HomeMy Public PortalAbout482CITY OF MEDINA
ORDINANCE NO.482
An Ordinance Amending Section 640 of the Code of Ordinances
Regarding Peddlers, Solicitors, Transient Merchants and Door -to -Door Advocates
The city council of the city of Medina ordains as follows:
SECTION I: Section 640.01 et. seq. of the code of ordinances is amended by adding the
double underlined material and deleting the ftricken material as follows:
Section 640.01. Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to promote the public health, safety
and welfare of the residents of the city by protecting the privacy of residents of the city and by
discouraging fraudulent sale of or solicitation for goods or services or fraudulent solicitation on
behalf of organizations or causes and by protecting against persons of criminal intent who travel
from place to place in the city under a guise of legitimacy.
Section 640.03. Definitions. For the purposes of this ordinance, the following terms shall have
the meanings given to them:
Subd. 1. "Door -to -Door Advocate" means a person who goes door-to-door for the primary
purpose of disseminating religious, political, social or other idealogical materials or
advocating such beliefs. For purposes of this ordinance, door-to-door advocacy includes
door-to-door canvassing and pamphleting for non-commercial purposes.
Subd. 42. "Peddler" means any person who goes from house to house, place to place or
street to street conveying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise or offering or
exposing the same for sale, or making sales and delivering articles to purchasers.
Subd. 43. "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, organization, society or
association acting as a peddler, solicitor3 er-transient merchant or door-to-door advocate.
Subd. 4. "Professional Fundraiser" means any person who, for compensation, performs
any solicitation for a religious, political, social or charitable organization.
Subd. 25. "Solicitor" means any person who goes from house to house, place to place, or
street to street soliciting or taking orders for the sale of goods, wares or merchandise of
any nature for future delivery, or for services to be performed in the future, regardless of
whether such individual has, carries or exposes for sale a sample of the subject of such
order or whether advance payment on such orders is collected. Solicitation shall include
any effort to obtain orders even though such may not initially purport to be the case.
Subd. 3¢. "Transient Merchant" means any person who engages in, does or transacts any
temporary and transient business in the city, either in one locality or in traveling from
place to place in the city selling goods, wares or merchandise, and who, for the purpose
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of carrying on such business, hires, leases, occupies or uses a building, structure, tent,
vacant lot, vehicle or railroad car for the exhibition and sale of such goods, wares or
merchandise.
Section 640.05. License Required. Except as provided in section 640.15, noNe person shall
engage in or follow the business of a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant without first
having obtained a license therefor from the city.
Section 640.07. Application. Application for a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant license
shall be made to the city clerk treasurer on forms provided by the city. The application shall
contain at least the following information and shall be signed by the applicant:
(a) name and physical description of the applicant, along with valid photo identification;
(b) any other names under which the applicant has or does conduct business;
(b) complete permanent home and local address of the applicant and, for transient
merchants, the local address from which proposed sales will be made;
(d) permanent and local telephone numbers of the applicant and the cellular phone
number at which the applicant may be reached while working;
(eg) a brief description of the nature of the business and the goods to be sold;
(d) the name and address of the employer, principal or supplier of the applicant, together
with credentials therefrom establishing their relationship;
(eg) a Minnesota Tax Identification Number or Federal Tax Identification Number or a
sufficient explanation to why one is not required;
(fb
(g)
the dates and hours of the day during which the business will be carried on;
the source of supply of the goods or property proposed to be sold, or orders taken for
the sale thereon, the location of such goods or products at the time of the application,
and the proposed method of delivery;
(j) if a transient merchant, written permission of the owner of the property from which
sales will be conducted;
(is)
a recent photograph of the applicant taken within the previous six months, which
shall be approximately 2" by 2" and show the head and shoulders of the applicant in
a clear and distinguishable manner;
(}1) a statement as to whether the applicant has been convicted of any crime,
misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or felony for violation of any municipal statute,
law, or ordinance, other than traffic violations, the date and nature of the offense
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and the punishment or penalty assessed therefore;
the names of other municipalities, not to exceed five in number, where the applicant
carried on similar business immediately preceding the date of application and the
address from which such business was conducted in those municipalities; and
(n) if a transient merchant, a copy of the license issued by Hennepin County.
(k
if a vehicle is to be used, a description of the vehicle, together with state of
registration and license number or other means of identification-3
(p) the required fee; and
(q) any other information reasonably required by the city in order to conduct an
investigation of the applicant.
The Applicant shall also display to the city clerk treasurer the peddler's or transient
merchant's license issued to him or her by Hennepin county, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes,
Sections 329.02 through 329.08 or Sections 329.099 through 329.17, respectively. No license
Section 640.09. LieenseApplicatiou Fee. The application fee for a peddler, solicitor or
transient merchant license shall be set by ordinance in the city fee
schedule. The fee shall be non-refundable regardless of whether the license is issued or denied
and shall not be prorated even if the license is issued for less than althe remainder of the
calendar year.
Section 640.11. fssueneeReview of License.
Subd. 1. Upon receipt of a completed application for a peddler, solicitor or transient
merchant license, andincluding the required fee, the city clerks shall transmit a
copy of the application to the chief of police and such other public officials as the city
clerks may deem appropriate, who shall conduct an investigation. The chief of
police or designee has authority to conduct a criminal history and driver's license check on
the applicant through the State of Minnesota, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. ire
to the public health, safety or welfare.
Subd. 2. Within five days of receipt of a report from the chief of police and other public
officials recommending approval of the license applications the city clerk treasurer shall
issue the license. The license shall have one copy of the applicant's photograph attached
to it, which shall be exhibited by the applicant upon request by a police officer or any
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May 4, 2010
person in the city contacted by the applicant in connection with the licensed activity.
Licenses shall be valid for the period of time stated thereon but
ene-yearshall expire no later than December 31 of the year of issuance. The city clerk -
treasurer shall maintain a record of all licenses issued hereunder.
Subd. 3. Within five days of receipt of a report from the chief of police or other public
official recommending denial of the license application, the city clerk shall deny the
application and notify the applicant in writing of the denial. Any person aggrieved by a
decision of the city clerk to deny a license may appeal such denial to the city council by
submitting a written request and the administrative appeal fee to the city clerk within 15
business days of receipt of notification of the denial. The city council shall hear the
applicant's appeal at its next regular meeting occurring not sooner than 10 days after
receipt of the appeal by the city.
Section 640.13. ineligible-ferGrounds for Denial of License. The following shall be grounds
for denial of an application for a peddler, solicitor or transient merchant license:
(a) omission or misrepresentation of any material fact or information on the application;
(b) revocation or suspension within the previous five years of any peddler, solicitor or
transient merchant license in any jurisdiction;
(c) failure or refusal to consent to a background check;
(d) conviction within the previous 10 years of any crime involving fraud, deceit or
misrepresentation in any trade or business or of any crime which reflects adversely
on the applicant's suitability to conduct business or of any crime involving any form
of actual or threatened physical harm to another;
(e) intent to sell or take orders for the sale of any goods, wares, merchandise or services
which are illegal or injurious to the public health, safety or welfare; or
(f) revocation or suspension by any jurisdiction of any other license or permit required
to conduct business.
Section 640.4311. Exemptions. This ordinance shall not apply to the following:
(a) sale of personal property at wholesale to dealers in such articles;
(b) sale or delivery of newspapers or making contact for the purpose of establishing a
delivery route for newspapers;
(c) delivery by merchants of goods purchased in the regular course of business;
(d) sale of the products of the farm or garden occupied or cultivated by the seller;
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May 4, 2010
(e) sale to dealers by commercial travelers or selling agents in the usual course of
business;
(f) sale or delivery of items of food or drink to householders on a regular route;
(g)
a sale required by statute or by order of any court, or a bona fide auction sale
pursuant to law;
(h) a gars . e rumma • e or similar sale involvin • ho sehold or other i - ms owned and
used by the seller;
(hi) solicitation by an organization, society, association or corporation solely of its own
members; of
(j) non-commercial door-to-door advocates not engaged in the sale of any goods or
service; or
(ilk distribution of materials door to door free of charge.
Exemption from the requirements of this ordinance does not include exemption from any other
applicable provision of the code of ordinances unless an exemption under such other provision
also applies.
Section 640.1311. Door -to -Door Advocates
Exemption. ,
for a charitable, benevolent, philanthropic, patrietic, religious, social service, welfare,
educational, eleemosynary, cultural, artistic or public interest purpose or desiring to sell or
distribute any item of literature or merchandise fer which a fee is charged or solicited from
persons other than members of such organizations is exempt from the provisions of subsections
640.05, 640.07, 640.09 and 610.11, provided there is filed a writtcn statcmcnt on a form to be
f,.....;she 1.., tl..o city which. c nt.,ins the f llowing i f ff ation•
(a) name of the organization and specific grounds under which exemption is sought;
(b) names and addresses of the officers and directors of the organization;
(c) period during which solicitation s ♦o be a e o ; and
with ch solicit tion a d the . nt thereof
for an exemption hereunder, the city clerk treasurer shall issue a certificate to the applicant at
no cost. Such organization, society, association or corporation shall furnish to each of its
members, agcnts or representatives engaged in soliciting written credentials bearing the name of
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May 4, 2010
the agent, the name of thc organization and purposc of solicitation. Such credentials shall be
upon request by a police officer or any person in the city contacted by the certificate holder in
certificates issued hereunder.
Subd. 1. No license shall be required under this ordinance for any person going door-to-
door for the purpose of advocating an reli i ious , olitical social or other • osi ion • r
belief protected by the federal or state constitution. This exemption does not apply and
such person is required to obtain a license if the exercise of the person's constitutional
rights are merely incidental to a commercial activity.
Subd. 2. A professional fundraiser working on behalf of an otherwise exempt door-to-door
advocate is not exempt from the licensing requirements of this ordinance.
shall, for the purpose of attracting attcntion to any good, ware or merchandise which thc
licensee proposes to sell, sheut, cry out, blew a ho-w, r. a bo na plifying
device upon any strect, alley, park or other public place in the city or upon private premises
heron a-street-av�e�„e, l,e pa k, other li »�„bc pl�
Section 640.19. Prohibited Activities. No peddler, solicitor, transient merchant or door-to-
door advocate shall conduct business or activities in any of the following manners:
(a) calling attention to any goods or services by means of blowing a horn or whistle,
ringing a bell, crying out, using amplified sound or any other noise in an
unreasonably audible manner;
(bl obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic on an v street or other right-of-wav:
(cl stating. imnlving or doing anything to suggest that the license issued by the city is or
constitutes an endorsement by the city or any of its officers or employees of the
goods, services or activities being offered;
(d) conducting business or activities other than during permitted hours;
(e) failing to produce a license and identification when requested by a police officer or
any person in the city contacted by the license or certificate holder in connection
with the business or activity;
(f) using the license of another person or a false license;
(g) making false or misleading statements or claims about the goods or services being
offered;
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May 4, 2010
(h) remaining on the property of another after being requested to leave;
(i) failing to heed any no solicitation or similar notice posted on the property;
(j)
selling or taking orders for the sale of any goods or services which are illegal or
injurious to the public health, safety or welfare; or
(k) conducting business or activities in any manner which a reasonable person would
find threatening, intimidating or abusive.
Section 640.4921. Licenses Not Transferable. No license or certificate issued pursuant to this
ordinance shall be transferable. Each individual shall be separately licensed or certified when
more than one individual is involved in a sales or selieitetietiadvocacy activity.
Section 640.2123. Use of Property. No person licensed or certified under this ordinance has an
exclusive right to any specific location on public property, nor shall a stationary location
thereon be permitted. No person licensed or certified under this ordinance shall operate in a
congested area or where he or she may impede or interfere with traffic. Nothing in this
ordinance shall be deemed to permit persons licensed or certified hereunder to use private
property without the consent of the owner thereof.
Section 640.25. Exclusion of Peddlers, -Solicitors and Door -to -Door Advocates. Any
person who wishes to exclude peddler% end solicitors and door-to-door advocates from
premises he or she occupies may place upon or near the usual entrance to such premises a
conspicuous printed placard or sign bearing a notice that peddlers. esolicitors and door-to-
door advocates are prohibited. No peddler. of solicitor or door-to-door advocate shall enter in
or upon any premises or attempt to enter in or upon any premises where such a placard or sign
is placed and maintained notwithstanding the fact that he or she may have obtained a license or
certificate under the provisions of this ordinance. No person other than the occupant shall
remove, damage or deface such placard or sign.
Section 640.27. Suspension or Revocation. Any license or certificate issued pursuant to this
ordinance may be revoked by the city council for such cause and after such hearing as the city
council deems reasonable.Any license may be suspended or revoked by the chief of police upon
reasonable evidence the person is or has become ineligible for a license under section 640.13 or
for any violation of section 640.19. The chief of police shall notify the person of the suspension
or revocation in writing at the person's permanent address or place of business and by
attempting to contact the person by telephone at the addresses and telephone numbers provided
under section 640.07. Any person aggrieved by the suspension or revocation of a license under
this section may appeal the suspension or revocation to the city council in the manner specified
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in section 640.11.
Section 640.29. Hours of Solicitations. Peddlersand—solicitors and door-to-door advocates
shall be permit holders under this Chapter from Monday to Saturday may engage in sales or
activities daily between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., or until sundown, whichever occurs
first; and, Sundays between the hours of Noon and 5:00 p.m., or until sundown, whichever
occurs rst.
Section 640.31. Violations. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor.
SECTION II. This ordinance shall become effective upon its adoption and publication.
Adopted by the city council of the city of Medina this 4th day of May, 2010.
T.M. Crosby, Jr.,
ATTEST:
Chad M. Adams
City Administrator -Clerk
Published in the South Crow River News on the 7th day of May, 2010.
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May 4, 2010