Any person owning, occupying and/or controlling any private property within the Village may post notice thereon indicating whether or not solicitors are invited at said premises. Except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Chapter or below, all solicitors and canvassers shall comply with the following regulations:
(A) “No Solicitation” Notices: No person shall solicit or canvass at or in any premises that has posted on or near its principal entrance a sign bearing the words “No Trespassing”, “No Peddlers”, “No Solicitors”, or any other similar notice indicating in any manner that the occupants of such premises desire not to be solicited or canvassed or to have their right to privacy disturbed, unless the occupants have specifically requested such solicitation or other contact. The chief of police or the chief of police’s duly authorized designee may make available weatherproof cards bearing a notice of the type herein described for posting on or near the principal entrance to any premises.
(B) No Solicitation From Vehicles: No person shall solicit from a motorized vehicle at any time in any location within the village. Nothing in this Section or Chapter shall be construed to regulate mobile food service vendors who are not equipped with any sound making device and who serve food such as sandwiches and drinks such as coffee primarily to construction sites or commuters from a fixed location on private property for a limited amount of time each day. Such vendors are not considered to be solicitors under this Chapter but are subject to any other applicable Village ordinances or regulations related to their business activities.
(C) No Advertising Or Use Of Sound: No person shall advertise any solicitation at any time within the village by use of signs, sound, or any other method. Nor shall any person use music or any other sound when soliciting.
(D) Principal Approach And Entrance Only: Every solicitor or canvasser who goes from house to house shall approach a premises only by using the principal approach route thereto, and every such solicitor or canvasser shall attempt to make contact with the occupants thereof only at the principal entrance to such premises.
(E) Discontinuance On Request: No solicitor or canvasser shall solicit or canvass any person or premises at any time after any such person or the occupant of such premises requests that the solicitor or canvasser leave the premises or otherwise cease soliciting or canvassing.
(F) Hours When Solicitation Prohibited: Except as provided in subsection 56.06(c) of this chapter, it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in solicitation or canvassing in the Village of Willowbrook at any time prior to 9:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday of each week, or at any time on Sunday or on a State holiday. In the case of Transient Merchants, to engage in business at any time prior to 9:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. on any day. All solicitation shall be prohibited from November 1 through March 31 of each year.
(G) Immediate Identification: Every solicitor or canvasser who goes from house to house shall immediately identify himself or herself and the purpose of the solicitation or canvassing activity.
(H) Display Of Permit: Every solicitor who goes from house to house shall display the solicitation permit in a conspicuous place on his or her person at all times while engaged in soliciting in a manner that allows it to be readily seen by other persons.
(I) Impeding Traffic Prohibited: No person shall solicit anywhere in the village in a manner that completely or substantially impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic in, on, or around any sidewalk or public property, way, or place. No person engaged in solicitation shall have the exclusive right to any sidewalk or other public property, way, or place, or the right to establish a permanent stationary location for such solicitation.
(J) Soliciting Rides Or Business On Public Rights Of Way: No person shall stand in a public right of way within the village for the purpose of soliciting a ride from the driver of any vehicle, or for the purpose of soliciting employment or business from the occupant of any vehicle.
(K) Fraud Or Misrepresentation: No person shall perpetrate a fraud or misrepresentation of any kind while engaged in solicitation or canvassing within the village.
(L) Public Health And Safety: No person shall engage in solicitation or canvassing within the village in such a manner that creates a danger or threat of any kind to the public health, safety, and welfare.
(M) Sufficiency Of Notice: The posting upon private property of the sign or card notices referenced hereinabove in accordance with the applicable requirements of this section shall constitute actual notification to all solicitors of the information conveyed thereupon by the person(s) owning, occupying and/or controlling said premises.
(N) Obedience To Notice on Premises: It shall be the duty of every solicitor or canvasser, upon going onto any premises in the Village, to first examine the notice provided for in section 3-13-7 of this chapter if any is attached and be governed by the statements contained on the notice. If the notice states “No Trespassing”, “No Peddlers”, “No Solicitors”, or any other similar notice, then the solicitor or canvasser shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises; if the notice states “No Trespassing”, “No Peddlers”, “No Solicitors”, or any other similar notice, then the solicitor, whether registered or not, shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises.
(O) Uninvited Soliciting Prohibited: It is hereby declared to be unlawful and shall constitute a public nuisance for any person to remain upon any premises and ring the doorbell upon or near any door, or create any sound in any other manner calculated to attract the attention of the owner or occupant of such premises for the purpose of securing an audience with the owner or occupant thereof, and engage in “solicitation” as herein defined in defiance of the notice exhibited at the premises in accordance with the provisions of section 3-13-7 of this chapter.
(P) Duty to Leave Premises on Request: Any solicitor who has gained entrance to any premises, whether invited or not, shall immediately and peacefully depart from the premises when requested to do so by the occupant.
(Q) Aggressive Solicitation Prohibited:
1. Definitions: For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions shall apply:
AGGRESSIVE SOLICITATION: | Solicitation in a group of two (2) or more persons or solicitation accompanied by any of the following actions: |
a) Touching another person without that person’s consent; | |
b) Blocking the path of the person solicited or blocking that person’s entrance to any building or vehicle; | |
c) Continuing to solicit or to request a donation from a person after that person has refused an earlier request; | |
d) Following or remaining alongside a person who walks away from the solicitor after being solicited; | |
e) Remaining alongside a person’s vehicle and continuing to solicit or request a donation after that person has refused an earlier request; | |
f) Making any statement, gesture or other communication that would cause a reasonable person to feel threatened into making a donation; or | |
g) Using profane or abusive language during the solicitation or following a refusal to make a donation. | |
SOLICITATION: | Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit any loud and raucous noise currently prohibited by title 5, chapter 3 of this Code. |
2. Prohibitions: No person shall engage in aggressive solicitation. No person shall engage in solicitation when the person solicited is located:
a. Within twenty feet (20') of any automated teller machine (ATM) or entrance to a bank, other financial institution, or check cashing business; or
b. On private property, if the owner, tenant or occupant has asked the person not to solicit on the property or has posted a sign prohibiting soliciting. (Ord. 21-O-41, 9-13-2021)