Athens City Code

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Panhandler means any person, other than an exempt organization, acting on his or her own behalf, requesting an immediate donation of money or exchange of any services, or any person, acting on his or her own behalf, attempting to sell an item for an amount far exceeding its value or where the item is already offered free of charge to the general public, and a reasonable person would understand that the purchase is in substance a donation.

Peddler means any person, firm or corporation, either a resident or a nonresident of the city, who has no permanent regular place of business and who goes from dwelling to dwelling, business to business, place to place, or from street to street, carrying or transporting goods, wares or merchandise and offering or exposing the same for sale.

Solicitor means any person, firm or corporation who goes from dwelling to dwelling, business to business, place to place, or street to street, taking or attempting to take orders for any goods, wares or merchandise, or personal property of any nature whatever for future delivery, except that the term "solicitor" shall not include solicitors for charitable and religious purposes and solicitors for subscriptions as those terms are defined in this section.

Solicitor for charitable or religious purposes means any person, firm, corporation or organization who or which solicits contributions from the public, either on the streets of the city or from door to door, business to business, place to place, or street to street, for any charitable or religious organization, and who does not sell or offer to sell any single item at a cost to the purchaser in excess of $10.00. No organization shall qualify as a charitable or religious organization unless the organization meets one of the following conditions:

1. (1) Has a current exemption certificate from the Internal Revenue Service issued under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1954, as amended.
2. (2) Is a member of United Way, Community Chest or similar umbrella organization for charitable or religious organizations.
3. (3) Has been in continued existence as a charitable or religious organization in the county for a period of two years prior to the date of its application for registration under this chapter.

Solicitor for subscriptions means any person who solicits subscriptions from the public, either on the streets of the city, or from door to door, business to business, place to place, or street to street, and who offers for sale subscriptions to magazines or other materials protected by provisions of the Constitution of the United States.

Street barker means any peddler who does business during recognized festival or parade days in the city and who limits his business to selling or offering to sell novelty items and similar goods in the area of the festival or parade.

Transient vendor means any person who brings into temporary premises and exhibits stocks of merchandise to the public for the purpose of selling or offering to sell the merchandise to the public. The term "transient vendor" does not include any person selling goods by sample, brochure, or sales catalog for future delivery or to sales resulting from the prior invitation to the seller by the owner or occupant of a residence. For purposes of this definition, the term "merchandise" means any consumer item that is or is represented to be new or not previously owned by a consumer, and the term "temporary premises" means any public or quasi-public place including a hotel, roominghouse, storeroom, building or part of a building, tent, vacant lot, railroad car, or motor vehicle which is temporarily occupied for the purpose of exhibiting stocks of merchandise to the public. Premises are not temporary if the same person has conducted business at those premises for more than six consecutive months or has occupied the premises as his or her permanent residence for more than six consecutive months.

(Code 1995, § 9-201; Ord. No. 1060, § 1, 2-21-2017)