[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Suffern 2-8-1971 as Ch. 32 of the 1971 Code; amended in its entirety 3-12-1990 by L.L. No.
3-1990. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter shall be to preserve the public
peace and good order in the Village of Suffern and to contribute to
the public welfare and good order of its people by enforcing certain
regulations and restrictions on canvassers and solicitors in order
to prevent fraud, crime and unethical and dishonest business practices
within the Village of Suffern.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes itinerant vendors of merchandise who shall go from
door to door or place to place in this Village selling, causing to
be sold, offering for sale or taking orders for present or future
delivery of merchandise of any description whatever. For the purpose
of this chapter, a "canvasser" or "solicitor" shall also be deemed
to be one who is not in the business of selling goods but who makes
surveys for research purposes, analysis, opinion polls, rating data
and any other work which of its nature involves a door-to-door or
place-to-place activity and shall include persons going from door
to door or place to place for the purpose of soliciting contributions
or donations for any person or organization. For purposes of this
chapter, real estate brokers, and sellers of energy and utility-type
services shall be deemed to be canvassers or solicitors.
[Amended 11-8-2017 by L.L. No.
6-2017]
Includes magazines, periodicals, books and orders or contracts
for a service, home improvement or alterations.
No person shall canvass, solicit or call from door to door or
place to place in the Village of Suffern without first registering
with the Village Clerk.
A.
Nothing herein contained shall require the licensing of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors or marines of the military and naval services of the United States who have obtained a license from the County Clerk in connection with § 32 of the General Business Law, except that they shall be required to comply with § 200-11 and confine activities to the hours between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
B.
This chapter shall not apply to sales by any member of the Boy Scouts
of America, Girl Scouts of America or similar Village-based youth
organizations; school groups; churches; fraternal organizations; a
duly organized volunteer ambulance or fire company or district or
an auxiliary thereof; or other bona fide charity who is acting on
behalf of said organization, group, company, district or corporation
where the organization shall have provided notice to the Village Clerk
at least five days before the first activity on its behalf with the
dates of the activity and the name and address of the person in charge.
C.
Political activity shall be exempt from the terms of this chapter.
Each registrant shall, at the time of registering, file with
the Village Clerk, on a form to be provided by the Village of Suffern,
an application, in writing, which shall give the following information
and be signed and affirmed by the applicant under the penalties of
perjury:
A.
The name, age and physical description of the applicant.
B.
A complete permanent home and local address of the applicant and
the telephone number at such address.
C.
The name and address of the organization or person for whom solicitation
is being made and the telephone number at such address.
D.
A description of the nature of the business and the goods, services
or wares to be sold and sufficient information to determine the business
he is to transact.
E.
The days, dates and route of his business or solicitation in the
Village of Suffern, which, unless special permission is granted by
the Village Clerk, shall be between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m.
F.
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted
of a crime, misdemeanor or disorderly conduct offense and where and
when so convicted, the nature of the offense and the penalty, if any.
G.
The make, model, year, color and license plate number of automobiles
used by the applicant during the period of solicitation in the Village
and the number of his driver's license and the state of issuance.
[Added 11-8-2017 by L.L. No. 6-2017]
A.
The Village Clerk shall maintain a list of addresses of the owners,
occupants, tenants or persons in charge of private premises who have
notified the Village Clerk that they do not wish to be visited by
canvassers or solicitors or receive delivery of unsolicited newspapers
or advertising matter. The Village Clerk shall revise said list when
notified that an individual desires to withdraw a prior notification
that he refuses to receive delivery of the aforementioned materials
or visits from canvassers and solicitors. All notifications herein
to the Village Clerk must be in writing. Whenever the Village Clerk
ascertains that the ownership or tenancy of any premises has changed,
by virtue of a request for a water meter reading or otherwise, for
which the owner, tenant or person in charge has filed a refusal of
delivery of advertising matter or unsolicited newspaper and campaign
material, the Village Clerk shall revise the aforementioned list by
deleting said address from the list. The list compiled and the written
requests for nondelivery shall be available for inspection pursuant
to Article 6 of the Public Officers Law.
B.
The Village Clerk shall furnish a copy of the aforementioned list
to each person who is issued a certificate of registration at the
time said certificate of registration is issued and shall mail a copy
of said list to the address specified in the registration statement
filed pursuant to this chapter. The Village Clerk shall mail a revised
list to the address specified in the registration statement on or
about the first day of each month if there are any deletions or additions
to said list.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to visit a person on this list or distribute an unsolicited newspaper or advertising material to any person who has refused delivery thereof pursuant to this chapter after personal delivery of the list containing the addresses of those persons refusing delivery thereof to a person filing a registration statement and from a date 15 days after a revised list has been mailed to a distributor pursuant to Subsection B herein.
A separate registration must be made for every solicitor, agent
or employee conducting business or soliciting within the Village limits.
Each registrant, upon being so registered, shall be issued a
registration certificate by the Village Clerk, upon which shall be
impressed the Official Seal of the Village of Suffern and the period
for which said certificate shall be valid, but in no event to exceed
30 calendar days from the date of issuance.
Each registrant shall carry the registration certificate at
all times when conducting business in the Village and shall exhibit
it to any citizen or Village official upon request. At the conclusion
of the period for which the registration certificate was issued, said
registration certificate shall be returned to the Village Clerk.
The Village Clerk may, at any time for a violation of this chapter
or any other ordinance or any law, revoke any registration certificate.
When a registration certificate is revoked, no refund of any portion
of the registration fee shall be made. Notice of such revocation and
the reason therefor shall be in writing and shall be served by the
Village Clerk upon the person named in the application or by mailing
the same to the address given in the application. A copy of the revocation
order shall be part of the Village Clerk's records.
No registration certificate 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.
Every person to whom a registration certificate is issued under
the terms of this chapter shall be governed by the following rules
and regulations:
A.
He shall not falsely or fraudently misrepresent the quantity, character
or quality of any article offered for sale.
B.
He shall not blow a horn, ring a bell or use any other noisy device
to attract public attention to his wares or shout or cry out his wares.
C.
He shall not stand or permit the vehicle used by him to stand in
any public place or street for more than 10 minutes or in front of
any premises for any time if the owner or lessee objects.
D.
He shall not create or maintain any booth or other obstruction upon
any street or public place for the purpose of selling or exposing
for sale any goods, wares or merchandise.
E.
He shall not sell any merchandise within 250 feet of any school between
the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on school days.
F.
He shall not enter or attempt to enter the house or apartment of
any resident in the Village without an express invitation from the
occupant of the house or apartment.
G.
He shall not conduct himself in such a manner as to annoy or harass
any person while soliciting within the Village.
The fee for each registration certificate shall be as set by
resolution of the Board of Trustees in the Standard Schedule of Fees
of the Village of Suffern.[1] All persons involved in canvass or solicitation must obtain
his or her individual certificate.
In the event that an application for canvassing or soliciting
is incomplete, it shall be disapproved and be returned to the applicant
for completion. The applicant may appeal to the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Suffern, which shall set a time and place for a
hearing, which hearing shall be held within 15 days after a request
for an appeal has been filed with the Village Clerk and at which hearing
the applicant will be given an opportunity to present his reasons
why the registration certificate should be issued. The decision of
the Board of Trustees is final.
No person, whether acting as principal or as agent, shall conduct
a transient retail business in any store, tent, booth or from any
wagon or pushcart in this Village for the sale of goods which shall
be represented or advertised as a bankrupt stock or as assigned stock
or as goods damaged by fire, water or otherwise or by any such representation
or device without first taking out a license therefor from the Clerk
of this Village, the fee for which is hereby fixed in an amount set
by resolution of the Board of Trustees in the Standard Schedule of
Fees of the Village of Suffern.[1] The license shall not be issued for a period less than
one month and shall be renewed monthly during the continuance of such
business.
