No soliciting
Norris considers changes to peddlers ordinance
The Norris City Council meets in the boardroom at the Norris Community Building on Tuesday, Nov. 12. From left are council members Loretta Painter, Chuck Nicholson, Will Grinder, Bill Grieve and Mayor Chris Mitchell. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Such a move, suggested during last week’s November council meeting, would make it illegal for a commercial solicitor to approach the home of anyone whose name and address is on that list, similar to the way the federal “Do Not Call” list is supposed to work.
Also being considered are shortening the solicitor’s permit term to 14 days from the current 30, and requiring applicants to pay for a background check before a permit can be issued,
These proposals arose primarily in response to a pest-control company’s recent door-to-door solicitations in Norris, which brought some complaints to the city office from residents.
Mayor Chris Mitchell said there was “a bug man” making “aggressive” solicitations at residents’ homes, but that because the man had obtained a city soliciting permit, his actions did not violate the existing ordinance.
Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited suggested the idea of the no-solicitations list.
In January, the council approved a peddlers/solicitors ordinance to help control door-to-door sales.
That measure already makes it illegal to approach someone’s home to sell “goods or wares” without first being invited onto the property, Whited told The Courier News. But it does not apply to the sale of services, such as pest control and home improvements or lawn care.
“Protection of people in their homes is what we’re trying to address,” Mayor Chris Mitchell said during discussion of the new ordinance, which the council passed on second and final reading Jan. 8.
“This is an extremely aggressive ordinance,” the mayor said at the time.
Under the current rules, even if a salesperson obtains the resident’s permission to approach the home, they still must get a solicitor’s permit from City Hall before doing so.
Exceptions are made for nonprofit organizations, including religious activities and political campaigns. A last-minute change to the proposed ordinance clarified that people such as Girl Scouts selling cookies would not be subject to the restrictions.
The ordinance, as passed by the council on first reading, says:
“(Section 9-105) The practice of going in and upon private residences in the City of Norris by solicitors, peddlers, hawkers, itinerant merchants, or transient vendors of merchandise not having been requested or invited to do so by the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of said private residences for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise and/or disposing of and/or peddling or hawking the same is declared to be a nuisance and punishable as such nuisance as a misdemeanor.”
The proposal was first brought up at the council’s November 2023 meeting but was tabled until the December council meeting. Originally, it was proposed that door-to-door sales would be allowed by permit only.
But some residents attending the meeting suggested that rather than giving solicitors permits to sell door-to-door, such sales should be prohibited outright in the city, with a few exceptions.
The ordinance the council approved on first reading Dec. 11 reflected that suggestion, adding:
“(Section 9-106) Restrictions on peddlers and solicitors. No peddler, solicitor, solicitor for charitable purposes, or solicitor for subscriptions shall:
“(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) Stand or sit in or near the entrance to any dwelling or place of business, or in any other place that may disrupt or impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
“(3) Offer to sell goods or services or solicit in vehicular traffic lanes, or operate a ‘roadblock’ of any kind.
“(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.
“(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.
“(Section 9-107) Restrictions on transient vendors. (1) 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 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.
“(2) Transient vendors shall not 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 without written permission from the City Manager.”
Mayor Mitchell noted that the restrictions would not affect the solicitation activities outside the Norris post office that are commonly held by local civic groups.
Also, nonprofit or religious organizations or political campaigns do not have to apply for permits to solicit within the city.
The new ordinance was patterned after similar measures already in effect in Gatlinburg and Alcoa, city officials said during consideration of the proposal.
