(a) Except as authorized herein and subject to the provisions of S.C. Code, Title 6, Ch. 29, as amended, no person shall stand on a highway or street for the purpose of soliciting employment, business, or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle.
(b) Any rescue squad, volunteer fire department, or charitable or eleemosynary organization may solicit funds on highways and streets so long as such organization has obtained a permit as provided in subsection (c) below and such organization retains the permit within its possession at the site of the solicitation.
(c) The Greenville County sheriff’s office shall issue a permit to organizations described in subsection (b) above; provided the sheriff’s office may, as a condition of such permit, impose such reasonable limits upon the solicitation as it determines are necessary to protect the health and safety of motorists, pedestrians, and those soliciting for an organization and to ensure that solicitation does not unreasonably impede the flow of traffic. No organization may be issued more than 2 permits per calendar year. Under no circumstances may a permit be issued for a period in excess of 1 day or allow an organization to solicit for more than hours per day. Solicitations may occur only between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(d) The sheriff’s office shall charge a reasonable fee, which shall initially be set at $50, for the administrative costs related to issuing permits hereunder.
(e) Penalty. Any person, firm, corporation or agent, who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished within the jurisdictional limits of the magistrate’s court. Each such person, firm, corporation or agent shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of any of the provisions of the section is committed or continued.
(1976 Code, § 15-7) (Ord. 3084, §§ 1-5, passed 3-17-1998; Ord. 3476, § 1, passed 6-5-2001)