Borough of Mechanicsburg, PA TRANSIENT RETAIL BUSINESS

Any person with no fixed place of business, who goes from door to door, from place to place, or from street to street, by any means, carrying or transporting goods, wares, or merchandise and offering or exposing the same for sale, or making sales and deliveries for purchase.

PERSON

Any natural person, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

POLICE DEPARTMENT

The Mechanicsburg Borough Police Department, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

SOLICITOR

Any person who goes from door to door, place to place, or from street to street, soliciting or taking or attempting to take orders for any goods, wares, or merchandise, including but not limited to books, periodicals, magazines, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or services, including but not limited to personal or professional services, financial or debt restructuring services, lawn care, alarm system service, or cleaning services. A solicitor is not a peddler.

TRANSIENT RETAIL BUSINESS

Includes the following:

Engaging in peddling, selling, canvassing, soliciting or taking orders for, either by sample or otherwise, any goods, wares or merchandise, upon any of the streets or alleys, sidewalks or public grounds, or from door to door, within the Borough; and

Selling, soliciting or taking orders for any goods, wares or merchandise from a fixed location within the Borough on a temporary basis, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, such activities conducted at the time of special occasions or celebrations, for seasonal purposes, or for or in advance of particular yearly holidays.

§ 13-202 License Required to Engage in Transient Retail Business.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 2; as amended by Ord. 928, 12/20/1983, § 2; and by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

No person shall engage in any transient retail business within the Borough without first having obtained from the Police Department a license, for which a fee which shall be charged and paid to the Borough of Mechanicsburg in an amount to be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council. Upon issuance, the license shall be limited to a maximum of five days. At the expiration of any license, if the person or entity holding the license shall desire to continue the transient retail business, that person or entity shall file a new application for a license and pay the license fee and upon issuance, that license shall be limited to a maximum of five days.

No license or fee is required as it applies under this section:

To religious proselytizing, political speech, and the distribution of handbills.

To farmers selling their own produce.

For the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise, donated by the owners thereof, the proceeds whereof are to be applied to any charitable or philanthropic purpose.

To any manufacturer or producer in the sale of bread and bakery products, meat and meat products, or milk and milk products.

To children under the age of 18 years who take orders for and deliver newspapers, greeting cards, candy, bakery products and the like, or who represent the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or similar organizations.

To a person who has registered with the Department of State for the Commonwealth under the provisions of the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S. § 162.1 et seq., as hereafter amended, supplemented, modified or reenacted by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, or who is expressly exempted from such registration under such Act.

Any person claiming any exemption under this section shall provide the Police Department with documentation demonstrating that person or entity qualifies for said exemption under this section.

No person, licensed under this Part, shall occupy any fixed location upon any of the Borough's streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds, with or without any stand or counter.

Any person dealing in one or more of the hereinabove-mentioned exempted categories and selling other goods, wares and merchandise not so exempted shall be subject to payment of the license fee fixed by this section for the activities in connection with the sale of goods, wares and merchandise not in such exempted categories; provided, further, that the Police Department may similarly exempt from payment of the license fee, but not from registering with the Police Department, persons working without compensation and selling goods, wares or merchandise for the sole benefit of any nonprofit corporation; provided, further, that every license issued under the provisions of this Part 2 shall be issued on an individual basis to persons engaging in such businesses, every such individual shall obtain a separate license issued to the individual's name, and the license fee hereby imposed shall be applicable to every such individual license.

§ 13-203 Application for License.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 3; as amended by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

Each individual or group intending to engage in peddling or soliciting within the Borough must first obtain a license at least five business days in advance of the beginning of the time period for which the intended peddling or soliciting will occur. A person desiring a license under this Part shall first make application to the Police Department for such license. If such person shall also be required to obtain a license from any state or county officer, such person shall, when making such application, exhibit a valid license from such state or county officer. The applicant shall state:

Applicant's permanent address, telephone number and cell phone number;

Applicant shall provide a copy of a current government-issued photo identification;

Applicant shall furnish a Pennsylvania Criminal History Check dated within 30 days of the date of application. A license may be refused for criminal activity that constitutes a felony or for any crime, regardless of grading, that involves any type of theft, fraud, misappropriation of public trust or computer or electronic devices. Should issuance of license be denied based upon the said criminal activity, applicant may appeal such denial to Borough Council at any time within 10 days of notice of denial of application;

The name and address of the person by whom applicant is employed together with applicant's supervisor's or contact person's name and telephone number;

The type of goods, wares, and merchandise applicant wishes to deal with in such transient retail business;

The length of time for which the license is to be issued;

The location on private property where sales will be conducted, if a fixed location is to be used. Compliance with all applicable zoning and building code regulations is required;

The last previous municipality(ies) in which applicant has conducted such business; and

The type and license number of any vehicle to be used, if any.

§ 13-204 Issuance of License; Custody and Exhibit Thereof.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 4; as amended by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

Upon receipt of such application and the prescribed fee, the Police Department shall issue the license required under this Part if such license application is in proper and approved order. Such license shall contain the information required to be given on the application. Every license holder shall carry and display such license upon his person if engaged in transient retail business from door to door or upon any of streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds. The license holder shall exhibit such license, upon request, to all police officers, Borough officials, and citizens or residents of the Borough of Mechanicsburg. The license holder shall only be entitled to carry said license for the length of time for which the license is issued. When the time period for the license has expired, the license holder shall apply for a new license and pay a new license fee.

§ 13-205 Prohibited Acts.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 6; as amended by Ord. 928, 12/20/1983, § 3; by Ord. 957, 5/17/1988; and by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

No person engaging in any transient retail business shall:

Sell any product or type of product not mentioned in applicant's license;

Hawk or cry his wares upon any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds in the Borough or use any loudspeaker or horn or any other device for announcing his presence by which the public may be annoyed;

When selling from a vehicle, stop or park such vehicle upon any of the streets or alleys in the Borough or linger longer than 30 minutes;

Park any vehicle on any of the streets or alleys of the Borough for the purpose of sorting, rearranging or cleaning any of the applicant's goods, wares or merchandise or for disposing of any carton, wrapping material or any stock or wares or of foodstuffs which may have been unsalable through handling, age or otherwise;

Occupy any fixed location upon any of the streets, alleys or sidewalks or elsewhere out-of-doors within the Borough, for purpose of the sale, storage, display of any goods, wares or merchandise, with or without a stand or counter;

Conduct any business on weekdays between the hours of 8:00 p.m., prevailing time, and 9:00 a.m., prevailing time, on the following day. Conduct any business on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 4:00 p.m., prevailing time, and 10:00 a.m., prevailing time, on the following day;

Engage in hard-sell tactics to sell any product or service or solicit funds; and

Solicit residents who display "Do Not Solicit" signage or whose name and address is listed on a Do Not Solicit list provided by Police Department.

§ 13-206 Supervision over Licensed Persons; Record and Report of Licenses.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 6; as amended by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

The Chief of Police of the Police Department shall supervise the activities of all persons holding licenses under this Part 2, and he shall keep a record of all licenses issued hereunder and shall make a report thereof each month to the Borough Council.

§ 13-207 Suspension of Licenses.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 7; as amended by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

The Chief of Police or Borough Manager are hereby authorized to suspend or revoke any license issued under this Part when he or she deems such suspension or revocation to be beneficial to the public health, safety, or morals, for violation of any provision of this Part, or for misrepresentation to any customer or prospective customer by making any statement not in accord with the information upon such person's application for license; or for giving false, misleading, incomplete information or by omitting any information upon any application for a license hereunder. No part of a license fee shall be refunded to any person whose license shall have been suspended or revoked. Any person whose license is suspended or revoked shall immediately surrender his or her license to the Police Department. Appeals from any suspension may be made to the Borough Council at any time within 10 days after such suspension.

§ 13-208 Violations and Penalties.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 8; as amended by Ord. 925, 4/19/1983; and by Ord. 1140, 8/5/2014]

Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this Part, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $300 and not more than $1,000, plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues or each section of this Part which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.

§ 13-209 Severability.

[Ord. 769, 10/23/1967, § 9]

The provisions of this Part 2 shall be severable, and if any section, part of a section or other provision thereof shall be held to be unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of this Part 2. It is hereby declared as a legislative intent that this Part 2 would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise invalid provision not been a part thereof.