870.01 DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
As used in this chapter:
(a) “Legal holiday” means and includes New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas.
(b) “Transient retail business” means and includes the following:
(1) Engaging in peddling, soliciting, or taking orders, either by sample or otherwise, for any goods, wares, or merchandise upon any street, alley, sidewalk, or public ground, or from house-to-house, within the Township; and
(2) Selling, soliciting, or taking orders for any goods, wares, or merchandise, from a fixed location within the Township, on a temporary basis, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, such activities conducted at the time of special occasions or celebrations, for seasonal purposes, or for or in advance of specific yearly holidays.
870.02 LICENSE REQUIRED; FEE; CONDITIONS
(a) No person shall engage in any transient retail business within the Township without first having obtained from the Police Department a license, for which a fee, which shall be for the use of the Township and paid to the Township Treasurer, shall be charged as follows:
(1) Twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for one month or fraction thereof; or
(2) One hundred dollars ($100.00) for one year or fraction thereof.
(b) No license fee shall be charged under this section:
(1) To farmers selling their own produce;
(2) For the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise donated by the owners thereof, the proceeds of which are to be applied to any charitable or philanthropic purpose;
(3) To any manufacturer or producer in the sale of bread and bakery products, meat and meat products, or milk and milk products;
(4) To children under the age of eighteen years who take orders for and deliver newspapers, greeting cards, candy, bakery products and the like, or who represent the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or similar organizations;
(5) To any honorably discharged member of any of the Armed Services who complies with the Act of April 8, 1867, as amended, and who procures from the Prothonotary a certificate pursuant to such Act;
(6) To the seeking or taking of orders by insurance agents or brokers licensed under the insurance laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
(7) To any person who has complied with the provisions of the Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act, being the Act of August 9, 1964, as amended; or
(8) To taking orders for merchandise by sample from dealers or merchants, for individuals or companies who or which pay a license or business privilege tax at their chief place of business.
However, all persons exempted hereby from the payment of the license fee shall be required to register with the Police Department and obtain a license without fee. Any person dealing in one or more of the above-mentioned exempted categories, and dealing with other goods, wares, or merchandise not so exempted, shall be subject to the payment of the license fee fixed by this section for his or her activities in connection with the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise not in such exempted categories. The Board of Township Commissioners may similarly exempt from payment of the license fee, but not from registering with the Police Department, persons working without compensation and selling goods, wares, or merchandise for the sole benefit of any nonprofit corporation. Every license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be issued on an individual basis to persons engaging in such business. Every individual shall obtain a separate license, issued to him or her, in his or her name, and the license fee hereby imposed shall be applicable to every such individual license, except that a representative of a charitable organization may obtain the license for the applicants therein.
870.03 APPLICATION FOR LICENSE
Every person desiring a license under this chapter shall first make application to the Police Department for such license. If such person shall also be required to obtain a license from any State or County officer, he or she shall, when making such application, exhibit a valid license from such State or County officer. The applicant shall state:
(a) His or her name and address, both local and permanent;
(b) His or her criminal record, if any;
(c) The name and address of the person by whom he or she is employed;
(d) The types of goods, wares, and merchandise he or she wishes to deal with in such transient retail business;
(e) The length of time for which such license is to be issued; and
(f) The type and license number of the vehicle to be used, if any.
870.04 ISSUANCE OF LICENSE; CUSTODY, DISPLAY OR EXHIBIT
Upon receipt of such application and the prescribed fee, the police officer in charge, if he or she shall find such application in order, shall issue the license required under this chapter. Such license shall contain the information required to be given on the application therefor. Every license holder shall carry such license upon his or her person, if engaged in transient retail business from house-to-house or upon any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds, or shall display such license at the location where he or she shall engage in such business if doing so at a fixed location. He or she shall exhibit such license, upon request, to any police officer, Township official, or resident of the Township.
870.05 PROHIBITED ACTS
No person in any transient retail business shall:
(a) Sell any product or type of product not mentioned in his or her license;
(b) Hawk or cry his or her wares upon any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds in the Township;
(c) When operating from a vehicle, stop or park such vehicle upon any of the streets or alleys in the Township for longer than necessary in order to sell therefrom to persons residing in the immediate vicinity;
(d) Park any vehicle upon any of the streets or alleys in the Township for the purpose of sorting, rearranging, or cleaning any of his or her goods, wares, or merchandise, or of disposing of any carton, wrapping material, or of any stock or wares or foodstuffs which have become unsaleable through handing, age, or otherwise.
(e) Engage in any business activity prohibited in the Township by general or special law applicable thereto;
(f) Engage in any house-to-house activity, except by prior appointment, at any time on a Sunday or legal holiday, or at any time before 9:00 AM or after 8:00 PM on any day of the week other than a Sunday or legal holiday.
870.06 SUPERVISION; RECORDS AND REPORTS
The Police Department shall supervise the activities of all persons holding licenses under this chapter, shall keep a record of all licenses issued hereunder, and shall make a report thereof each month to the Board of Township Commissioners.
870.07 SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION OF LICENSE; APPEAL
The Police Chief is hereby authorized to suspend or revoke any license issued under this chapter when he or she deems such suspension to be beneficial to the public health, safety, or morals, for the violation of any provision of this chapter, or for giving false information upon any application for a license hereunder. Appeals from any suspension or revocation may be made to the Board of Township Commissioners at any time within ten days after such suspension or revocation. No part of a license fee shall be refunded to any person whose license shall have been suspended or revoked.
870.99 PENALTY
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) and costs of prosecution, or, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than thirty days. Each violation of this chapter, and each day the same is continued, shall be deemed a separate offense.