Good to see our elected officials are hard at work on these most hard-hitting issues!
This sounds like a Riggs/Hammond/Smith deal. After all, ''Of the over 8,000 houses I visited during my campaign, this was what I was told by every person was the most important issue facing this city.''
Code changes aimed at solicitors
Thursday, March 8, 2007
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Pickerington residents may soon have a clear way of telling door-to-door salesmen not to bother knocking.
City council's safety committee is deliberating revisions to the policy regarding peddlers and solicitors that would establish a system similar to the do-not-call list that allows citizens to opt out of telemarketers' rolls. Under the amendments to the policy, which has been in place since 1990, the city would make available a standardized sticker reading ''No Peddlers or Solicitors Invited'' for display on the front entrances of homes.
Anyone making a sales pitch where this sticker is displayed could face a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge, which carries maximum penalties of a $250 fine, 30 days in jail, or both.
Canvassers not seeking donations, nonprofit groups and charitable organizations would be exempt from the regulations, according to Pickerington Police Det. Matt Delp, who helped draft the amendments. Additionally, such groups would not need to file for solicitor permits from the city, which is required of parties selling their goods for profit.
Pickerington Police Commander Ralph Portier said the change could help inhibit the consistent stream of salesmen walking the city's neighborhoods.
In addition to reducing the number of daily interruptions, Portier said the sticker policy might foster a greater sense of security among area residents.
''People are leery in this day and age of people they don't know walking onto their porch and approaching them,'' he said, adding that some citizens fear the prospect of robbery or assault from such solicitors.
A few residents already display homemade signs in their windows, he said. Through the policy amendment now before the committee, the city would officially sanction such a system, while providing clear boundaries to the peddlers.
The proposed revisions would also require solicitors to conspicuously display a city-issued permit and photo identification at all times. Peddlers not abiding this rule or those acting outside the hours of 10 a.m. to dusk could face a minor misdemeanor charge, which is punishable up to a $100 in fines.
The proposed amendments are necessitated by a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., et. al v. Stratton et al, which placed limitations on municipal regulation of door-to-door canvassers.
Meeting Monday night, the safety committee relented on approving the revisions to allow the city staff more time to review them.
The committee will revisit the matter at its next meeting on April 2.
This sounds like a Riggs/Hammond/Smith deal. After all, ''Of the over 8,000 houses I visited during my campaign, this was what I was told by every person was the most important issue facing this city.''
Code changes aimed at solicitors
Thursday, March 8, 2007
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Pickerington residents may soon have a clear way of telling door-to-door salesmen not to bother knocking.
City council's safety committee is deliberating revisions to the policy regarding peddlers and solicitors that would establish a system similar to the do-not-call list that allows citizens to opt out of telemarketers' rolls. Under the amendments to the policy, which has been in place since 1990, the city would make available a standardized sticker reading ''No Peddlers or Solicitors Invited'' for display on the front entrances of homes.
Anyone making a sales pitch where this sticker is displayed could face a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge, which carries maximum penalties of a $250 fine, 30 days in jail, or both.
Canvassers not seeking donations, nonprofit groups and charitable organizations would be exempt from the regulations, according to Pickerington Police Det. Matt Delp, who helped draft the amendments. Additionally, such groups would not need to file for solicitor permits from the city, which is required of parties selling their goods for profit.
Pickerington Police Commander Ralph Portier said the change could help inhibit the consistent stream of salesmen walking the city's neighborhoods.
In addition to reducing the number of daily interruptions, Portier said the sticker policy might foster a greater sense of security among area residents.
''People are leery in this day and age of people they don't know walking onto their porch and approaching them,'' he said, adding that some citizens fear the prospect of robbery or assault from such solicitors.
A few residents already display homemade signs in their windows, he said. Through the policy amendment now before the committee, the city would officially sanction such a system, while providing clear boundaries to the peddlers.
The proposed revisions would also require solicitors to conspicuously display a city-issued permit and photo identification at all times. Peddlers not abiding this rule or those acting outside the hours of 10 a.m. to dusk could face a minor misdemeanor charge, which is punishable up to a $100 in fines.
The proposed amendments are necessitated by a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., et. al v. Stratton et al, which placed limitations on municipal regulation of door-to-door canvassers.
Meeting Monday night, the safety committee relented on approving the revisions to allow the city staff more time to review them.
The committee will revisit the matter at its next meeting on April 2.
