Town of Orangetown, NY
Rockland County
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Chapter 18: HAWKING AND PEDDLING
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Orangetown Town Board 11-28-1951. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 18-1 Short title.

This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Hawking and Peddling Ordinance."

§ 18-2 Purpose.

This ordinance is enacted for the purpose of regulating itinerant merchandising in order that the peace, health, safety, welfare and good order of the Town and its inhabitants shall not be endangered or unduly disturbed.

§ 18-3 Definitions.

HAWKER AND PEDDLER
As used in this ordinance shall be deemed to include, unless otherwise herein provided, any person who engages in merchandising any goods, wares, commodities or services by going from house to house, place of business to place of business, or in any public street or public place, or by temporarily occupying a room, building or other premises therefor.
PERSON
As used in this ordinance shall be deemed to include any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association and principal or agent thereof.
MERCHANDISING
As used in this ordinance refers to the selling, bartering or trading, or offering to sell, barter or trade any goods, wares, commodities or services.
ESTABLISHED PLACE OF BUSINESS
As used in this ordinance means a permanent building, store or depository in which or where the person transacts business and deals in the goods, wares or commodities he hawks or peddles in the ordinary and regular course of business.
TEMPORARY OCCUPANCY
A store, room, building, tent, enclosure or structure of any kind intended to be occupied for the period of time necessary to hawk or peddler the merchandise or products therein housed initially without the intent to replenish or restock such goods, wares and merchandise sold therein. In all prosecutions for a violation of this ordinance the intent of the defendant to conduct an established place of business shall be material fact and the burden of proving such intent shall be upon the defendant in such prosecution.

§ 18-4 Unlawful to hawk or peddle without a license.

[Amended 4-14-1952]
The merchandising of any goods, wares, commodities or services within the Town of Orangetown without first having obtained a license therefor from the Clerk of the Town is hereby prohibited unless such merchandising is at the personal request of the person solicited.

§ 18-5 Exemptions from license.

The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to the following:
A. An honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine, who is crippled as a result of injuries received while in the naval or military service of the United States.
B. The holder of a license granted pursuant to the General Business Law of the State of New York.
C. A wholesaler selling articles to dealers or merchants who have an established place of business within the Town.
D. A truck gardener or farmer who himself or through his employees vends, sells or disposes of products of his own farm or garden.
E. A child regularly attending any public or parochial or private school located within the Town of Orangetown or a representative of any established church maintaining a place of worship with the Town or a member of a veteran's organization, provided that such organization has and maintains a chapter, post, lodge, camp or other group within the Town of Orangetown, or a member of a fraternal organization or a civic group, provided that such fraternal organization or civic group maintains a chapter or local organization and further provided that any person coming within the provisions of this exemption shall only hawk or peddle in connection with an authorized activity of the organization of which they are a member or the school which they attend.
F. Auction sales held pursuant to law by a sheriff or other officer authorized by law to conduct such sale.
G. This local law shall not apply to sale of daily newspapers, nor shall it be interpreted as intending to, nor shall it be construed to unlawfully interfere with the conduct of interstate commerce or the impairment of the rights of free speech, press or publication. It shall be construed as implementing and not as limiting the purposes and provisions of the New York State home solicitation sales act. Editor's Note: See the Personal Property Law, § 425 et seq.
[Amended 1-25-1982 by L.L. No. 2-1982]
H. Any person soliciting at the express invitation of the person solicited or serving an established customer.
[Added 4-14-1952]

§ 18-6 Application for license.

A. Every applicant for a license is required to submit to the Town Clerk a written application supplying, under oath, the following information:
(1) Name of applicant.
(2) Permanent home residence.
(3) Name and address of firm represented, if any.
(4) The length of time for which the license is required.
(5) A description of the goods, wares or commodities to be offered for sale, together with a true invoice of their amount, quality and value.
(6) The number of arrests or convictions for crimes and the nature thereof.
(7) To the application must be appended a letter of authorization from the firm which the applicant purports to represent.
B. Every applicant for a hawking and peddling license issued pursuant to this ordinance shall submit a photograph, two inches by two inches, taken within 30 days of the date of the application for such license. Such photograph shall show head, full face and shoulders of applicant and shall be submitted in triplicate. One copy of the photograph shall be attached to the license application, one copy of the photograph to the license, and the third shall be delivered to the Chief of Police of the Town of Orangetown.
[Added 4-14-1952]
C. Each applicant for a hawking and peddling license shall have a fingerprint impression of the fingers and thumbs on both hands taken by the Police Department of the Town of Orangetown and the photograph delivered to the Chief of Police shall be attached to the fingerprint identification card and shall remain on file in the Orangetown Police Headquarters.
[Added 4-14-1952]
D. The Town Clerk of the Town of Orangetown shall not issue a license after the effective date of this amendment unless and until the applicant shall furnish satisfactory proof of compliance with the provisions hereof relating to fingerprint identification. On all applications for renewal the applicant need only submit the photograph required hereunder to the Town Clerk of the Town of Orangetown and the Chief of Police of the Town of Orangetown unless the said Clerk or said Chief of Police shall request a new fingerprint identification.
[Added 4-14-1952]

§ 18-7 Granting of license.

A. Upon receipt of the application and of the license fee, and if reasonably satisfied with the applicant's qualifications, the Town Clerk shall issue a license to the applicant, specifying the particular business authorized and the location wherein it may be conducted. This license shall be nontransferable and shall be in the continuous possession of the licensee while engaged in the business licensed. The license shall be produced upon the demand of any Town official or prospective buyer.
B. Nothing contained in this law, or as amended, shall permit hawking and peddling where otherwise prohibited by law.
[Added 5-10-1982 by L.L. No. 4-1982]

§ 18-8 Recording of license.

A. The Town Clerk shall keep a record of all applications, the determinations thereon, and of all licenses issued in accordance with this ordinance. The record shall contain the name and residence of the person licensed, the location of the business, the amount of the license fee paid, and the date of revocation of all licenses revoked.
B. All licenses issued hereunder shall expire on the 31st day of December of each year immediately following their issuance, except that a license issued for a shorter period than one year shall expire at the expiration of the period for which it is issued.

§ 18-9 Schedule of fees.

[Amended 4-14-1952; 1-25-1982 by L.L. No. 2-1982; 9-10-1991 by L.L. No. 20-1991; 1-8-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
The license fees for all licenses hereunder shall be set by resolution of the Town Board.

§ 18-10 Restrictions.

A licensed hawker or peddler shall:
A. Not willfully misstate the quantity or quality of any article offered for sale.
B. Not willfully offer for sale any article of an unwholesome or defective nature.
C. Not call attention to his goods by blowing a horn, by ringing a bell other than a house doorbell, by shouting or crying or by any loud or unusual noise.
D. Not frequent any street in an exclusive nature so as to cause a private or public nuisance.
E. Keep the vehicle and/or receptacles used by him in the furtherance of his licensed business in a sound, clean and sanitary condition.
F. Keep his edible articles offered for sale well protected from dirt, dust and insects.
G. Not remain, stand nor permit any vehicle used by him to remain or stand in one place in any public road, place or street for more than 10 minutes, nor in front of any premises for any time if the owner or any lessee of the premises objects, nor resume operations during the same business day from a new location within 1/4 of a mile of said former place or site. This subsection shall not apply to the sale of prepared foods and/or the sale of beverages by vendors licensed by the government agencies, bureaus or departments having jurisdiction, including but not limited to the Rockland County Department of Health.
[Added 1-25-1982 by L.L. No. 2-1982; amended 5-10-1982 by L.L. No. 4-1982]
H. Not create or maintain any booth or stand or place any barrels, boxes or other obstructions upon any road, public place or street for the purpose of selling or exposing for sale any goods, wares or merchandise.
[Added 1-25-1982 by L.L. No. 2-1982]
I. Not sell "silly string," or similar-type goods, or snap caps and stink bomb devices, or similar projective devices during a parade or public event in the Town of Orangetown.
[Added 10-14-2003 by L.L. No. 4-2003]

§ 18-11 Revocation of license.

A license may be summarily revoked by the Town Clerk by reason of a violation of the terms of the license; the violation of any municipal ordinance, state or federal statute; or for falsification in applying for a license. Written notice of such revocation, stating the terms therefor, shall be personally served upon the licensee or mailed to the address given in the application. Upon the filing of such notice of revocation in the Town Clerk's office, with affidavit of service by mailing, such license shall be revoked. A hearing upon the revocation of the license shall be granted the licensee if said licensee shall request such a hearing as hereinafter provided.

§ 18-12 Review.

[Amended 10-27-1958]
In the event of the revocation of a license pursuant to the provisions of § 18-11 hereof or in the event of the denial of a license to any applicant by the Clerk or the refusal of the Chief of Police to countersign a license, the applicant may request a hearing within a period of 30 days after such revocation, refusal and denial. Such request shall be in writing and shall be made to the Town Board of the Town of Orangetown and filed with the Town Clerk within the period provided herein. The Town Board shall hear such applicant's request for a review of the determination of the Town Clerk or the Chief of Police at the next regularly scheduled meeting of said Town Board following the filing of the application for review with the Town Clerk. The Town Board may grant a license to the applicant if it should determine that the refusal on the part of the Clerk or the Chief of Police was arbitrary or otherwise in error. If the Town Board after such hearing shall determine that the decision of the Town Clerk or Chief of Police was not arbitrary and was justified under the circumstances, the Board shall refuse such license. The decision on any hearing shall be rendered by the Town Board in writing within 45 days after the hearing thereof and shall be entered in the minutes of the Town Board.

§ 18-13 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 10-25-1993 by L.L. No. 16-1993; 10-16-1995 by L.L. No. 30-1995]
Any person who shall act as a hawker or peddler as herein defined without a license or who shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance or who shall continue to act as a hawker or peddler subsequent to the revocation of his license shall be guilty of an offense against the Hawking and Peddling Ordinance of the Town of Orangetown and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $400 and not more than $1,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, or both.

§ 18-14 Repeal of prior ordinances.

All ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent with this ordinance are hereby repealed.

§ 18-15 Date of effect.

This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon enactment, publication and posting as required by law.

§ 18-16 Invalidity.

If any portion of this ordinance shall be declared invalid for any reason, the remainder thereof shall not by that reason be deemed invalid and shall continue in full force and effect.

§ 18-17 When effective.

This ordinance shall take effect after posting and publishing, as provided in the Town Law.