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.
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.
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.
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.