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)

The terms of this chapter shall not apply to persons selling at wholesale to dealers. This chapter shall also not apply to newsboys, bona fide merchants who merely deliver goods in the regular course of business, or persons selling agricultural products, who, in fact, themselves produced the products being sold.

(Code 1995, § 9-202)

No person, firm or corporation shall operate a business as a peddler, transient vendor, solicitor or street barker, and no solicitor for charitable or religious purposes or solicitor for subscriptions shall solicit within the city unless the same has obtained a permit from the city in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Each applicant shall be required to discuss with the police chief or his designee the specifications allowed or prohibited regarding the permit.

(Code 1995, § 9-203)

1. (1) Application form. A sworn application containing the following information shall be completed and filed with the finance department by each applicant for a permit as a peddler, transient vendor, solicitor, or street barker and by each applicant for a permit as a solicitor for charitable or religious purposes or as a solicitor for subscriptions:
   1. (a) The complete name and permanent address of the business or organization the applicant represents.
   2. (b) A brief description of the type of business and the goods to be sold.
   3. (c) The dates for which the applicant intends to do business or make solicitations.
   4. (d) The names and permanent addresses of each person who will make sales or solicitations within the city.
   5. (e) The make, model, complete description, and license tag number and state of issue of each vehicle to be used to make sales or solicitations, whether or not such vehicle is owned individually by the person making sales or solicitations, by the business or organization itself, or rented or borrowed from another business or person.
   6. (f) Tennessee state sales tax number, if applicable.
2. (2) Permit fee. Each applicant for a permit as a peddler, transient vendor, solicitor or street barker shall submit with his application a nonrefundable fee of $20.00. There shall be no fee for an application for a permit as a solicitor for charitable purposes or as a solicitor for subscriptions.
3. (3) Permit issued. Upon the completion of the application form and the payment of the permit fee, where required, the finance department shall issue a permit and provide a copy of the same to the applicant.
4. (4) Submission of application form to chief of police. Immediately after the applicant obtains a permit from the finance department, the finance department shall submit to the chief of police a copy of the application form and the permit.

(Code 1995, § 9-204)

No peddler, street barker, solicitor, solicitor for charitable purposes, solicitor for subscriptions, or panhandler shall:

1. (1) Be permitted to set up and operate a booth or stand on any street or sidewalk or in any other public area within the city.
2. (2) Stand or sit in or near the entrance to any dwelling or place of business or in any other place which may disrupt or impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
3. (3) Offer to sell goods or services or solicit in vehicular traffic lanes or operate a road block of any kind.
4. (4) Call attention to his business or merchandise or to his solicitation efforts by crying out, by blowing a horn, by ringing a bell, or creating other noise, except that the street barker shall be allowed to cry out to call attention to his business or merchandise during recognized parade or festival days of the city.
5. (5) Enter in or upon any premises or attempt to enter in or upon any premises wherein a sign or placard bearing the notice "Peddlers or Solicitors Prohibited," or similar language carrying the same meaning, is located.
6. (6) Stand on or otherwise occupy any portion of the public right-of-way, including any public street, median, alley or sidewalk, for the purpose of soliciting or accepting a donation of money or any other item from the occupant of any vehicle.
7. (7) By means of a sign or other device of any kind, use or occupy any portion of the public right-of-way, including any public street, median, alley or sidewalk, to attempt to alert the driver or any occupant of a motor vehicle that is on a street to any commercial activity.

(Code 1995, § 9-205; Ord. No. 1060, § 2, 2-21-2017)

A transient vendor shall not advertise, represent, or hold forth a sale of goods, wares or merchandise as an insurance, bankrupt, insolvent, assignee, trustee, estate, executor, administrator, receiver's, manufacturer's, wholesale, cancelled order, or misfit sale, or closing-out sale, or a sale of any goods damaged by smoke, fire, water or otherwise, unless such advertisement, representation or holding forth is actually of the character it is advertised, represented or held forth.

(Code 1995, § 9-206)

Each peddler, street barker, solicitor, solicitor for charitable purposes or solicitor for subscriptions is required to have in his possession a valid permit while making sales or solicitations and shall be required to display the same to any police officer upon demand.

(Code 1995, § 9-207)

The permit issued to any person or organization under this chapter may be suspended by the finance department for any of the following causes:

1. (1) Any false statement, material omission, or untrue or misleading information which is contained in or left out of the application; or
2. (2) Any violation of this chapter.

(Code 1995, § 9-208)

The permit of peddlers, solicitors and transient vendors shall expire on the same date that the permit holder's privilege license expires. The registration of any peddler, solicitor, or transient vendor who for any reason is not subject to the privilege tax shall be issued for six months. The permit of street barkers shall be for a period corresponding to the dates of the recognized parade or festival days of the city. The permit of solicitors for religious or charitable purposes and solicitors for subscriptions shall expire on the date provided in the permit, not to exceed 30 days.

(Code 1995, § 9-209)