§ 5-1

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows: (a) “Billposter” shall mean and include any person engaging for hire in the business of posting, fastening, nailing, or otherwise affixing any written, painted, or printed matter of any kind, or other form or reproduction thereof, hereinafter called “sign,” containing a message or information of any kind whatsoever, to any outdoor billboard, or to or upon any bridge, fence, pole, post, sidewalk, tree, or to or upon the exterior of any other structure; provided, however, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to, nor include, any such sign mounted on, fastened to, or suspended from the outside of any building or other structure in accordance with, and authorized by, any law, either for any public convenience or use, or regulating the construction or use of so-called outdoor display signs, whether such display signs are illuminated or not. (b) “Commercial handbill” shall mean and include any printed or written matter, sample, device, dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, paper, booklet, or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter or literature. (1) Which advertises for sale any merchandise, products, commodity, or thing; (2) Which directs attention to any business, mercantile, or commercial establishment or other activity for the purpose of either directly or indirectly promoting the interest thereof by sales;

(3) Which directs attention to or advertises any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition, or event of any kind for which an admission fee is charged for the purpose of private gain or profit; provided, however, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply where an admission fee is charged or a collection is taken for the purpose of defraying the expenses incident to such meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition, or event of any kind when the same is held, given, or takes place in connection with the dissemination of information which is not restricted under the ordinary rules of decency, good morals, public peace, safety, and good order; and provided, further, the provisions of this subsection shall not be deemed to authorize the holding, giving, or taking place of any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition, or event of any kind without a license where such license is, or may be, required by any law of the State or the City; (4) Which, while containing reading matter other than advertising matter, is predominately and essentially an advertisement and is distributed or circulated for advertising purposes or for the private benefit and gain of any person so engaged as an advertiser or distributor; or (5) Which is not included in the provisions relating to signs in subsection (a) of this section. (c) “Handbill distributor” shall mean and include any person engaging or engaged for hire or gain in the business of distributing commercial or noncommercial handbills, other than newspapers distributed to subscribers thereof, and any person receiving compensation directly or indirectly for the distribution of such handbills. (d) “Newspaper” shall mean and include any newspaper of general circulation, as defined by the general laws of the State, any newspaper duly entered with the Post Office Department of the United States in accordance with Federal laws, and any newspaper filed and recorded with any recording officer as provided by the general laws of the State, and, in addition thereto, shall mean and include any periodical or current magazine regularly published with not less than four (4) issues per year and sold to the public. (e) “Noncommercial handbill” shall mean and include any printed or written matter, any sample, device, dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, newspaper, magazine, paper, booklet, or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter or literature not included in the provisions relating to signs in subsection (a) of this section, or a commercial handbill, or a newspaper. (f) “Private premises” shall mean and include any dwelling, house, building, or other structure designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule, or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building, or other structure. (g) “Public place” shall mean and include any and all streets, boulevards, avenues, lanes, alleys, or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, plazas, grounds, and buildings. (§ 2, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

To protect the public against the nuisance of and incident to the promiscuous distribution of handbills and circulars, particularly commercial handbills, as defined in § 5-1.01(b) of this chapter, with the resulting detriment and danger to the public health and safety, the public interest, convenience and necessity require the regulation thereof, and to that end the purposes of this chapter are specifically declared to be as follows: (a) To protect the public against the unlawful activities or operations of dissolute persons of criminal habits or tendencies, representing themselves as solicitors, canvassers, or handbill distributors, by requiring the registration of all such solicitors, canvassers, or handbill distributors, together with the names of their employers, and by regulating the business of handbill and advertising distribution through the imposition of reasonable license fees; (b) To protect local residents against trespassing by solicitors, canvassers, or handbill distributors upon the private property of such residents if they have given reasonable notice that they do not wish to be solicited by such persons or

do not desire to receive handbills or advertising matter; (c) To protect the public against the menace to health and safety and the expense incident to the littering of the streets and public places by the promiscuous and uncontrolled distribution of advertising matter and commercial handbills; and (d) To preserve to the public its constitutional right to receive and disseminate information not restricted under the ordinary rules of decency and good morals and public order by distinguishing between the nuisance created by the promiscuous distribution of advertising and commercial circulars and the right to deliver noncommercial handbills to all persons who are willing to receive the same. (§ 1, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to repeal, amend, or modify any ordinance prohibiting, regulating, or licensing canvassers, hawkers, peddlers, transient merchants, or any person using the public streets or places for any private business or enterprise or for commercial sales not covered by the provisions of this chapter. (§ 14, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

(a) The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to apply to the distribution of mail by the United States, nor to newspapers, as defined in § 5-1.01 (d) of this chapter, nor to catalogs, business cards, or samples handed to persons willing to accept the same from any agents of any person licensed as solicitors by the City. (b) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any person advertising his business or activity upon his own premises if such business or activity is regularly established at a definite location in the City and if a license, if required by any applicable law, has been obtained for such business or activity. (§§ 10(a) and § 11, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949, as amended by § 1, Ord. 1454, eff. February 1, 1962)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of a billposter for hire or a handbill distributor for hire, or for any person to distribute commercial or noncommercial handbills, without first complying with the provisions of this chapter and all other relevant laws and regulations. (§ 10(a), Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

(a) Required. Any person desiring to engage as principal, either in the business of a billposter for hire or in the business of distributing commercial or noncommercial handbills for hire, shall make application to, and receive from, the License Official a license in the manner and for the period prescribed by the provisions of this chapter and by all relevant provisions of this Code. (b) Exception. Persons acting for licenses as agents or employees in the posting or distributing of any such signs or handbills shall not be required to obtain a license or pay a fee; provided, however, each such person shall comply with, and be subject to, all the other provisions of this chapter. (§ 10(b) and (d), Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

The applicant for such license shall make a written application to the License Official upon a form provided for such purpose by the License Official. Such form shall contain, among other things which may be required, together with a request for a license for the period for which the applicant seeks to engage in business, the following information: (a) The applicants name; (b) The applicant's business address; (c) A brief description of the nature of the business to be conducted by the applicant; and (d) The probable number of agents and employees to be engaged in the business. Such application shall be accompanied by the fee provided for in § 3-1.205(b)(1) of this Code. (§ 10(b) and (c), Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

No license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be transferable. (§ 10(c), Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

Without excluding other just grounds for revocation, the Council or official so empowered by law may revoke any license obtained pursuant to an application containing a false or fraudulent statement knowingly made by the applicant with the intent to obtain a license by means of false or fraudulent representations, or for the violation of the provisions of this chapter, or on any other grounds specified by law. (§ 10(c), Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

No person shall post, stick, stamp, paint, or otherwise fix, or cause the same to be done by any person, any notice, sign, placard, bill, card, poster, advertisement, or other paper or device calculated to attract the attention of the public to or upon any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb, curbstone, flagstone, or any other portion or part of any public way or public place, or any lamp post or electric light, telegraph, telephone, or trolley line pole, or any railway structure, hydrant, shade tree, or tree box, or upon the piers, columns, trusses, girders, railings, gates, or other parts of any public bridge, viaduct, or other public structure or building, or upon any pole, box, or fixture of the fire alarm or police telegraph system, except such paper or device which may be authorized or required by the laws of the United States, State, or City. (§ 3, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949, as amended by § 1, Ord. 2921, eff. June 3, 2010)

It shall be unlawful for any person to post, hand out, distribute, or transmit any sign or any commercial or noncommercial handbill: (a) Which may reasonably tend to incite riot or other public disorder, or which advocates disloyalty to, or the overthrow of, the government of the United States or the State by means of any artifice, scheme, or violence, or which

urges any unlawful conduct, or encourages, or tends to encourage, a breach of the public peace or good order of the community; or (b) Which is offensive to public morals or decency, or which contains blasphemous, obscene, libelous, or scurrilous language. (§ 13, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit, place, throw, scatter, or cast any commercial handbill in or upon any public place within the City, and it shall be unlawful for any person to hand out, distribute, or sell any commercial handbill in any public place; provided, however, it shall not be unlawful for any person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof, any noncommercial handbill in any public place to any person willing to accept such noncommercial handbill. (§ 4, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter, or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any automobile or other vehicle. The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit the handing, transmitting, or distributing of any noncommercial handbill to the owner or other occupant of any automobile or other vehicle who is willing to accept the same. (§ 5, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter, or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any premises which are temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant. (§ 6, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill upon any premises if requested by any person thereon not to do so or if there is placed on such premises in a conspicuous position near the entrance thereof a sign bearing the words “No Trespassing,” “No Peddlers or Agents,” or “No Advertisements” or any similar notice indicating in any manner that the occupants of such premises do not desire to be molested or to have their right of privacy disturbed or to have any such handbills left upon such premises. (§ 7, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

No person licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, nor any other person, shall distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter, or cast any commercial or noncommercial handbill or newspaper in or upon any private premises where such premises have not been posted, as provided in § 5-1.16 of this chapter, without having first obtained and registered with the Police Chief the written permission of the owner or of an adult resident or occupant thereof and

without placing or depositing such handbill or newspaper in such a way as to secure or prevent the same from being blown or drifted about such premises or elsewhere; provided, however, mailboxes shall not be used where so prohibited by feral postal laws or regulations. (§ 8, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949 as amended by § 1, Ord. 1162, eff. August 2, 1956)

It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, deposit, scatter, hand out, or circulate any commercial or noncommercial handbill in any place under any circumstances, which handbill does not have printed on the cover, front, or back thereof the name and address of the following: (a) The person who printed, wrote, compiled, or manufactured such handbill; (b) The person who caused the same to be distributed; and (c) In the case of a fictitious person or club, in addition to such fictitious name, the true names and addresses of the owners, managers, or agents of the person sponsoring such handbill. (§ 9, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

It shall be unlawful for the owner, lessee, occupant, or agent of any premises to permit any person, whether licensed or acting pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or otherwise, to post, affix, or otherwise attach to any building, structure, or fixture located upon such premises, whether such fixture is natural or artificial, any poster or handbill containing any matter prohibited by the provisions of this chapter. (§ 12, Ord. 834, eff. May 18, 1949)

(a) Each violation of the provisions of this chapter, or of any regulations, order, or ruling promulgated or made pursuant hereto, shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 2 of Title 1 of this Code. (b) In addition, the City may institute in any court of competent jurisdiction an action to prevent, restrain, correct, or abate any violation of the provisions of this chapter or any order or ruling in connection with the administration or enforcement of said provisions, and the court shall adjudge to the City such relief, by way of injunction (which may be mandatory) or otherwise, as may be proper. (§ 2, Ord. 2921, eff. June 3, 2010)

CHAPTER 2: AUCTION SALES (REPEALED)

CHAPTER 2: AUCTION SALES (REPEALED)

CHAPTER 3: COMIC BOOKS AND OBSCENE PUBLICATIONS (REPEALED) *

CHAPTER 3: COMIC BOOKS AND OBSCENE PUBLICATIONS (REPEALED) *

• Sections 5-3.01 through 5-3.06, codified from Ord. 1036, eff. December 16, 1954, repealed by § 1, Ord. 2314, eff. August 1, 1985.

CHAPTER 4: DANCE HALLS, DANCING CLUBS, AND BALLROOMS

CHAPTER 4: DANCE HALLS, DANCING CLUBS, AND BALLROOMS

5-4.01 Police officers: Attendance 5-4.02 Police officers: Powers and duties 5-4.03 Hours of operation 5-4.04 Prohibitions on crowd surfing and stage diving