[HISTORY: Adopted by the Wilton Town Meeting 5-23-1966. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
No person, firm, association or corporation
shall conduct or advertise any retail sale of personal property in
the Town of Wilton by any means or in any manner so as reasonably
to cause the public to believe that such sale will offer damaged or
altered property, or that upon disposal of the property on hand the
business will be discontinued or removed or that the property offered
for sale was acquired in the course of a voluntary or involuntary
liquidation, unless a license for such sale shall have been issued
by the Chief of Police as hereinafter provided.
Application for such license shall be made in
writing to the Chief of Police and shall contain the following:
A.
The names and addresses of the person or persons to
be licensed and the owner or owners of the property, including the
names of the officers and directors thereof.
B.
A sworn inventory of the property on hand to be sold
under the license, including as to each article, a description, the
cost price, the manufacturer's name and stock number, the date of
purchase and name of the person from whom purchased. If the Chief
of Police finds that it is impossible to fulfill all the provisions
of this paragraph, he may waive such provisions.
C.
The place and date of the proposed sale and the period
of time during which the same is to continue.
D.
A full and complete statement of the facts regarding
the proposed sale, reasons for it, the manner in which the same will
be conducted, the means to be employed in advertising the same and
the proposed content of any advertisements.
E.
Facts establishing that all taxes previously levied
on said property by the Town of Wilton have been fully paid.
F.
Detailed information concerning the nature of the
occupancy of the premises whether by lease or sublease and the effective
date of the termination of such occupancy.
The inventory shall include no property acquired
in contemplation of such sale, and any unusual purchases of or additions
to the property of the applicant or his principal within a period
of 60 days prior to the date of the application shall be presumed
to have been made in contemplation of such sale. Under no circumstances
shall the stock of inventory offered for sale exceed by 50% the average
inventory carried by the applicant over the preceding five years.
If said applicant has been in business for a lesser period of time,
then said inventory offered for sale shall not exceed by 50% the average
inventory carried for the period of time the applicant has been in
business.
The Chief of Police shall examine the details
of the inventory and the items of property sold during any sale under
such license. It shall be unlawful for any applicant or licensee to
withhold from the Chief of Police any facts or information required
by him in the enforcement of this ordinance. The Chief of Police shall
have power to enter the establishment during normal business hours
to examine the property.
Under any license issued hereunder the licensee
shall conduct only the type of sale described in the application for
such license and shall sell only the property described in the inventory
attached to said application.
The license for such sale shall be for the period
requested by the applicant, but shall not exceed 60 successive days,
Sundays and legal holidays excluded, from the date of issuance thereof.
If a license shall have been issued for a period of less than 60 days,
the same may be extended on application of the licensee for a further
period which, with the original license period, shall not exceed said
maximum period of 60 days, upon the payment of an additional license
fee as hereinafter provided.
The maximum period of 60 days may be extended
by the Chief of Police if, prior to the expiration of the license,
a sworn application for such extension shall be filed by the licensee
setting forth the amount of property listed in the original inventory
sold since the issuance of the license, the amount of such property
still remaining in the possession of the licensee, and the length
of time for which such extension is requested, and such application
shall be accompanied by such evidence as shall be satisfactory to
the Chief of Police that no property has been added to that listed
in the original inventory. If the Chief of Police shall determine
that no property has been added to that listed in the original inventory
and that a further period of time is necessary to dispose of the unsold
property listed in the original inventory, he may grant a further
extension of the license period not to exceed 30 days, Sundays and
legal holidays excluded, from the expiration of said sixty-day license
period.
The fees for such license shall be as follows:
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For a license period not exceeding
15 days: $25.
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For a license period not exceeding
30 days: $50.
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For a license period not exceeding
60 days: $75.
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For an extension after the original
license period, $3 per day and, in each instance, a further fee of
$1 per $1,000 of the cost of the property to be sold under such license
as set forth in the inventory attached to the application for such
license. In the case of application by the licensee for a further
extension of the license period within the maximum sixty-day license
period, the applicant shall pay an additional license fee equal to
the difference between the fee for the total period of the license
and the fee paid for the original license period.
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Each licensee hereunder shall:
A.
Make no additions whatsoever, during the period of
the license or any extension thereof, to the property offered for
sale and listed in the inventory attached to the application for such
license.
B.
Refrain from employing any untrue, deceptive or misleading
advertising, and conduct said sale in strict conformity with any advertising
thereof.
C.
Keep and make available to inspecting officials at
the place of such sale a duplicate copy of the inventory attached
to the application for such license,
D.
Clearly designate all items of property listed in
such inventory and keep all other property in and about the place
of sale clearly separate and apart in a manner designated by the Chief
of Police from the property listed in such inventory and which is
the subject of the licensed sale.
Upon the expiration of the license period or
any authorized extension thereof, if the licensee shall continue in
business at the place of sale, all further advertising of such sale
shall be discontinued and removed from the premises and from the items
of property offered for sale under such license.
No license shall be issued hereunder unless
and until all taxes levied by the Town of Wilton on any property included
in the inventory attached to the application for such license shall
have been fully paid nor to any person, firm, association or corporation
who shall have conducted a going-out-of-business or removal-of-business
sale at the same location as stated in the application within one
year prior to the date of such application.
The Chief of Police may at any time suspend
or revoke any such license if the licensee shall offer or cause or
permit to be offered for sale under such license any property other
than the property listed in the inventory attached to the application
for such license or shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance.
The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply
to authorized public officials and persons acting pursuant to an order
or process of a court of competent jurisdiction, nor to duly licensed
auctioneers selling at auction, nor in any established newspaper,
magazine or other publication publishing any advertisement in good
faith and without knowledge that the same is false, misleading or
deceptive or in violation of the provisions of this ordinance, nor
to property sold in the regular course of business by persons regularly
engaged in the business or purchasing damaged or unclaimed property
from railroads and transportation companies and whose advertising
clearly indicates the regular and continuous operation of such business,
or persons conducting a sale of the type regulated herein on the effective
date of this ordinance, unless such sale is continued for a period
of more than 30 days from and after such effective date, in which
event, such person, at the lapse of the thirty-day period, shall comply
with the provisions of this ordinance.
Any person, firm, association or corporation
who shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be
fined not more than $50 or imprisoned not more than 30 days or both.
