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Borough of South Waverly, PA
Bradford County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of South Waverly 3-3-2008 by Ord. No. 03-03-08 (Ch. 99 of the 1992 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 379.
Words as used herein are defined as follows:
COMMERCIAL SOLICITOR
Any individual or person meeting the definition under this chapter as a solicitor, peddler or transient, or itinerant merchant or vendor engaged in the sale of a product who does not meet the definition of an invited solicitor. This includes selling or attempting to sell subscriptions, products, or services, or taking orders, or attempting to take orders for subscriptions, products, or services.
INVITED SOLICITOR
Any individual or person who is engaged in selling a product subscription or services that is invited by the property owner onto their premises.
NONCOMMERCIAL SOLICITOR
Any individual or person who is a member of a bona fide religious, educational, charitable, nonprofit community service organization or government agency as defined in this chapter and candidates or campaign workers for political office or for legitimate campaign issues who travel door to door; this includes soliciting contributions or pledges for contributions, in the Borough who are not engaged in the sale of a product.
PEDDLER
Any person, whether a resident of the Borough of South Waverly or not, traveling by foot, wagon, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, carrying, conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden or farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers or who, without traveling from place to place, shall sell or offer the same for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, railroad car or other vehicle or conveyance, and further provided that one who solicits orders and, as a separate transaction, makes deliveries to purchasers as a part of a scheme or design to evade the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a "peddler" subject to the provisions of this chapter.
PERSON
Includes the singular and the plural and shall also mean and include any person, firm or corporation, association, club, copartnership or society or any other organization.
SOLICITOR
Any individual, whether of the Borough of South Waverly or not, traveling either by foot, wagon, automobile, motor truck or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house or from street to street, taking or attempting to take orders for sale of goods, wares and merchandise, personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery or for services to be furnished or performed in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such sale or whether he is collecting advance payments on such sales or not, provided that such definition shall include any person who, for himself or for another person, firm or corporation, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, tent, railroad boxcar, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop or any other place within the Borough for the sole purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
TRANSIENT MERCHANT
Any person, firm or corporation, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee, whether a resident of the Borough or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods, wares and merchandise within said Borough and who, in furtherance of such purpose, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, structure, motor vehicle, tent, railroad boxcar or public room in hotels, lodging houses, apartments or shops or any street, alley or other place within the Borough for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares and merchandise, either privately or at public auction, provided that such definition shall not be construed to include any person, firm or corporation who, while occupying such temporary location, does not sell from stock but exhibits samples only for the purpose of securing orders for future delivery only. The person, firm or corporation so engaged shall not be relieved from complying with the provisions of this chapter merely by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as a part of or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer.
No person shall engage as a solicitor, peddler, commercial solicitor or transient merchant within the Borough of South Waverly without first having obtained a license as hereafter provided. A license is not required for a noncommercial solicitor.
A. 
The license fee provisions of this chapter shall not apply to one who sells or offers for sale, in person or by his employees or agents, newspapers, ice, bread, pastry, wood, ice cream, milk or products of the land, if such products are actually grown, produced or made by the seller or the members of his household, within a radius of 15 miles of the Borough of South Waverly, or if such products are being delivered on a regularly established route.
B. 
The license fee provisions of this chapter shall not apply to sales made to manufacturers, merchants and dealers for resale only.
Authorized representatives of bona fide religious, charitable, educational or service organizations, government agencies and political action may go door to door in the Borough without any requirement to formally register, provided they are not selling any products. Any of these organizations selling a product shall be exempt from the payment of any fee required by any section of this chapter. However, organizations shall be required to submit, in writing, to the Borough Secretary the name and purpose of the cause for which such activity is sought, the name and address of the immediate director of such activity and the period during which such activity is to be carried on in the Borough of South Waverly. If the Borough Secretary, after investigation, shall find that the organization is a bona fide charitable, religious, educational or service organization, he or she shall issue, free of charge, a license to carry on such activity for which the license was issued. However, there will be no requirement to register or pay a fee for any individual under this section who is not selling a product.
An application, in writing, shall be filed with the Borough Secretary for a license under this chapter. Such application shall set forth the applicant's name, permanent and local address, business address, if any, and physical description. The application shall also set forth the applicant's employer, if any, and the employer's address, the nature of the applicant's business, the last place of such business and the type of activity to be conducted under the license:
A. 
Upon receipt of such application, the original shall be referred to the Chief of Police or police officer of the contracting police force, who shall cause such investigation of the applicant's business responsibility to be made, as he deems necessary for the protection of the public good. The Borough shall have up to five (business) days to investigate and issue said license. The applicant shall not operate until said license has been approved.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for an effective time and date of 12:00 midnight on 6-30-2010, further providing that the South Waverly Borough Police Department be disbanded at that time contemporaneously with the commencement of police services in South Waverly Borough by Sayre Borough Police Department pursuant to an agreement of 3-1-2010.
B. 
If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant's business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, the Chief of Police or a police officer of the contracting police force shall endorse on such application his or her disapproval and his or her reason for the same and return said application to the applicant that his or her application is disapproved and that no permit and license shall be issued.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
C. 
If, as a result of such investigation, the business responsibility of the applicant is found to be satisfactory, the Chief of Police or a police officer of the contracting police force shall endorse on the application his or her approval and shall, upon payment of the prescribed license fee, deliver to the applicant his or her license. Such license shall contain the signature and seal of the issuing officer and shall show the name and address of said licensee, the 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, as well as the license number and other identifying description of any vehicle used in such activity.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
D. 
The applicant must register make, model and license plate number for all vehicles utilized during the peddling or soliciting process.
Each solicitor or peddler shall at all times while doing business in this Borough keep in his or her possession the license provided for in this chapter and shall, upon the request of prospective customers, exhibit the license as evidence that he or she has complied with all requirements of this chapter. Each transient merchant shall publicly display his license in his or her place of business.
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.
No person licensed as a peddler under this chapter shall hawk or cry his or her wares upon any of the streets or sidewalks of the Borough, nor shall be or she use any loudspeaker or horn or any other device for announcing his or her presence by which the general public is annoyed and shall comply with the Borough's Noise Ordinance.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
Unless otherwise permitted by ordinance, no transient merchant shall be permitted to sell from any fixed location in the public streets nor shall any peddler, noncommercial solicitor, commercial solicitor, solicitor or transient merchant be permitted to operate in any congested area where his or her operations might impede or inconvenience the public. For the purpose of this chapter, the judgment of the Chief of Police or police officer of the contracting police force exercised in good faith shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested or the public impeded or inconvenienced.
[Added 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
The contracting police force shall have the power and duty to require any person seen peddling, soliciting or doing business as a transient merchant and who is not known by such officer to be duly licensed to produce his or her license and to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any person found to be violating the same.
The Borough Secretary shall maintain a record for each license issued denied or revoked and record all violations therein.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
A. 
Permits and licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be denied or revoked by the Chief of Police or police officer of the contracting police force after notice and 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 his or her business.
(3) 
Any violation of this chapter.
(4) 
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
(5) 
Conducting the business 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 the hearing by the Chief of Police or police officer of the contracting police force 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 or otherwise placed in his possession at least five days prior to the date set for hearing.
[Amended 6-2-2010 by Ord. No. 06-02-10-02]
A. 
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police of the contracting police force in the denial of a license as provided in § 398-6 of this chapter or in the decision with reference to the revocation of a license as provided in § 398-13 of this chapter shall have the right to appeal to the Council of the Borough of South Waverly. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Council, within 30 days after notice of the action complained of has been mailed to such person's last-known address or otherwise placed in his possession, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal. Notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant in the same manner as provided in § 398-13 of this chapter for notice of hearing on revocation.
B. 
The Chief of Police of the contracting police force shall have the power and duty to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
All licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be by the day.
No person licensed as a peddler or commercial solicitor under this chapter shall engage in peddling at any time on Sunday or upon any other day of the week before 9:00 a.m. or one hour after sunset but not later than 7:00 p.m.
A. 
No license shall be issued under this chapter until the proper fee, as follows, shall be paid to the Borough Secretary for the use of the Borough: $10 per day.
B. 
The Borough may change the license fee by resolution.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Borough shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County.