Patton Township’s Board of Supervisors on Wednesday unanimously approved the creation of a program that will allow residents to prohibit unwanted commercial solicitors from coming to their doors.
Residents will be able to opt in to a “Do Not Knock” list on an annual basis through an online form, and the list will be provided to vendors when they acquire a license from the township.
The list does not apply to nonprofit, political and religious organizations, which are exempt from such restrictions under state and federal law.
While the township requires peddlers to acquire a license for door-to-door soliciting, there was little they could do to prevent them from going to residences where they were not wanted, Township Manager Amy Farkas said in February when the proposal was introduced.
“We’ve received some complaints recently about solicitors not following ‘no soliciting’ signs that are placed on private property, and that’s problematic for us because that’s not something we readily can enforce,” Farkas said.
Under the amendments to the peddling and soliciting ordinance approved by the board, residents will not be required to post a “no soliciting” sign if they enroll in the program. Violators of the “do not knock” program would have their licenses immediately revoked, but would not be subject to prosecution for trespassing.
Whether they are enrolled in the program or not, however, residents can post “no soliciting” signs and call the police for possible trespassing prosecution of unwanted vendors who come to their doors.
The ordinance amendments also reduce the term of soliciting licenses from one year to six months, so that they will be more likely to have the most up-to-date “Do Not Knock” list.
A list of vendors with active licenses and their expiration dates will be made available on the township website.
The ordinance was also updated to clarify that youth under the age of 18 who take orders for and deliver newspapers, greeting cards and candy, or who represent a scouting organization, do not need to obtain a license.
Other updates to the ordinance make clear that soliciting is not permitted on Sundays and legal holidays, and that the chief of police, not the township manager, is responsible for issuing licenses — a practice that is already in effect.
Police Chief Tyler Jolley said in March that he performs background checks before issuing soliciting licenses.
After multiple previous presentations about the “Do Not Knock” proposal, there was no comment during a public hearing and little discussion among supervisors before approving the ordinance amendments.
“I just wish it was that easy to do with spam calls,” Supervisor Elliot Abrams said.
