HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 17762
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ORDINANCE NO. 1776
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BURLINGAME AMENDING CHAPTER 6.24
(PEDDLERS AND SOLICITORS) TO CONFORM TO JUDICIAL DECISIONS AND
REPEALING CHAPTER 6.26 (CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS)
The CITY COUNCIL of the CITY OF BURLINGAME does hereby ordain as
follows:
Section 1.
(a) Federal and State courts have determined that door-to-door sales of merchandise
and services is entitled to a middle level of First Amendment protection as commercial
speech. Experience in Burlingame and the San Francisco Peninsula shows that some door-
to-door sales techniques involve intimidation and high pressure tactics that can evolve into
consumer fraud and thinly disguised theft. In addition, there has been violent crime
involving door-to-door salespeople, and persons posing as salespeople or service providers
have been a source of crime. Neighboring cities have faced an increasing number of home
invasion robberies. Burlingame has a large number of elderly people who are particularly
susceptible to unacceptable tactics and criminal elements. This ordinance is intended to
provide a first level of checks to establish past history of door-to-door sales companies and
salespeople for ready reference by citizens. The requirement for fingerprinting is retained in
the Municipal Code so the Police Department can conduct a criminal history check through
the State Department of Justice under its livescan program; without the fingerprinting, no
reasonable criminal history check could be completed on a permit applicant.
(b) Local regulation of door-to-door charitable solicitation has been abrogated by
Federal and State courts. Instead, citizens are left to rely on the information available fr
om
the Better Business Bureau, the California Attorney General, and other private sources.
Citizens may post no soliciting signs on their homes and businesses, but the courts have
largely required that door-to-door solicitation be left to the individual "buyer beware".
Therefore, this ordinance repeals the charitable solicitation provisions of the Municipal
Code.
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Section 2, Chapter 6.24 is amended to read as follows:
Chapter 6.24
PEDDLERS AND SOLICITORS
Sections:
6.
24.010
Permit required.
6.24.020
Application for permit.
6.24.030
Permit fee and investigation.
6.24.040
Business license.
6.24.050
Issuance or denial of permit.
6.24.060
Appeal.
6.24.070
License and permit not transferable.
6.24.080
Display of permit.
6.24.085
No soliciting at residence when posted.
6.24.090
Revocation or suspension of permits.
6.24.010 Permit required
Unless exempted from the provisions of this title pursuant to chapter 6.04, itis
unlawful for any person to operate, engage in, conduct, carry on, or permit to be operated,
engaged in, conducted or carried on within the city, the business of peddler or solicitor
unless a permit for such business and the individual engaged in peddling or soliciting has
first been obtained from the police department of the city and remains in effect in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
6.24.020 Application for permit.
Any person, including those holding a license issued under other chapters of this
title, desiring a permit to peddle or solicit (except those who sell to merchants with a fi
xed
place of business for purpose of resale) shall first make an application therefor by filing with
the license collector a sworn application in writing on a form to be furnished by the license
collector which shall give the following information:
(a) Name, residence and telephone number;
(b) The previous address of the applicant for the five (5) years immediately prior to
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the present address of the applicant;
(c) Taxpayers identification number and driver's license number, if any;
(d) Fingerprints (taken by the police department for criminal history investigation
purposes) and three (3) portrait photographs at least two (2) inches by two (2) inches, taken
within the last sixty (60) days immediately prior to the date of the filing of the application,
which photograph shall show the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinct
manner;
(e) Applicant's height, weight, color of eyes and hair;
(f) Business occupation or employment of the applicant for the five (5) years
immediately preceding the date of application;
(g) The business license, if any, and permit history of the applicant; whether such
person, in previously operating in this or any other city or state, under license has had such
license or permit revoked or suspended, the reason therefor, and the business activity or
occupation subsequent to such action of suspensions or revocation;
(h) Whether such person has ever been convicted of any crime, except misdemeanor
traffic violations. If there has been any such conviction, a statement must be made giving
the place and court in which such conviction was
had, the specific charge under which the
conviction was obtained and the sentence imposed as a result of such conviction;
sold;
(i) A brief description of the nature of the business and the goods or services to be
(j) The name of the business under which the solicitation in the city will be
conducted;
(k) I`he application will also include a separately signed waiver and release
authorizing the city, its agents and employees to seek information and to conduct an
investigation into the truth of the statements made on the application.
6.24.030 Permit fee and investigation.
All applications for permits shall be accompanied by an investigation and permit fee
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in the sum of fifty ($50) dollars, no part of which is refundable, together with the
fingerprinting fee established for public fingerprinting by council resolution and the fee
charged by the state for fingerprint submittal. Upon receipt of the application, the license
collector shall refer the application to the police department, which within a period of ten
(10) business days from the date of filing the application shall interview the applicant or any
other person and make any other investigation necessary to approve or deny the permit. If
the police department is unable to complete its review within ten (10) business days from the
date of filing the application, the application will be deemed approved and the department
shall issue the permit; however, should the department determine after issuance that the
application should have been denied, the permit will be suspended pursuant to section
6.24.090 below.
6.24.040 Business license.
At the time of the application for a permit, applicant shall also apply for and furnish
the information necessary to obtain a business license as required by Chapter 6.04 of this
code unless the applicant will be an employee of another person who has obtained or is
obtaining a city business license. No business license shall be issued until the investigation
is completed and the permit is approved. The business license shall be issued upon payment
of the business license fee as provided in Chapter 6.04 of this code.
6.24.050 Issuance or denial of permit.
The police depart
ment shall issue such permit if all required information has been
furnished and the report filed fi
nds that
(a) The applicant has not been convicted of any law involving fraud or moral
turpitude; an
d
(b) The applicant has not knowingly and with intent to deceive made any false,
misleading or fraudulent oral or written statements in the permit application or to any person
investigating Lite
application.
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The permit shall be denied if all of the above findings cannot be made or if all of the
information required is not supplied to the city. If denied, the reasons therefor shall be
endorsed upon the application, and the police department shall notify the applicant upon
which the reasons have been endorsed by first class mail.
� 6.24.060 Appeal.
In the event a permit has been denied, applicant shall have ten (10) days from the
date of mailing the notice within which to appeal to the city council by filing a written
application for a public hearing with the clerk of the city. Notice and a public hearing shall
be given as follows:
(a) Upon receipt of the appeal, the city clerk shall set the matter for hearing before
the council, at a
regular meeting thereof, within thirty
(30)
days fiom the date of filing the
appeal and shall
give written notice of such hearing to
the
applicant at the address set forth
in the appeal by first class mail at least ten (10) days prior thereto;
(b) On the date set, the council shall
hear the matter, and may continue it from time
to time before reaching a decision. If the council fi
nds that the applicant has satisfactorily
net all of the requirements of this chapter, it shall order the issuance of the permit and
business license. If it finds that the requirements have not been met satisfactorily, it shall
deny the permit and license;
(c) All findings of the council shall be final and conclusive upon the applican
t.
6.24.070 License and permit not transferable.
No license or permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be used or worn
at any time by any person other than the one to whom it was
issued.
6.24.080 Display of permit.
Each person issued a permit under this chapter shall keep it in the person's personal
possession when going door to door conducting any soliciting or peddling in the city, an
d it
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shall be displayed to any person upon request.
6.24.085 No soliciting at residence when posted.
No person shall peddle any services or goods or solicit any payments for any services
or goods at any dwelling unit where a sign is prominently posted or displayed indicating "No
Solicitors" or "No Soliciting" or a similar indication that no solicitation is desired by the
occupant of the dwelling unit.
6.24.090 Revocation or suspension of permits.
(a) Any permit issued under this chapter shall be subject to suspension or revocation
by the
city manager for violation
of, or for causing or
permitting violation of any provision
of this
chapter or for any grounds
that
would warrant
the denial of such permits in the first
instance.
(b) Prior to the suspension or revocation of any permit issued under this chapter, the
permittee shall be entitled to a hearing before the city manager or the manager's designated
representative, at which time evidence will be received for the purpose of determining
whether or not such permit shall be suspended or revoked or whether the permit may be
retained. In the event the permit is suspended or revoked, the notification of the reasons for
such suspension or revocation shall be set forth in writing and sent to the permittee by means
of first class mail.
(c) In the event of suspension or revocation of any permit, the permitt
ee may appeal
to the city council in the manner as provided in section 6.24.060.
Section 3. Anew subsection 6.08.140(c) is added to read as follows:
(c) The license fee required by this section is imposed on and payable by the business
and not on or by each individual employee of the business that is engaged in peddling or
soliciti
ng.
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Section 4. Chapter 6.26 is repealed.
Section 5. This ordinance shall be published as required bylaw.
I, DORIS MORTENSEN, City Clerk of the City of Burlingame, do hereby certify
that the foregoing ordinance was introduced at a meeting of the City Council of the City of
Burlingame on the 3`d day of January, 2006, and the ordinance was duly adopted at a regular
meeting of the City Council on the 17`t' day of January, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BAYLOCK, COHEN, KEIGHRAN, NAGEL,
O'MAHONY
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
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