ORD 453 ORDINANCE NO. 453
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES REGARDING
SOLICITATION WITHIN THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES AND
AMENDING THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES MUNICIPAL CODE.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Title 5 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code is hereby
amended by amending Chapter 5.20 thereof to read as follows:
Chapter 5.20
SOLICITATION
Sections:
5.20.010 Definitions.
5.20.020 Exemptions.
5.20.030 Manner of solicitation.
5.20.040 Distribution of handbills.
5.20.050 Effect on other ordinances.
5.20.060 Penalty for violations.
5.20.10 Definitions. As used in this chapter:
A. "Charitable" means and includes the words patriotic, philanthropic,
social services, welfare, benevolent, educational, religious, civic or fraternal,
either actual or purported.
B. "Charitable association" means and includes any organization,
whether or not incorporated, that is organized and operated exclusively for
charitable, religious, fraternal, educational, cultural, civic or other tax exempt
purposes or functions as specified in Article I of Chapter 4 of the California
Revenue and Taxation Code (commencing with Section 23701), or any
successor thereto, and which has been determined by the Franchise Tax Board
to be exempt from taxation, or which has established its exemption under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or any successor thereto.
C. "City" means the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.
D. "Contributions" means and includes the words alms, food, clothing,
money, or property, subscription or pledge, and also donations under the guise of
loans of money or property.
E. "Person" means any individual, firm, business, partnership,
corporation, cooperative, company, association, joint stock association, church,
religious sect, religious denomination, society, organization, or league and shall
include any trustee, receiver, assignee, agent, solicitor, or other similar
representative thereof.
F. "Solicit" and "solicitation" mean the request, directly or indirectly, of
money, credit, property, financial assistance, patronage or other things of value;
hawking, peddling, vending, offering for sale or taking orders for any goods,
services, or merchandise for charitable (as defined in this section) or commercial
purposes or otherwise, or the distribution of information or opinion (including
without limitation, advocating for or against a person, cause or organization),
conducted door-to-door in residential neighborhoods, in any place of public
accommodation, in any place of business open to the public generally, on the
city's streets and sidewalks, in public parks, on public beaches, or in any other
public place. "Solicit" and "solicitation" also shall mean and include the following
methods of distributing information or opinion, securing money, patronage, credit,
property, financial assistance, or other thing of value, when conducted in the
following manner:
1. By oral or written report;
2. By the distribution, circulation, posting, or publishing of any
handbill, written advertisement or other publication, unless
such handbill or written advertisement has been placed on
the premises of a business open to the public generally with
the consent of the owner or proprietor of such business;
3. The sale or taking orders for any goods, services,
merchandise, wares or other tangible items.
A solicitation shall be deemed made at its inception, whether or not the
person making the same receives any contribution or makes any sale referred to
in this subsection.
G. "Street or highway" means all of those areas dedicated as public
thoroughfares, including, but not limited to, roadways, parkways, medians, alleys,
sidewalks and public ways.
5.20.20 Exemptions.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
A. Solicitations made upon premises owned or occupied by the
organization or person on whose behalf such solicitation is made;
B. Payments required by law to be collected or paid;
C. Payments to or for governmental agencies;
Ordinance No. 453
Page 2 of 5
D. Solicitations made by an association or its authorized agents and
employees to its own members and employees;
E. Solicitations made by telephone, mail or electronic mail;
F. Persons customarily calling only on businesses or institutions for
the purposes of selling products for resale or business or institutional use;
G. The distribution of items or printed materials for which consideration
has been paid by the person receiving such items or materials;
H. Solicitations made to a person who has requested or consented to
the solicitation.
5.20.030 Manner of solicitation.
A. No person shall solicit at any dwelling, including, but not limited to,
a house, apartment, mobile home or condominium where there is clearly
displayed a sign stating "Do Not Disturb." This paragraph shall not prohibit the
distribution of written material that is properly secured to a residential dwelling in
such a way as to eliminate the hazards of randomly scattered litter, provided that
the person does not intentionally disturb the resident of such dwelling by
knocking on the door, ringing the doorbell or otherwise engage in any act that is
intended to attract the attention and disturb the privacy of the occupant.
B. No person shall intentionally touch, intentionally come into physical
contact with or affix any object to the person of any member of the public without
first receiving consent from that member of the public while soliciting.
C. No person shall persistently and importunately solicit any member
of the public after such member of the public expresses his or her desire not to
be solicited. The intent of this provision is not to prohibit future attempts to solicit
such member of the public, when separated by a period of time of no less than
24 hours, so long as a reasonable person would not view those subsequent
attempts to solicit as persistent and importunate.
D. No person shall intentionally or deliberately obstruct the free
movement of any person on any street, sidewalk or other place or in any place
open to the public generally while soliciting.
E. No person shall threaten any injury or damage to any member of
the public who declines to be solicited.
F. No person shall accept food stamps as a contribution while
soliciting.
G. No person shall misrepresent his or her physical or mental health
while soliciting.
Ordinance No. 453
Page 3 of 5
H. No person shall, while an occupant of a temporarily standing or
moving vehicle on a street or highway, attempt to hire or hire for employment
another person or persons.
I. No person shall, from any public street, sidewalk, alley, way or
other public property, solicit or attempt to solicit employment, business or
contributions, vend, peddle, sell and/or offer for sale any merchandise, goods,
wares or services to the occupants of vehicles standing or moving in or upon any
public street or highway, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed
to prohibit solicitation of the occupants of any vehicle that is lawfully parked.
5.20.40 Distribution of handbills
A. Distribution upon Residential Property. No person shall drop, throw,
scatter, or cast upon any residential property in the city without the consent of the
owner or occupant thereof any newspaper, handbill, pamphlet, circular, leaflet, or
any other advertising sheet or other printed matter. This paragraph shall not be
construed to prevent the delivery of newspapers, handbills, or other materials
that are individually delivered and secured to the property in such a way as to
eliminate the hazards of randomly scattered litter.
B. Distribution upon Public Property and Vehicles. No person shall
drop, throw, scatter, or cast upon any public street or sidewalk, or place upon any
unoccupied vehicle, any newspaper, handbill, pamphlet, circular, leaflet, or any
other advertising sheet or other printed matter.
5.20.50 Effect on other ordinances.
Compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall not relieve a person
from complying with any other applicable provision of the Rancho Palos Verdes
Municipal Code, including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapter 5.28, and
such person shall remain subject to those provisions.
5.20.060 Penalty for violations.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of an
infraction for the first violation, and of a misdemeanor for each subsequent
violation.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in
three (3) public places in the City within fifteen (15) days after its passage, in
accordance with the provisions of Section 36933 of the Government Code. The
City Clerk shall further certify to the adoption and posting of this Ordinance, and
shall cause this Ordinance and its certification, together with proof of posting, to
be entered in the Book of Ordinances of the Council of this City.
Section 3. This Ordinance shall go into effect and be in full force and
effect at 12:01 a.m. on the thirty-first (31st) day after its passage.
Ordinance No. 453
Page 4 of 5
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 3" d. •f April 2f 04p
r f
Mayor
Attest:
/# 4,
441)(._
City Clerk
State of California )
County of Los Angeles )ss
City of Rancho Palos Verdes)
I, Carolynn Petru, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, do
hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council of said City
is five; that the foregoing Ordinance No. 453 passed first reading on March 20,
2007, was duly and regularly adopted by the City Council of said City at a regular
meeting thereof held on April 3, 2007, and that the same was passed and
adopted by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Stern, Wolowicz, and Mayor Long
NOES: None
ABSENT: Clark, Gardiner
ABSTAIN: None g,?aef____ ; /' xi
City Clerk
Ordinance No. 453
Page 5 of 5
AL S ERDES
RANCHO O
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES )
The undersigned, being first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That at all times herein mentioned, she was and now is the appointed City Clerk
of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes;
That on April 5, 2007, she caused to be posted the following document entitled:
ORDINANCE NO. 453—AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
REGARDING SOLICITATION WITHIN THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES AND
AMENDING THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES MUNICIPAL CODE, a copy of which is
attached hereto, in the following locations:
City Hall Ladera Linda Community Center
30940 Hawthorne Blvd. 32201 Forrestal Drive
Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Palos Verdes
Hesse Park
29301 Hawthorne Blvd.
Rancho Palos Verdes
I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is a true and correct affidavit of
posting.
city Clerk
W:\City Council Ordinances\affidavits\Ordinance 453-Regarding Solicitation.doc