(A) Permit and license required. It shall be unlawful for any solicitor or canvasser, as defined in division (B) below, to engage in such business within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a permit and license therefor in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(B) Definition. A CANVASSER or SOLICITOR is defined as any individual, whether a resident of the city or not, traveling either by foot, wagon, automobile, motor truck, or any 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 or she is collecting advance payments on such sales or not; provided that such definition shall include any person who, for himself, herself, or for another person, firm, company, or corporation, hires, leases, uses, or occupies any building, structure, tent, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop, or any other place within the city for the purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.
(C) Application. Applicants for permits and licenses under this section must file with the City Clerk/Treasurer a sworn application in writing (in duplicate) on a form to be furnished by the City Clerk/Treasurer, which shall give the following information:
(1) Name and description of the applicant, including date of birth and Social Security number;
(2) Permanent home address and full local address of the applicant;
(3) A brief description of the nature of the business and the goods to be sold;
(4) If employed, the name and address of the employer, together with credentials establishing the exact relationship;
(5) The length of time for which the right to do business is desired;
(6) The places where the goods or property proposed to be sold, or orders taken for the sale thereof, are manufactured or produced, where such goods or products are located at the time said application is filed, and the proposed method of delivery;
(7) A photograph of the applicant taken within 60 days immediately prior to the date of filing of the application, which picture shall be two inches by two inches showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner;
(8) The fingerprints of the applicant and the names of at least two reliable property owners of the county, who will certify as to the applicant’s good character and business respectability or, in lieu of the names of references, such other available evidence as to the good character and business responsibility of the applicant as will enable an investigator to properly evaluate such character and business responsibility;
(9) A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor, or violation of any municipal ordinance, the nature of the offense, and the punishment or penalty assessed therefor; and
(10) A statement by a reputable physician of the county, dated not more than ten days prior to submission of the application, certifying the applicant to be free of contagious, infectious, or communicable disease.
(D) Investigation and issuance.
(1) Upon receipt of such application, the original shall be referred to the Chief of Police, who shall cause such investigation of the applicant’s business and moral character to be made as he or she deems necessary for the protection of the public good.
(2) If as a result of such investigation, the applicant’s character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, the Chief of Police shall endorse on such application his or her disapproval and his or her reasons for the same, and return the said application to the City Clerk/Treasurer, who shall notify the applicant that his or her application is disapproved and that no permit and license will be issued.
(3) 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 endorse on the application his or her approval, execute a permit addressed to the applicant for the carrying on of the business applied for and return said permit, along with the application to the City Clerk/Treasurer, who shall, upon payment of the prescribed license fee, deliver to the applicant his or her permit and issue a license. Such license shall contain the signature and seal of the issuing officer and shall show the name, address, and photograph of said licensee, the class of license issued and 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 soliciting or canvassing. The Clerk/Treasurer shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued.
(E) Fees.
(2) The annual fees herein provided shall be assessed on a calendar-year basis, and on or after July 1 the amount of such fee for annual license shall be one-half the amount stipulated above for the remainder of the year.
(F) Bond. Every applicant, not a resident of the city, or who being a resident of the city, represents a firm whose principal place of business is located outside the commonwealth, shall file with the City Clerk/Treasurer a surety bond, running to the city in the amount of $1,000, with surety acceptable to and approved by the Mayor, conditioned that the said applicant shall comply fully with all the provisions of the ordinances of the city and the statutes of the commonwealth regulating and concerning the business of solicitors and guaranteeing to any citizen of the city that all money paid as a down payment will be accounted for and applied according to the representations of the solicitor, and further guaranteeing to any citizen of the city doing business with said solicitor, that the property purchased will be delivered according to the representations of said solicitor. Action on such bond may be brought in the name of the city to the use or benefit of the aggrieved person.
(G) Badges. The City Clerk/Treasurer shall issue to each licensee at the time of delivery of his or her license a badge which shall contain the words licensed solicitor, the period for which the license is issued, and the number of the license in letters and figures easily discernible from a distance of ten feet. Such badge shall, during the time such licensee is engaged in soliciting, be worn constantly by the licensee on the front of his or her outer garment in such a way as to be conspicuous.
(H) Exhibition of license. Solicitors and canvassers are required to exhibit their licenses at the request of any citizen.
(I) Duty of police to enforce. It shall be the duty of any police officer of the city to require any person seen soliciting or canvassing, and who is not known by such officer to be duly licensed, to produce his or her solicitor’s or canvasser’s license and to enforce the provisions of this section against any person found to be violating the same.
(J) Records. The Chief of Police shall report to the City Clerk/Treasurer all convictions for violation of this section, and the City Clerk/Treasurer shall maintain a record for each license issued and record the reports of violation therein.
(K) Revocation of license.
(1) Permits and licenses issued under the provisions of this section may be revoked by the Mayor of the city after notice and hearing, for any of the following causes:
(a) Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statements contained in the application for license;
(b) Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statements made in the course of carrying on his or her business as solicitor or as canvasser;
(c) Any violation of this section;
(d) Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; or
(e) Conducting the business of soliciting or of canvassing, in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a menace to the health, safety, or general welfare of the public.
(2) Notice of the hearing 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 or her last known address at least five days prior to the date set for hearing.
(L) Appeal. Any person aggrieved by the action of the Chief of Police or the City Clerk/Treasurer in the denial of a permit or license, as provided in division (D) above, shall have the right of appeal to the Council. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Council within 14 days after notice of the action complained of has been mailed to such person’s last known address, a written statement setting forth fully on the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such appeal and notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant in the same manner as provided in division (K) above for notice of hearing on revocation. The decision and order of the Council on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
(M) Expiration of license. All annual licenses issued under the provisions of this section shall expire on December 31 in the year when it was issued; licenses other than annual licenses shall expire on the date specified in the license.
(N) Loud noises and speaking devices. No licenses under this section, nor anyone on his or her behalf, shall shout, make any outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell, or use any other sound device, including any loud-speaking radio or amplifying system, upon any of the streets, alleys, parks, or other public places of the city or upon any private premises in the city where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, avenues, alleys, parks, or other public places for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares, or merchandise which such licensee proposes to sell.
(O) Exemptions. This section shall not be applicable to newsboys, nor to bona fide merchants who merely deliver goods in the regular course of business, nor to bona fide charitable, religious, civic, patriotic, or philanthropic organizations.
(P) Hours. The hours of door-to-door solicitation within the city shall be from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, and from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
(2010 Code, § 112.01) Penalty, see § 110.99