HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 7161 SOLICITATION TRANSIENT VENDORS
ORDINANCE NO. '116> I
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND AUGUST A-RICHMOND COUNTY CODE TITLE 6,
CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE 3 SO AS TO PROVIDE REGULATIONS FOR
SOLICITATION, TEMPORARY AND TRANSIENT VENDORS; TO PROVIDE AN
EFFECTIVE DATE; TO REPEAL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY
COMMISSION, AND IT IS HEREBY ORDAINED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE
SAME AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Augusta-Richmond County Code, Title 6, Chapter 6, Article 3 is hereby
amended by deleting ~ 6-6-40 Temporary and Transient Vendors in its entirety, and substituting
in lieu thereof the following to wit:
Sec. 6-6-40. Solicitation, Temporary and Transient Vendors.
(a) Defined.
Temporary and transient vendor means any person, firm or corporation which maintains no
office or permanent location within Augusta-Richmond County, and who conducts temporary
sales and/or business within the non-public areas of Augusta-Richmond County.
LICENSE AND BUSINESS REGULA nONS ~ 6-6-40
T6:77
Canvasser, peddler, or solicitor means anv person who sells or solicits for sale in the citv anv
new or used floods, wares, merchandise, services, produce or other thinf!s of value and floes
about from place to place within the citv sellinf! or offerinf! for sale anv of such thinf!s to
either merchants or customers shall be deemed a peddler or solicitor. Excluded from this
definition are persons who sell or solicit for sale floods, wares or merchandise, or other thinf!s
of value from house to house for charitable orf!anizations or purposes or on behalf of
relif!ious orf!anizations, political orf!anizations and political candidates.
Charitable orf!anization means anv benevolent, philanthropic, patriotic, or eleemosvnarv (of.
relatinf! to, or supported bv charitv or alms) corporation, partnership, limited liabilitv
companv, association, ioint-stock companv, trust. f!overnmental af!encv or entitv,
unincorporated orf!anization or individual who solicits or obtains contributions solicited from.
or conducts the sale of merchandise to, the f!eneralpublic, which contributions are used for
charitable purposes or f!overnmentalpurposes.
Charitable purpose means anv charitable, benevolent. philanthropic, patriotic, or
eleemosvnarv purpose for relif!ion, health. education, social welfare. arts and humanities,
environment, civic or public interest.
Door-to-door salesperson means anv person who shall solicit orders on behalf of a firm.
corporation, companv, association, partnership or individual of anv floods, wares or
merchandise, or other thinf!s of value from house to house shall be deemed a door-to-door
salesperson. Anv person who obtains orders for merchandise or other thinf!s of value shall be
deemed a door-to-door salesperson. Excluded from this definition are persons who solicit
orders for floods. wares or merchandise. or other thinf!s of value from house to house for
charitable orf!anizations or purposes or on behalf of relif!ious orf!anizations, political
orf!anizations and political candidates.
(b) Business tax certificate required. Any person, firm or corporation who operates or does
business in Augusta-Richmond County as a temporary and transient vendor shall, before
engaging in such business, obtain a business tax certificate in accordance with the Augusta-
Richmond County Code.
(c) Evidence off!ood character: issuance of permit, possession, displav.
(1) No door-to-door salesperson, solicitor, peddler, or transient merchant shall be
authorized sell or to solicit orders until he files an application with the License
&Inspection Department and obtains a permit and ref!isters in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter. The Sherifrs Department shall make an investif!ation.
includinf! but not limited to an investif!ation of the police record of the applicant. No
permit shall be f!iven to anv applicant who, based on the information obtained bv the
Sherifrs Department, shall have either a pendinf! charf!e or a conviction for a crime of
moral turpitude or an offense involvinf! the elements of assault and batterv. or evidence
of anv other action bv the applicant evidencinf! actions which would constitute fraud
and deceit under the laws of the state.
(2) Each person, while peddlinf!, canvassinf! or solicitinf! within the limits of the citv,
shall have the permit available for inspection bv anv person beinf! solicited. Possession
of this permit shall not in anv wav represent an endorsement or approval of anv
product or proiect bv the citv.
(d) Applicabilitv of provisions: exceptions.
Except for the ref!ulations set forth in section (e), nothinf! in this article shall applv to
the followinf!:
(1) Officers or emplovees in the citv, countv, state or federal f!overnments or the
school svstem, or anv subdivisions thereof. when on official business:
(2) Anv local non-profit orf!anization such as bov scouts, civic clubs, relif!ious,
charitable. political, or educational orf!anizations and the like, when the membership
of such club or orf!anization does the solicitinf! itself: but it shall applv when the
solicitinf! is done bv a paid solicitor or bv a solicitor on contract with an individual with
onlv a percentaf!e or portion of anv sales or collections to f!0 to the benefit of such non-
profit club or orf!anization.
(3) Anv person sellinf! onlv af!ricultural or forestrv products or sellinf! food for
immediate consumption:
(4) Anv person who conducts business at anv industrv or association trade show:
(5) Anv person sellinf! items at a rummaf!e, f!araf!e, antique or similar sale when such
person, firm, corporation or other lef!al entitv is a resident of this state or has a
permanent place of business within this state and such sale is not part of the ref!ular
business activitv of such person, firm, corporation or lef!al entitv or when the net
proceeds of such sale are to be used for charitable purposes:
(6) Anv person sellinf! such items at a citv-sponsored festival or event, provided that
such person has obtained the necessarv approvals from the citv to operate at said
festival or event.
(e) Ref!ulations for solicitors and peddlers:
(1) No solicitor, peddler, or door-to-door salesperson shall:
(a) Call at residences, offices or businesses clearlv displavinf! a sif!n statinf!
"No Solicitors Or Peddlers Invited", "No Solicitation" or usinf! similar
lanf!uaf!e:
(b) Enf!af!e in door-to-door solicitinf! at residences on Sundavs or between the
hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Mondavs throuf!h Saturdavs:
(c) Enter anv private dwellinf! without the consent of the owner or occupant,
or to remain there after beinf! requested or directed to leave:
(d) Fail to ref!ister and carrv or produce for inspection a permit when required
under this chapter:
(e) Make anv false or deceptive statement on anv ref!istration hereunder.
(f) A person who is solicitinf! or sellinf! on behalf of a non-profit orf!anization shall be
required to verifv the nonprofit status of such orf!anization.
(g) Application; bond. No temporary and transient vendor shall be granted a business tax
certificate without having first made application for same, which application shall recite the
name of the vendor; the name of the agent conducting the sale, if any; the place where the sale is
to be conducted; the hours of sale; and the number of days during which the sale is to be
conducted.
There shall be appended to the application a complete and accurate list of the articles to be
sold, which list shall be signed by the person seeking the business tax certificate and the list
shall also reflect the wholesale price of the articles to be sold. The inventory shall be verified
upon oath by the applicant. The application and inventory shall be accompanied by a good and
sufficient bond in the penal amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) payable to Augusta-
Richmond County, and conditioned to pay the county or anyone else suing in its name, for their
use, for injuries or damages arising from dishonest or fraudulent conduct in the administration of
the business.
(h) Regulatory fee. Any person, firm or corporation who operates or does business in Augusta-
Richmond County as a temporary and transient vendor shall, before engaging in such business,
pay such regulatory fee as is provided in section
2-1-3(c).
(i) Right of suspension by License & Inspection Department.
The License & Inspection Department shall have the right to suspend any business tax certificate
issued under this article whenever a person, firm or corporation doing business shall deviate
from the normal operation for which the business tax certificate was obtained or fails in
performance to meet the required regulations and code as set forth by the License & Inspection
Department, sheriffs department or health department; or violates any law or ordinance of the
United States, or the state or the county, in pursuance of such business conducted under such
business tax certificate; or when it shall be proven before the License & Inspection Department
that there is a violation of a nuisance law; or when the health, morals, interests and convenience
of the public demand the suspension of such business tax certificate. The License & Inspection
Department shall report the suspension of such business tax certificate to the next regular or
called meeting of the Commission; then the business tax certificate shall be suspended, placed on
probation, permanently revoked, or otherwise it shall be restored and remain in full force,
according to the decision of the Commission.
(j) Penalty for violation of article. All persons, firms or corporations failing to comply with the
mandatory provisions of this article or doing any act prohibited in this article shall be guilty of an
offense, and upon trial as a misdemeanor and conviction, shall be punished by as provided in
section 1-6-1 of this Code.
Section 2. All laws or ordinances or parts of laws or ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance
are hereby repealed.
Section 3. If any section, provision, or clause of any part ofthis Ordinance be declared invalid or
unconstitutional, or if the provisions of any part of this Ordinance as applied to any
particular situation or set of circumstances be declared invalid or unconstitutional, such
invalidity shall not be construed to affect portions of this Ordinance not so held to be
invalid, or the application of this Ordinance to other circumstances not so held to be
invalid. It is hereby declared as the intent that this Ordinance would have been adopted
had such invalid portion not been included herein.
Section 4. This Ordinance shall become effective upon adoption.
Duly adopted this I 6' day of ()~ ~b 2009.
ATTEST:
BY: cf2J-- (k=
Mayor Deke Copenhaver
Lena Bonner (Clerk)
First Reading: 12-15-09
Second Reading: Waive 2nd Reading