an invitation issued by the owner or legal occupant of the premises. See
Minn. Stat. § 329.14.
Applicants for a permit under this chapter shall file with the City
Clerk-Treasurer a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished by
the City Clerk-Treasurer. The application shall give the following information:
A.
Name and physical description of applicant;
B.
Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant
and, in the case of transient merchants, the local address from which proposed
sales will be made;
C.
A brief description of the nature of the business and
the goods to be sold;
D.
The name and address of the employer, principal or supplier
of the applicant, together with credentials therefrom establishing the exact
relationship;
E.
The length of time for which the right to do business
is desired;
F.
The source of supply of the goods or property proposed
to be sold, or orders taken for the sale thereof, where such goods or products
are located at the time said application is filed, and the proposed method
of delivery;
G.
A recent photograph of the applicant which picture shall
be approximately two inches by two inches showing the head and shoulders of
the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner;
H.
The names of at least two property owners of Renville
County, Minnesota, who will certify as to the applicant's good character
and business respectability, or, in lieu of the names of references, such
other available evidence as to the good character and business responsibility
of the applicant as will enable an investigator to properly evaluate such
character and business responsibility;
I.
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been
convicted of any crime, misdemeanor, or violation of any municipal ordinance,
other than traffic violations, the nature of the offense and the punishment
or penalty assessed therefor;
J.
The last municipalities, not to exceed three, where applicant
carried on business immediately preceding date of application and the addresses
from which such business was conducted in those municipalities.
A.
Any organization, society, association or corporation desiring to solicit or to have solicited in its name money, donations of money or property, or financial assistance of any kind or desiring to sell or distribute any item of literature or merchandise for which a fee is charged or solicited from persons other than members of such organizations upon the streets, in office or business buildings, by house-to-house canvass, or in public places for a charitable, religious, patriotic or philanthropic purpose shall be exempt from the provisions of § 169-4 of this chapter, provided there is filed a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished by the City Clerk-Treasurer which shall give the following information:
(1)
Name and purpose of the cause for which permit is sought;
(2)
Names and addresses of the officers and directors of
the organization;
(3)
Period during which solicitation is to be carried on;
(4)
Whether or not any commission, fee, wages or emoluments
are to be expended in connection with such solicitation and the amount thereof.
B.
Upon being satisfied that such organization, association
or corporation is a religious, charitable, patriotic or philanthropic organization,
the Clerk-Treasurer shall issue a permit without charge to such organization,
association or corporation to solicit in the City. Such organization, association
or corporation shall furnish all of its members, agents, or representatives
conducting solicitation credentials in writing stating the name of the organization,
name of agent and purpose of solicitation.
A.
Upon receipt of each application, it shall be referred
to the Chief of Police, who shall immediately institute such investigation
of the applicant's business and moral character as he deems necessary
for the protection of the public good and shall endorse the application in
the manner prescribed in this section within 72 hours after it has been filed
by the applicant with the Clerk-Treasurer.
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 and his reasons
for the same, and return the application to the City Clerk-Treasurer, who
shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no
permit 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 and return the
application to the City Clerk-Treasurer, who shall deliver to the applicant
his permit. Such permit shall contain the signature of the issuing officer
and shall show the name, address and photograph of said permittee, the class
of permit issued and the kinds of goods to be sold thereunder, the date of
issuance and the length of time, not to exceed one year from the date of issuance
that the same shall be operative, as well as the permit number and other identifying
description of any vehicle used in such licensed business. Each peddler, solicitor,
or transient merchant must secure a personal permit. No permit shall be used
at any time by any person other than the one to whom it is issued. The Clerk-Treasurer
shall keep a permanent record of all permits issued.
No permittee, nor any person in his behalf, shall shout, cry out, blow
a horn, ring a bell, or use any sound amplifying device upon any of the streets,
alleys, parks or other public places of the City or upon private premises
where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable
of being plainly heard upon the streets, avenue, alleys, parks, or other public
places, for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares or merchandise
which such licenses proposes to sell.
No permittee shall have any exclusive right to any location in the public
streets, nor shall any be permitted a stationary location thereon, nor shall
any be permitted to operate in a congested area where such operation might
impede or inconvenience the public use of such streets. For the purpose of
this chapter, the judgment of a police officer, exercised in good faith, shall
be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested and the public impeded
or inconvenienced.
Permittees are required to exhibit their permit at the request of any
citizen.
It shall be the duty of the police of the City of Fairfax to require
any person seen peddling, soliciting or canvassing and who is not known by
such officer to have obtained a permit hereunder to produce his permit and
to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any person found to be violating
the same.
The Chief of Police shall report to the City Clerk-Treasurer all convictions
for violation of this chapter, and the City Clerk-Treasurer shall maintain
a record for each permit issued and record the reports of violation therein.
A.
Permits issued under the provisions of this chapter may
be revoked by the Council of the City of Fairfax after notice and hearing
for any of the following causes:
(1)
Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement contained
in the application for permit;
(2)
Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement made
in the course of carrying on his business as solicitor, canvasser, peddler,
transient merchant, itinerant merchant or itinerant vendor;
(3)
Any violation of this chapter;
(4)
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor;
(5)
Conducting the business of peddler, canvasser, solicitor,
transient merchant, itinerant merchant, or itinerant vendor, as the case may
be, in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of
peace or to constitute a menace to health, safety or general welfare of the
public.
B.
Notice of the hearing for revocation of a permit shall
be given by the City Clerk-Treasurer 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 permittee at his last known address at
least five days prior to the date set for hearing, or shall be delivered by
a police officer in the same manner as a summons at least three days prior
to the date set for hearing.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police or the City Clerk-Treasurer in the denial of a permit as provided in § 169-6 of this chapter may appeal to the Council. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Council within 14 days after notice of the action complained of, 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 § 169-12 of this chapter for notice of hearing on revocation.
No permittee whose permit has been revoked shall make further application
until at least six months have elapsed since the last previous revocation.
All annual permits issued under the provisions of this chapter shall
expire at midnight the 31st day of December in the year when issued. Other
than annual licenses shall expire at midnight on the date specified in the
license.
Any person, either as principal or agent, who shall in any manner engage
in, do, or transact any business as a transient merchant, without having first
obtained a license, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor and may be punished by
a fine up to $3,000 and a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment. Any person
who shall engage in or follow the business of a hawker or peddler without
having first obtained a license is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment
for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both, plus, in either case, the costs
of prosecution. See Minn. Stat. §§ 329.17(1) and (2), 609.0341,
subd. 1, and 609.033.
