Chapter 5.05
PEDDLERS, CANVASSERS, SOLICITORS AND TRANSIENT MERCHANTS

Sections:

5.05.010    License required.

5.05.020    Definitions.

5.05.030    Exclusions.

5.05.040    Applications.

5.05.050    Religious and charitable organizations – Exemption.

5.05.060    Investigation and issuance.

5.05.070    Bond.

5.05.080    Loud noises and speaking devices.

5.05.090    Use of streets.

5.05.100    Exhibition of license.

5.05.110    Duty of police to enforce.

5.05.120    Records.

5.05.130    Revocation of license.

5.05.140    Appeal.

5.05.150    Reapplication.

5.05.160    Expiration.

5.05.170    Penalty.

5.05.010 License required.

It shall be unlawful for any peddler, canvasser, or solicitor or transient merchant as defined in PRMC 5.05.020 to engage in any such business within the city of Pilot Rock without first obtaining a license therefor in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. License shall be denied if application is improperly filled out, or legal identification is not provided. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 178 § 1, 1961].

5.05.020 Definitions.

When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Canvasser” or “solicitor” shall include any person, whether a resident of the city of Pilot Rock or not, who goes from house to house, from place to place, or from street to street, soliciting or taking or attempting to take orders for sale of goods, wares, or merchandise, including in magazines, books, periodicals, or personal property of any nature whatsoever for future delivery, or for service to be performed in the future, whether or not such individual has, carries, or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such order or whether or not he is collecting advance payments on such orders. Such definition shall include any person who, for himself or for another person, firm, or corporation, hires, leases, uses, or occupies any building, motor vehicle, trailer, structure, tent, railroad boxcar, boat, hotel room, lodging house, apartment, shop, or other place within the city for the primary purpose of exhibiting samples and taking orders for future delivery.

“Peddler” as used herein shall include any person, whether a resident of the city of Pilot Rock or not, traveling by foot, wagon, automotive vehicle, or any other type of conveyance, from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street, carrying, conveying or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden truck, farm products or provisions, offering and exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers, or who, without traveling from place to place, shall sell or offer the same for sale from a wagon, automotive vehicle, railroad car, or other vehicle or conveyance; and further provided, that one who solicits orders and as a separate transaction makes deliveries to purchasers as a part of a scheme or design to evade the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a peddler subject to the provisions of this chapter. The word “peddler” shall include the words “hawker” and “huckster.” It shall not include vendors of milk, bakery products, groceries, or ice who distribute their products to regular customers on established routes.

“Person” as used herein shall include the singular and the plural and shall also mean and include any person, firm, or corporation, association, club, co-partnership, or society or any other organization.

“Transient merchant” shall include any person, firm, or corporation, whether as owner, agent, consignee, or employee, whether a resident of the city of Pilot Rock or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods, wares, and merchandise within said city, and who, in furtherance of such purposes, hires, leases, uses, or occupies any building, structure, motor vehicle, trailer, tent, railroad boxcar, or boat, public room in hotels, lodging houses, apartments, shops, or any street, alley, or other place within the city for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares, and merchandise, either privately or at public auction; provided, that such definition shall not be construed to include any person, firm, or corporation who, while occupying such temporary location, does not sell from stock but exhibits samples for the purpose of securing orders for future delivery only. The person, firm, or corporation so engaged shall not be relieved from complying with the provisions of this chapter merely by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer, or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as a part of, or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant, or auctioneer. [Ord. 178 § 2, 1961].

5.05.030 Exclusions.

The terms of this chapter shall not be held to include the acts of persons selling personal property, at wholesale to dealers in such articles, nor to newsboys, nor to the acts of resident merchants or their employees in delivering goods in a regular course of business, nor shall the terms of this chapter be held to include or to apply to any producer or his employee selling agricultural or farm products produced from the soil by said producer or his employee, nor shall the same apply to the selling of nursery products by the producer thereof from the soil of the state of Oregon. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be held to prohibit any sale required by statute or by order of any court or to prevent any person conducting a bona fide auction sale pursuant to law. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 178 § 3, 1961].

5.05.040 Applications.

Applicants for a license under this chapter must file with the city recorder a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished by the city recorder which shall give the following information:

(1) Name and physical description of applicant;

(2) Complete permanent home and local address of the applicant and, in the case of transient merchants, the local address from which proposed sales will be made;

(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 therefrom establishing the exact relationship;

(5) The length of time for which the right to do business is desired;

(6) The source of supply of the goods or property proposed to be sold, or orders taken from the sale thereof, where such goods or products are located at the time said application is filed, and the proposed method of delivery;

(7) Applicant must present a current form of legal identification;

(8) Deleted during 2011 codification;

(9) Deleted during 2011 codification;

(10) Deleted during 2011 codification;

(11) Deleted during 2011 codification;

(12) At the time of filing the application, a fee of $25.00 shall be paid to the city recorder to cover the cost of investigation of the facts stated therein. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 178 § 4, 1961].

5.05.050 Religious and charitable organizations – Exemption.

Any organization, society, association, or corporation desiring to solicit or have solicited in its name money, donations of money or property, or financial assistance of any kind or desiring to sell or distribute any item of literature or merchandise for which a fee is charged or solicited from persons other than members of such organization upon the streets, in office or business buildings, by house-to-house canvass, or in public places for a charitable, religious, patriotic, or philanthropic purpose shall be exempt from the provisions of PRMC 5.05.040 and 5.05.070, provided there is filed a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished by the city recorder which shall give the following information:

(1) Name and purpose of the cause for which permit is sought;

(2) Names and addresses of the officers and directors of the organization;

(3) Period during which solicitation is to be carried on;

(4) Whether or not any commission, fees, wages, or emoluments are to be expended in connection with such solicitations, and amount thereof.

Upon being satisfied that such organization, association or corporation is a religious, charitable, patriotic, or philanthropic organization, the city recorder shall issue a permit without charge to such organization, association, or corporation to solicit in the city. Such organization, association, or corporation shall furnish all of its members, agents, or representatives conducting solicitations credentials in writing stating the name of the organization, name of agent, and purpose of solicitation. [Ord. 178 § 5, 1961].

5.05.060 Investigation and issuance.

(1) Upon receipt of each application, it shall be referred to the police department, which shall immediately institute such investigation of the applicant’s business and moral character as it deems necessary for the protection of the public good and shall endorse the application in the manner prescribed in this section within 30 days after it has been filed by the applicant with the city recorder.

(2) If, as a result of such investigation, the applicant’s character or business responsibility is found to be unsatisfactory, the police department shall endorse on such application its disapproval and its reason for the same and return the said application to the city recorder, who shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no 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 police department shall endorse on the application its approval and return the application to the city recorder who shall deliver to the applicant his license; such license shall contain the signature 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 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 licensed business. Each peddler, canvasser, or solicitor or transient merchant must secure a personal license. No license shall be used at any time by any person other than the one to whom it is issued. The recorder shall keep a permanent record of all licenses issued. [Ord. 178 § 6, 1961].

5.05.070 Bond.

Every applicant shall file with the city recorder a surety bond, or a cash bond, running to the city in the amount of $500.00 if license issued for less than six months and $1,000 if license is issued for six months or longer, with surety acceptable to and approved by the city council, conditioned that the said applicant shall comply with all the provisions of the ordinances of the city of Pilot Rock and the statutes of the state of Oregon regulating peddlers, canvassers, solicitors, transient merchants, itinerant merchants, or itinerant vendors, as the case may be, and guaranteeing to any citizen of the city of Pilot Rock that all money paid as a down payment will be accounted for and applied according to the representations of the licensee and further guaranteeing to any citizen of the city of Pilot Rock doing business with said solicitor that the property purchased will be delivered according to the representations of the solicitor. Action on such bond may be brought by the person or persons aggrieved and for whose benefit, among others, the bond is given, but the surety may, by paying, pursuant to order of the court, the face amount of the bond to the clerk of the court in which suit is commenced, be relieved without costs of all further liability. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 178 § 7, 1961].

5.05.080 Loud noises and speaking devices.

No licensee, nor any person in his behalf, shall shout, cry out, blow a horn, ring a bell, or use any sound-amplifying device upon any of the streets, alleys, parks, or other public places of the city or upon private premises where sound of sufficient volume is emitted or produced therefrom to be capable of being plainly heard upon the streets, alleys, avenues, parks or other public places, for the purpose of attracting attention to any goods, wares, or merchandise which such licensee proposes to sell. [Ord. 178 § 8, 1961].

5.05.090 Use of streets.

No licensee shall have any exclusive right to any location in the public streets, nor shall any be permitted a stationary location thereon, nor shall any be permitted to operate in a congested area where such operation might impede or inconvenience the public use of such streets. For the purpose of this chapter, the judgment of a police officer, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested and the public impeded or inconvenienced. [Ord. 178 § 9, 1961].

5.05.100 Exhibition of license.

Licensees are required to exhibit their certificate of license at the request of any citizen. [Ord. 178 § 10, 1961].

5.05.110 Duty of police to enforce.

It shall be the duty of the police of the city of Pilot Rock to require any person seen peddling, soliciting, or canvassing, and who is not known by such officer to be duly licensed, to produce his license and to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any person found to be violating the same. [Ord. 178 § 11, 1961].

5.05.120 Records.

The chief of police shall report to the city recorder all convictions for violation of this chapter and the city recorder shall maintain a record for each license issued and record the reports of violation therein. [Ord. 178 § 12, 1961].

5.05.130 Revocation of license.

(1) Licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked by the city council of the city of Pilot Rock after notice and hearing, for any of the following reasons:

(a) Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement contained in the application for license;

(b) Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement made in the course of carrying on his business as solicitor, canvasser, peddler, transient merchant, itinerant merchant, or itinerant vendor;

(c) Any violation of this chapter;

(d) Conviction of any crime or misdemeanor;

(e) Conducting the business of peddler, canvasser, solicitor, transient merchant, itinerant merchant, or itinerant vendor, as the case may be, 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.

(2) Notice of the hearing for revocation of a license shall be given by the city recorder 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 last known address at least five days prior to the date set for hearing, or shall be delivered by a police officer in the same manner as a summons at least three days prior to the date set for the hearing. [Ord. 178 § 13, 1961].

5.05.140 Appeal.

Any person aggrieved by the action of the chief of police or the city recorder in the denial of a permit or license as provided in PRMC 5.05.060 shall have the right to appeal to the city council of the city of Pilot Rock. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the city council, within 14 days after notice of the action complained of, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The city 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 PRMC 5.05.130 for notice of hearing on revocation. [Ord. 178 § 14, 1961].

5.05.150 Reapplication.

No licensee whose license has been revoked shall make further application until a period of at least six months shall have elapsed since the last previous revocation. [Ord. 178 § 15, 1961].

5.05.160 Expiration.

All annual licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter shall expire on the thirty-first day of December in the year when issued and other than annual licenses shall expire on the dates specified on the face of the license. [Ord. 178 § 16, 1961].

5.05.170 Penalty.

Any person, firm, or corporation that shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall forfeit not more than $100.00 and the cost of administrative fees. Each day’s violation of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 178 § 17, 1961].