[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Schenectady 7-23-1973 by Ord.
No. 16117. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Auctions and auctioneers — See Ch. 131.
Garage sales — See Ch. 159.
Pawnbrokers — See Ch. 189.
Peddlers and vendors — See Ch. 194.
Precious metals dealers — See Ch. 203.
Special sales — See Ch. 214.
Scrap processors and junk peddlers — See Ch. 216.
Secondhand dealers — See Ch. 217.
Door-to-door soliciting — See Ch. 224.
Ice cream truck vendors — See Ch. 251.
Weights and measures; trade practices — See Ch. 260.
[Amended 9-15-1980 by Ord. No. 80-129]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes all persons, as well as their agents and employees,
who engage in the temporary or transient business in the City of purchasing,
providing services, selling or offering for sale any goods or merchandise
or price lists for the purpose of taking orders for the sale thereof
and work for the purpose of carrying on such business or conducting
such exhibits thereof; who hire, rent, lease or occupy any room or
space in any building, structure, other enclosure, vacant lot or any
other property whatever in the City, in, through or from which any
goods or merchandise may be purchased, sold, offered for sale, exhibited
for sale or exhibited for the purpose of taking orders for the sale
thereof.
[Amended 9-22-1986 by Ord. No. 86-58]
A business conducted in a store, hotel, house, building or
structure for the purchase or sale at retail of goods, wares or merchandise,
which is intended to be conducted for a temporary period of time and
not permanently.
A business conducted in a store, hotel, house, building or
structure for the purpose of selling or providing education programs
or services to the public which is intended to be conducted for a
temporary period of time and not permanently.
[Added 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-48]
[Amended 4-26-1999 by Ord. No. 99-08]
This chapter shall not apply to ordinary commercial
travelers who sell or exhibit for sale goods or merchandise to parties
engaged in the business of buying and selling and dealing in goods
or merchandise in the City, nor to farmers participating in a New
York State approved farmers market while selling unprocessed food.
Except as noted in § 179-2, it shall be unlawful for any firm, its agents or employees or persons engaged in the occupation of a transient merchant, without first obtaining from the Office of Consumer Protection a license, to engage in such occupation in the City.
[Amended 1-5-1981 by Ord. No. 80-167; 3-18-1991 by Ord. No. 91-11; 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-48]
A.
The fees for licenses required by this chapter for
conducting a transient retail business shall be as follows:
(2)
Six months: $400.
(3)
One month: $200.
(4)
One week: $100.
[Added 11-9-1992 by Ord. No. 92-52]
(5)
For a festival or other similar short-term gathering
of one week or less, when the same is sponsored by a single corporate
entity, a blanket permit may be issued upon the following schedule:
[Added 4-7-1997 by Ord. No. 97-09]
|
Vendors
|
Fee
|
|---|---|
|
1 to 10
|
$100
|
|
11 to 20
|
$200
|
|
21 to 30
|
$300
|
|
31 to 40
|
$400
|
|
41 or more
|
$500
|
B.
The fees for licenses required by this chapter for
conducting a transient service business shall be as follows:
(1)
Each day: $25.
C.
Charitable or not-for-profit organizations, upon presenting
proof of status, shall pay 1/2 of the above-enumerated fee schedule.
Upon request of a charitable or not-for-profit licensee and in the
discretion of the office of consumer protection, when participation
by subsidiary vendors in an event or occasion sponsored by a not-for-profit
organization is in furtherance of the eleemosynary purposes of the
event or occasion, the license issued to a not-for-profit organization
may be extended to include subsidiary vendors at the event or occasion
if they are not otherwise regulated or licensed by this or any other
chapter of the code of ordinances.
[Added 11-9-1992 by Ord. No. 92-52; amended 5-6-1996 by Ord. No. 96-28]
[Amended 9-15-1980 by Ord. No. 80-129]
An applicant for a license under this chapter
must file with the Office of Consumer Protection a sworn application
on a form to be furnished by the Office of Consumer Protection. The
applicant must also file the name and address of the person, firm
or corporation who or which he or she represents and provide a sample
of any order form or receipt which will be used as a transaction of
sale or service and the kind of goods to be purchased or sold thereunder.
If a corporation, the name and address of a person upon whom a legal
notice may be served must be provided.
A.
Upon receipt of such application, the Office of Consumer
Protection may, in its discretion, request the Police Department to
investigate the applicant's business and moral character for the protection
of the public good.
B.
If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant's
character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory,
the Chief of Police shall so advise the Office of Consumer Protection,
who shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved
and that no permit and license will be issued.
C.
If, as a result of such investigation, the character
and business responsibility of the applicant are found to be satisfactory,
the Chief of Police shall so advise the Office of Consumer Protection.
The Office of Consumer Protection shall, upon receipt of the prescribed
fee, issue the appropriate license. Such license shall contain the
name, address and photograph of the licensee, the date of issuance
and the length of time the same shall be operative and any other information
deemed appropriate.
Licenses issued under the provisions of this
chapter may be revoked by the Office of Consumer Protection of the
City of Schenectady for any of the following reasons:
A.
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained
in the application for license.
B.
Fraud, misrepresentation or false statement made in
the course of carrying on his business as transient merchant.
C.
Any violation of this chapter.
D.
Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude.
E.
Conducting the business of transient merchant 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.
F.
Misrepresenting the license as an endorsement of the
commodities, foods, goods, wares, merchandise or any article of sale
by the City of Schenectady.
All annual licenses issued under the provisions
of this chapter shall expire one year from the date of their issuance.
Other than annual licenses shall expire on the date specified in the
license. Each licensed transient merchant shall be responsible for
displaying his license in a conspicuous place at his place of business,
and a separate license shall be secured for each place of business.
[Amended 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-48]
Any police officer or officer of the Office
of Consumer Protection shall have power and authority to enter any
store or building in which a transient retail business or a transient
service business may be carried on at any time during business hours
for the purpose of ascertaining the actual conduct of business and
goods stated in the application.
