The City of Smithville may crack down on temporary roadside vendors who set up to sell their products without obtaining a permit.
The aldermen briefly discussed the issue during the city council meeting last week.
Alderman Shawn Jacobs said “I’ve had another business or two contact me about these peddlers setting up and selling various wares in various places in the city. These are legitimate complaints. Businesses are paying for business licenses and these people who are setting up regularly haven’t gotten any kind of permit or don’t have a business license and it’s not fair. We need to try to make it as fair as we can for everybody. That’s the best thing to do.”
Jacobs asked if the city had an ordinance on the books regulating this type of activity. Alderman Steve White, in response, said the city does have such an ordinance but that it is vague.
Alderman Jacobs asked that the ordinance be reviewed at the next meeting.
Under the current ordinance, a peddler is defined as “any person, whether or not a resident of the city, traveling by foot, wagon, automotive vehicle or any other type of conveyance from place to place, house to house, or street to street, carrying, conveying, or transporting goods, wares, merchandise, fish, vegetables, fruits or other products or provisions, and offering and exposing them for sale; or who, without traveling from place to place, sells or offers for sale such products from a wagon, automotive vehicle or other conveyance is hereby defined to be a “peddler”. A “peddler” shall also include any “hawker”, “huckster”, or “street vendor” but shall exclude any solicitor licensed under the provisions of the city code.
The ordinance states that “no person shall act as a peddler unless he has obtained a permit from the secretary-treasurer.
Each applicant for a peddler’s permit shall file an application stating and/or containing the following:
Name of the applicant
Brief description of the nature of the goods to be sold
If employed, the name and address of the employer
If a vehicle is to be used, a description of it together with the license number or other means of identification.
Evidence of the good moral character of the applicant.
Each permit issued under the provisions of this chapter shall show the name and address of the peddler, the kind of goods to be sold, the date of issuance, the permit number, and the identifying description of any vehicle used by the peddler.
All peddlers shall exhibit their permits to any police officer or person solicited, upon demand.
No peddler shall engage in the business of peddling:
During the hours of darkness
On Sunday
Within 200 feet of a public market house
Within 200 feet of a curb market
Any permit issued under the provisions of this chapter may be suspended or revoked by the board of mayor and aldermen for any of the following reasons:
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement contained in the application for the permit.
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement in the course of carrying on the business of peddling
Conviction of any crime involving moral turpitude
Conducting the business of peddling in such a manner as to create a public nuisance, cause a breach of the peace, or constitute a danger to the public health, safety, or welfare.
Allowing another to use said permit
Permits issued under the provisions of this chapter shall expire on the same date that the permittee’s privilege license expires and shall be renewed without cost if the permittee applies for and obtains a new privilege license within 30 days thereafter. Permits issued to permitees who are not subject to a privilege tax shall be issued for one year. An application for a renewal shall be made substantially in the same form as an original application. However, only so much of the application shall be completed as is necessary to reflect conditions which have changed since the last application was filed.
Archived News & Obituaries