Chapter 5.35
PEDDLERS AND SOLICITORS
Sections:
Article I. General Provisions
5.35.030 Temporary facilities for transient merchants.
5.35.050 House-to-house solicitation.
5.35.060 Street and sidewalk solicitation permit.
Article II. Licensing
5.35.080 Application and issuance.
5.35.110 Special provisions for vehicles.
Statutory reference: Municipal home rule, see IC 36-1-3-1 et seq. Specific authority to regulate peddlers, solicitors, etc., see IC 36-8-2-11. Transient Merchant Law of Indiana, see IC 25-37-1-1 et seq.
Article I. General Provisions
5.35.010 Statement of policy.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the town, in the furtherance of the public health, safety and general welfare, to regulate solicitation, sales and the distribution of literature by persons, organizations, peddlers and transient merchants, to protect the citizenry from unauthorized solicitation at their homes, and to provide for maximum traffic safety on the streets and highways in the town, and provide for the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the town. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-1; Code 2000 § 114.01].
5.35.020 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
“Peddler” means any person selling or offering for sale, barter or exchange, by sample or otherwise, any products, goods, wares or merchandise of any kind or description whatsoever, traveling by foot, vehicle or other conveyance, from place to place, from house to house, or in, about, along or upon any street, alley, or highway, or any other grounds in the municipality. The word “peddler” shall include, but not be limited to, “hawkers” and “ice cream vendors.”
“Solicitor and/or canvasser” means any person taking or attempting to take orders for sales or products, goods, wares and merchandise of any kind or description whatsoever, for future delivery or services to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or not the person has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such sale, or whether he is collecting advance payment of such sales or not, traveling by foot or any type of conveyance from place to place within the corporate limits of the town. “Solicitor” shall include, but not be limited to, those soliciting the taking of photographs. “Solicitor” shall also include any person requesting contributions for any person or organization or handing out any literature or flyers on behalf of any person or organization.
“Transient merchant” means any person, whether a resident or nonresident of the town, who engages in a temporary business of selling or delivering goods or products of any kind within the town and who, in furtherance of said purpose, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, vehicle, room, shop or other place within the municipality for the exhibition and sale of products, goods, wares and merchandise. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-2; Code 2000 § 114.02].
5.35.030 Temporary facilities for transient merchants.
(A) All persons, merchants or transient merchants licensed under the provisions of this chapter or subject to being licensed under the provisions of this chapter, except peddlers or solicitors, shall conduct their business within the town in a permanent structure enclosing an area of not less than 500 square feet on one level. Said structure shall be serviced by sanitary facilities, sewers, drains, power and utilities, including running water, and said structure shall otherwise be built in conformity with the building code of the town applicable to commercial buildings.
(B) No license shall be issued to a person subject to the provisions of subsection (A) of this section until the applicant demonstrates that the intended use of the facilities is permitted under the applicable provisions of the comprehensive zoning ordinance or produces documentation from the proper town body that the use is a “similar use” or that a “special exception use” has been granted. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-3; Code 2000 § 114.03].
Penalty, see HMC 5.35.140.
5.35.040 Exceptions.
Nothing in this chapter shall be held to include persons representing a bona fide wholesale establishment selling to retail dealers in the town, nor to include acts of bona fide local merchants or businesses in the town or their employees in taking orders in the houses of their customers for goods or services, or acts of said merchants or businessmen or their employees in delivering goods ordered by their customers, nor to include any child under the age of 16. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-4; Code 2000 § 114.04].
5.35.050 House-to-house solicitation.
(A) No person shall engage in any residential solicitation without having first obtained a license.
(B) No house-to-house solicitor and/or canvasser shall use other than the front door when making calls at residences, and all such soliciting and/or canvassing shall be done between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., with the exception that all soliciting or canvassing on Sundays and holidays shall be prohibited. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-5; Code 2000 § 114.05].
Penalty, see HMC 5.35.140.
5.35.060 Street and sidewalk solicitation permit.
No person shall sell any merchandise, solicit contributions or distribute any literature or flyers on any street within the town, at any intersection, or on any sidewalk or public right-of-way located within 200 feet of any intersection in the town or on any traffic island or median. [Ord. 850, 1980; Ord. 975, 1992. Code 1983 § 14-41; Code 2000 § 114.06].
Penalty, see HMC 5.35.140.
Article II. Licensing
5.35.070 Required.
(A) No person shall call at any residence or place of business within the town with the intent or purpose of soliciting without having a license authorizing solicitation in his possession. No license shall be in the possession of any person other than the one to whom it was issued.
(B) No person shall occupy or use any portion of a public street, sidewalk, park or other public property within the limits of the municipality for taking photographs, pictures or motion pictures with the intent or purpose of selling, or offering the picture for sale, without first obtaining a license.
(C) No person shall engage in house-to-house selling, peddling, soliciting, canvassing, hawking, acting as a transient merchant or any similar activity within the town without first registering and obtaining a license. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-21; Code 2000 § 114.15].
Penalty, see HMC 5.35.140.
5.35.080 Application and issuance.
(A) Any person or organization required to obtain a license under the provisions of this chapter must file a sworn written application (in duplicate) with the clerk-treasurer, the application giving the following information:
(1) Name, description of applicant;
(2) Address;
(3) A brief description of the nature of the business and the goods to be sold;
(4) If employed, name and address of the employer, together with the credentials establishing the exact relationship;
(5) Length of time for which the right to do business is desired;
(6) If a vehicle is to be used, a description of the vehicle, together with license number or other means of identification;
(7) Photograph of the applicant, taken within 60 days prior to the date of the filing of the application, the picture being approximately two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner;
(8) The fingerprints of the applicant and the names of at least two reliable property owners of the county who will certify as to the applicant’s good character and business responsibility or, in lieu thereof, other evidence as to good character, sufficient to make an evaluation as to character and responsibility;
(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 set therefor.
(B) Each applicant dealing in an edible product or traveling from house to house shall file with his application a statement by a reputable physician in the town dated not more than 10 days prior to the submission of the application certifying the applicant to be free of infectious, contagious or communicable disease.
(C) At the time of filing application, a fee of $10.00 shall be paid to the clerk-treasurer covering the cost of investigation. Upon receipt of such application, the original shall be referred to the police chief, who shall cause an investigation of the applicant’s business and moral character to be made as he deems necessary for the protection of the public. If the applicant’s character and responsibility are found unsatisfactory, the police chief shall endorse his disapproval and his reason for same on the application, returning the application to the clerk-treasurer who shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no license will be issued.
(D) If the applicant’s character and responsibility are found to be satisfactory, the police chief shall endorse his approval on the application, returning the application to the clerk-treasurer, who shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, issue a license and deliver it to the applicant. The license shall contain the signature of the clerk-treasurer, the name, address and photograph of said licensee, class of license issued and kinds of goods to be sold thereunder, and the expiration date. The clerk-treasurer shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-22. Code 2000 § 114.16].
5.35.090 Fee.
(A) A license fee in the amount described in the following schedule shall be paid to the clerk-treasurer for a license required by this chapter, depending on the term or tenure desired for the regulated soliciting or peddling. None of the license fees provided for by this section shall be applied so as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce. In any case where a license fee is believed by a licensee or applicant for license to place an undue burden upon such commerce, he may apply to the town council for an adjustment of the fee so that it shall not be discriminatory, unreasonable or unfair as to such commerce.
(B) License fees for soliciting or peddling required by this chapter shall be according to the following schedule of license fees:
(1) Peddling or soliciting per week: $5.75;
(2) Peddling or soliciting per month: $20.00;
(3) Peddling or soliciting per year: $216.00. [Ord. 1687 § 3, 2018].
5.35.100 Free licenses.
(A) Veteran’s Exemption. The clerk-treasurer shall issue a free license pursuant to this chapter to an approved applicant who has been a war veteran or serviceman and shall present the clerk-treasurer a license from the county auditor showing his/her qualification under applicable law.
(B) Temporary Fee Waiver by Order of the Town Council President. For not-for-profit, philanthropic, civic, local government or educational groups which are situated and based in the town, which are conducting an activity regulated by this chapter, the town council hereby authorizes that the town council president, when in his opinion the public good would require it, may issue a written order, directed to the clerk-treasurer, indicating that the fees set forth in the schedule under HMC 5.35.080(C), 5.35.090, 5.35.110, and 5.35.130 are waived for the group with such waiver to be effective for a time certain and not to exceed a period of two weeks. Further, such order should be reported to the town council for its information in a timely manner. [Ord. 850, 1980; Ord. 1044, 1996. Code 1983 § 14-24; Code 2000 § 114.18].
Statutory reference: Veterans exempt from certain licenses, see IC 25-25-2-1.
5.35.110 Special provisions for vehicles.
For each vehicle used, a license applicant shall file a certificate of insurance with the clerk-treasurer, establishing that liability insurance in minimum amounts of $100,000 and $300,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage is in effect. Each vehicle so used shall have displayed upon each side thereof, in plain print, legible at 20 feet, the name and address of owner and kind of goods for sale. A fee for each vehicle used in the amount of $5.00 per month or $25.00 per year shall be paid to the clerk-treasurer. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-25; Code 2000 § 114.19].
5.35.120 Term.
All annual licenses issued under this chapter shall expire on the thirty-first day of December in the year when issued, and all other licenses shall expire on the date specified on the license. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-26; Code 2000 § 114.20].
5.35.130 Badge.
Any person procuring a license under this chapter shall wear a badge conspicuously upon his person, which badge reflects his permission and license, such badge to be furnished by the town and to be nontransferable. A deposit of $5.00 for the badge shall be required of all such persons, the deposit being returned to the depositor upon the return of the badge to the clerk-treasurer within five days of expiration of said license. [Ord. 850, 1980. Code 1983 § 14-27; Code 2000 § 114.21].
Penalty, see HMC 5.35.140.
5.35.140 Penalty.
Any person or organization who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be fined in a sum not to exceed $1,000 per day and each day that any person shall violate any of the provisions or section of this chapter shall be deemed to commit a separate offense hereunder. [Ord. 850, 1980; Ord. 975, 1992. Code 1983 § 14-6. Code 2000 § 114.99].
Cross-reference: Schedule of code or ordinance violations, see HMC 9.85.060.
Statutory reference: Limitations on penalties, see IC 36-1-3-8(9) and (10).