Arcadia Municipal Code Div. 3 Regulation of Soliciting and Peddling

Footnotes:

--- (10) ---

(Division 3 amended in its entirety by Ord. 2191 adopted 7-20-04)

No person shall exercise, practice or engage in any activity as described in Sections 6611.1 or 6611.2 unless such person obtains a permit as provided in this chapter and pays the application and permit fees required by this chapter.

Each and every person desiring to practice, exercise or engage in any of the activities described in Sections 6611.1 or 6611.2 shall personally appear before the License Officer or designee and file with him or her a written, signed and acknowledged application, showing:

A. The true and fictitious names, aliases and residences of the applicant if an individual; the true and fictitious names, aliases and residences of all members of the applicant if applicant is a firm, association or partnership; the true and fictitious names, aliases and residences of the principal officers of the applicant if the applicant is a corporation;

B. The length of service of the applicant with such firm, association, partnership, corporation or organization;

C. The place of birth, birth date and social security number of each and every person enumerated in subsection A of this section;

D. The city, county and state where the persons, enumerated in subsection A of this section, practiced or conducted any of the activities described in Sections 6611.1 and 6611.2, or any business or practice kindred thereto within twelve (12) months previous to the date of said application and the name under which the same was conducted;

E. The length of residence of the persons enumerated in subsection A of this section within the City, if applicable;

F. A statement of the nature and character of applicant's proposed practice or activity;

G. The nature and character of the goods, wares, merchandise or services to be offered by the applicant;

H. Whether the persons enumerated in subsection A of this section have ever been convicted of a felony involving murder, manslaughter, fraud, burglary or any sex crime as defined by California Penal Code 11105.2; if so, applicant shall state the nature of each offense, date of conviction, the sentence received therefore and the court in which each conviction and sentence was entered;

I. Such other reasonable information as to the identity and background of the persons enumerated in subsection A of this section as the chief of police may require, including, but not limited to, a photograph or photographs of said persons.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

The fee that may be established by resolution of the City Council shall be paid simultaneously with the filing of each application for a permit required under this chapter, for the purpose of defraying the expenses incidental to processing said application, including the expenses of investigating applicant's character and background.

Permits issued under this chapter shall bear the name and address of the person to whom it is issued, the number of the certificate, the date issued, the certificate's expiration date and the License Officer's or designee's signature.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

The License Officer or designee shall either grant or deny the requested certificate within ten (10) days of the date the application is made. If the License Officer or designee fails to act within the time prescribed, the permit shall be deemed granted.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

A. After the receipt of a properly completed and filed application, if the application is accepted, the License Officer or designee shall issue a permit, numbered and in due form, allowing the applicant to practice the activities, proposed in said application upon payment of the prescribed permit fee, unless the applicant has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in Section 6613.1(H).

B. The application may be rejected if the activities sought to be permitted do not comply in every way with the rules, regulations and laws applicable thereto, or if the License Officer or designee determines, after investigation, that the applicant's character or background is unsatisfactory. If the application is rejected, the License Officer or designee will notify the applicant in writing, giving the reason for the same and shall refund all the fees submitted with the application, save and except for costs incurred by the City in investigating the same.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

No permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall be transferable to any person.

Certificates issued hereunder shall be valid for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days unless revoked pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. A new application must be made for each certificate.

Upon the discovery of any false or misleading statements in the application or any misrepresentation by the applicant in procuring said permit, the License Officer may, upon five (5) days' notice to said applicant, cancel and annul said permit; whereupon the applicant shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in this code from and after the date of the cancellation as though the permit had never been granted.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

A. Any permittee who commits any of the crimes specified in Section 6613.1(H) is liable to have his or its permit suspended or revoked by the License Officer. The License Officer shall also have the right to suspend or revoke such permit whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the License Officer that the activities so licensed are being conducted in a manner that is detrimental to the public health, morals, peace, welfare or safety of the community. Any suspension or revocation shall cause to be served upon the permittee a written notice specifying the grounds for said suspension or revocation and informing the permittee of the hearing procedures before the Business License Review Board at which time the permittee shall have the opportunity to be heard and to make his or her defense against any complaints and allegations made as to his or her activities pursuant to this Chapter. Such written notice shall be served in accordance with the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6.

B. When a permit has been revoked, no other permit shall be issued under the provisions of this Chapter to the same permittee within one (1) calendar year of the date of revocation or for such other specified, certain, reasonable time determined by the Board, Administrative Law Judge, or City Council.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

No person shall commence, engage in, carry on, exercise, practice or advertise that he will engage in, carry on, exercise or practice any activity as described in Sections 6611.1 or 6611.2 without first having procured a permit as required by the permit provision of this Chapter, or without complying with any and all regulations of such activity contained in this or any other provisions of this Code, or any City Ordinance. Engaging in or practicing any activity described in Sections 6611.1 or 6611.2 without first having procured such a permit when required to do so, or without complying with any and all regulations of such activity contained in this Chapter, this Code, or the City's Ordinances, constitutes a nuisance and a separate violation of this Chapter for each and every day that such activity is so advertised, engaged in or carried on.

Any applicant for a permit may appeal the Business License Review Board's decision to the City Council, per the procedures described in Sections 6216.8 and 6216.9.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

The provisions of Sections 6613 through 6613.10 shall not apply to any person having an established route in the City, to solicitation at wholesale on business premises within the City, or to charitable or religious solicitations that are conducted solely by members of said charity or religion, at regular assemblies, meetings, services or otherwise.

Each applicant for a permit must at all times keep on his person the permit issued by the License Officer or designee. No person shall fail to wear a badge (as described herein) on his/her chest over the heart that indicates the number of the solicitation permit, its expiration date and the name of the permit holder; all badges to be white with black lettering that is legible at a distance of five feet (5') and to contain a photograph of the individual wearing each badge that has been taken within the previous six (6) months of the date of solicitation.

(Amended by Ord. 2263 adopted 12-1-09)

For the purposes of this Section, the performance of one solicitation of any person by one individual contrary to any subsection of this section shall constitute a separate violation.

A. No person shall represent in any manner that the City, its departments or officers have endorsed the permit holder or the products, services or causes on behalf of which individuals are being solicited, peddled or canvassed.

B. No person shall affix any object to, or place any object on, the body of any person to whom any solicitation, peddling or canvassing is directed without that person's express consent.

C. No person shall touch, brush up against, or otherwise voluntarily come into physical contact with any person without that person's express consent.

D. No person shall willfully obstruct the movement of any person on any street, sidewalk or other public place.

E. No person shall solicit, peddle or canvass any person that has objected, by words or conduct, to such soliciting, canvassing or peddling.

F. No person shall represent in any manner that the soliciting or peddling is conducted for anyone other than the permit holder.

G. No person shall refuse to identify the permit holder on whose behalf the soliciting or peddling is being conducted when requested to do so by any person contacted by the solicitor or peddler, or fail to truthfully state the uses any solicited items will be put to, when requested to do so by any person being solicited.

H. No person shall threaten any injury or damage to any person who declines to be subject to any soliciting, peddling or canvassing or who declines to make a purchase, donation or contribution.

I. No person shall accept food stamps as a contribution.

J. No person shall misrepresent one's physical or mental health while soliciting, peddling, or canvassing.

A. No peddler shall ring the bell of, knock on the door of or attempt to gain admittance to any residence, dwelling or apartment whereon a sign bearing the words "No Peddlers" is painted, affixed or exposed to public view.

B. No solicitor shall ring the bell of, knock on the door of or attempt to gain admittance to any residence, dwelling, flat or apartment whereon a sign bearing the words "No Solicitors" is painted, affixed or exposed to public view.

C. No canvasser shall ring the bell of, knock on the door of or attempt to gain admittance to any residence, dwelling, flat or apartment whereon a sign bearing the words "No Canvassers" is painted, affixed or exposed to public view.

D. No peddler or solicitor shall ring the bell of, knock on the door of, or attempt to gain admittance to any residence, dwelling, flat or apartment whereon a sign bearing, the words "No Peddlers or Solicitors" or words of similar import indicating that peddlers or solicitors are not wanted on said premises is painted, affixed or exposed to public view.

E. This section shall not apply to any peddler, solicitor or canvasser who rings the bell of or knocks on the door of any residence, dwelling, flat or apartment at the invitation of or with the consent of some adult member of the household of any such residence, dwelling, flat or apartment.

No person shall practice or engage in peddling, soliciting or canvassing, as described in Sections 6611.1, 6611.2 and 6611.3, whether for profit or for a non-profit purpose, by traveling from place to place, or from street to street, between the hours of dusk and eight (8) a.m. of any day.

Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit persons from distributing handbills door-to-door within the City without a permit. Distribution of handbills is subject to the requirements of Section 6421, Division 1, Chapter 4, Part 2, Article VI, of the Arcadia Municipal Code.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit persons from canvassing door-to-door within the City without a permit, subject to the regulations set forth in this Chapter. Additionally, solicitation of donations made incidental to such canvassing is excluded from the permit requirements of this Section, but not the provisions of Section 6613.14.

No person shall peddle, solicit or canvass by driving, operating, propelling, stopping or parking any wagon, cart, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance with a sound-making device, sound-amplifying device, or loudspeaker thereof in use or operation or by making any outcry, blowing a horn, ringing a bell or using any sound device or musical instrument upon any of the streets, alleys, parks or other public places of the city:

A. Whenever any such sound can be heard for a distance greater than three hundred feet (300');

B. When passing a hospital at any time or a place of worship during the hour services are being held therein;

C. Within five hundred feet (500') of the nearest property line of any property on which a school building is located during the hours school is in session;

D. Between the hours of dusk and eight (8) a.m. of any day.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, all persons who are permitted by the city to sell goods, wares, merchandise, meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, garden truck, farm products or provisions, candy, ice cream, popcorn, peanuts or any other edibles from a wagon, cart, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance, and whose conveyances are equipped with sound apparatus emitting sounds and amplifying sounds, including but not limited to music, shall not operate or use said apparatus unless such sounds, including but not limited to music, emitted therefrom do not exceed ninety (90) decibels measured at a distance of ten feet (10′) from the speaker of said apparatus.