[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Goshen 6-5-1958; amended in its entirety 7-28-2005 by L.L. No. 8-2005.
Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Legislative intent. This chapter is enacted for the
purpose of regulating the distribution of certain materials, peddling,
vending soliciting and related activities within the Town of Goshen.
The licensing of persons engaged in the above-mentioned activities
is required so that the identity of persons going door-to-door or
distributing materials within the Town may be established, the rights
of legitimate businesses may be protected, general regulations may
be more effectively enforced, the health, safety and welfare of the
inhabitants of the Town may be protected and maintained and dishonest
business practices and dishonest solicitation of funds in the Town
may be prevented.
B.
License required. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of peddler, vendor or solicitor as defined in § 73-2, within the limits of the Town of Goshen, excluding that portion thereof within the Incorporated Village of Goshen, without first obtaining a license as provided herein.
C.
Exemptions. Nothing in this chapter shall be held
to apply to:
(1)
Honorably discharged soldiers of the United States
Armed Forces who have obtained a license from the County Clerk in
connection with § 32 of the General Business Law;
(2)
Any sale conducted by statute or court order;
(3)
Any person selling personal property at wholesale
to dealers who may then resell such articles;
(4)
Merchants having an established place of business
within the Town;
(5)
Farmers who produce commodities for sale to the general
public;
(6)
Any candidate running for a governmental office or
his representative; or
(7)
Persons soliciting or collecting for any bona fide
charitable or not-for-profit organization having a permanent office
within a radius of 50 miles of the Town of Goshen.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A building, store or depository in which or where a person
transacts business and deals with goods, wares, merchandise or services
in the ordinary and regular course of business.
Any person who, in any street or public place, or by going
from house to house or from place to place, or any combination thereof,
on foot or from any vehicle, sells or barters or offers for sale or
barter any goods, ware, merchandise or services. For the purpose of
this chapter, the entity which engages a person as their agent for
the purposes of peddling is also considered a "peddler" within the
meaning of this section and is subject to all provisions herein.
Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company,
association, society, organization or league and includes any trustee,
receiver, assignee, agent, volunteer, employee or other representative
thereof.
Any person traveling either by foot or vehicle from house
to house, street to street, place of business to place of business,
or any combination thereof, who takes or offers to take orders for
the sale of goods, wares or merchandise, for present or future delivery,
or for the performance of present or future services, whether or not
payments is collected at time of sale or in the future. For the purposes
of this chapter, the entity which engages a person or their agent
for the purposes of soliciting is also considered a "solicitor" within
the meaning of this section and is subject to all provisions herein.
Any person who, without traveling from place to place, sells or offers for sale goods, wares or merchandise, food, foodstuffs or provisions from any stand, booth, vehicle, wagon, trailer or other conveyance, which is located on public property or a flea market authorized and approved under Chapter 61 (Flea Markets) and Chapter 97 (Zoning) of this Code. Any person operating at a stationary location on private property shall not be considered a "vendor" as defined herein, but shall be considered a business owner and/or retail business and subject to all applicable provisions contained in the Zoning Code, Chapter 97.
A.
Persons required to obtain a 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 a 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 the same,
together with license number or other means of identification.
(7)
Two photographs of the applicant, taken within 60
days immediately prior to the date of the filing of the application,
which pictures 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 arrested for or convicted of any crime, misdemeanor or violation
of any municipal ordinance, the nature of the offense and the punishment
or penalty assessed therefor.
(9)
Two references, including one from a bank.
(10)
A complete set of fingerprints of the applicant.
(11)
A certificate from the Sealer or Weights and Measures
of the County of Orange, certifying that all weighing and measuring
devices to be used by the applicant have been examined and approved.
B.
At the time of filing the application, a fee of $500
shall be paid to the Town Clerk to cover the cost of investigation.
[Amended 7-24-2008 by L.L. No. 4-2008]
A.
Upon receipt of such application, the Town Clerk 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 and business responsibility are found to be unsatisfactory,
the Town Clerk shall endorse on such application his/her disapproval
and his/her reasons for the same and return the said application to
the applicant.
C.
If as a result of such investigation the character
and business responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory,
the Town Clerk shall endorse on the application his approval and shall,
upon payment of the prescribed license fee, issue a license, but no
such license shall be issued until the lapse of 48 hours following
the filing of an application therefor, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
to be excepted in such computation. Such license shall contain the
signature and seal of the issuing officer and shall show the name,
address and photograph of said licensee, the class of license issued
and kind of goods to be sold thereunder, the amount of fee paid, the
date of issuance and the length of time the same shall be operative,
a description of the licensee (including his photograph), as well
as the license number and other identifying description of any vehicle
used by the licensee. The Clerk shall keep a permanent record of all
licenses issued.
D.
Any applicant who has been refused a license by the
Town Clerk may apply to the Town Board therefor and the same may be
granted or refused by the Board except as prohibited in § 137
of the Town Law.
[Amended 7-24-2008 by L.L. No. 4-2008]
A license may be issued for one year for each
license, and the fee therefor shall be $1,000, payable upon issuance
of the license, or may be issued by the day for a fee of $200 per
day. Such license shall only be valid between the hours of 9:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m.
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.
A.
No peddler, vendor or solicitor shall have any exclusive
right to any location in the public street, nor shall any peddler,
vendor or solicitor operate in any congested area where such operations
might impede or inconvenience the public. 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 or
the public impeded or inconvenienced.
B.
No peddler, solicitor or vendor may conduct such business
within 250 feet of any school building or playground or public park.
C.
Sound amplifiers and other noises prohibited. No licensee
nor any person in his behalf shall shout, make an outcry, blow a horn,
ring a bell, other than a doorbell, or use any sound device, including
any loudspeaking 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. The ringing of a bell shall
not apply to the usual bells on a junk dealer.[1]
D.
No peddler, solicitor or vendor may be permitted to operate at a stationary location on public or private property, except as provided for in Chapter 61 (Flea Markets) and Chapter 97 (Zoning). Any peddler, solicitor or vendor operating a business for a stationary location on private property is in violation of this chapter. Any person seeking to operate any business on private property must comply with applicable provisions of Chapter 97 (Zoning) of the Town of Goshen.
E.
No peddler, solicitor or vendor shall enter onto private
or public property which has displayed a sign bearing the words "No
Peddling or Soliciting" or words of like intent, nor shall any peddler,
solicitor or vendor remain on any premises after the owner or an occupant
thereof requests his/her departure.
All orders taken by a licensed solicitor, peddler
or vendor for which he or she accepts or demands payment of deposit
of money in advance of final delivery shall be in writing, in duplicate,
stating the terms thereof and the amount paid in advance, and one
copy shall be given to the purchaser at the time of deposit or money
is paid to the solicitor, peddler or vendor. Such orders can be taken
only in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws and
Federal Trade Commission rulings and nothing herein shall be taken
to waive such restrictions; all applicable sales tax shall be paid
pursuant to state and federal laws.
Licensees are required to exhibit their licenses
at the request of any citizen.
A.
Permits and licenses under the provisions of this
chapter may be revoked by the Town Board of the Town of Goshen 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 hearing.
C.
The Town Clerk shall have the power to temporarily
suspend any license, upon written complaint, pending the hearing herein
provided for.
The license fee provided for by this chapter
shall not be so applied as to occasion an undue burden on interstate
commerce. In any case where an applicant or licensee believes that
the fee places and undue burden upon interstate commerce, he may apply
to the Town Clerk for an adjustment of the fee so that it shall not
be discriminatory, unreasonable or unfair to such commerce. Such application
may be made before, at the time of or within six months after payment
of the prescribed license fee. The applicant shall, by affidavit and,
if required by the Town Clerk, by verbal testimony, show his method
of doing business, including place of origin of the goods sold or
to be sold, and such other information as the Town Clerk shall require
in order to determine the extent, if any, of any undue burden on such
commerce. In the event the Town Clerk shall determine that the fee
for license is an undue burden upon interstate commerce, he shall
refund all or such part of such fee as he shall determine to be such
undue burden.
Before any license as hereinbefore provided
shall be issued to a licensee, the applicant shall file with the Town
Clerk, as a part of the application, an appointment of the Town Clerk
as the applicant's true and lawful attorney with full power and authority
to receive service or notice of process for or on behalf of said applicant
in respect to any matters connected with or arising out of business
transacted under said license, in the same manner and with the same
effect as if personally served upon the applicant. Immediately upon
service of process upon the Town Clerk as herein provided, the Town
Clerk shall send to the licensee at his address shown on the application,
by certified mail, a copy of said process.
[Amended 7-24-2008 by L.L. No. 4-2008]
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall be guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine
of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense
in any twelve-month calendar period.
