Last night the Board of Supervisors decided to move forward with a public hearing and almost certainly a vote to enact a much stronger commercial solicitation ordinance at the September 18th Board of Supervisors business meeting. If this ordinance passes on September 18th and I have every reason to believe it will, the highlights of the significantly bolstered ordinance include: • You would have the option to prevent commercial solicitors from knocking on your door by requesting an official no solicitors message from the police department; • Its likely that this no solicitors message would be in the form of a sticker that you would affix to your door; • This no solicitors message would either be free or there would be a minimal charge; • All no solicitors messages would be identical so commercial solicitors know that it is an official no solicitors message, issued by the Upper Merion Township Police Department; • This no solicitors message would carry legal weight, unlike any other signs/stickers/messages that a resident might currently have on their door, all of which are completely unenforceable; • Commercial solicitors who see the no solicitors message must walk away from the house. As these are standardized no solicitors messages, when commercial solicitors register for their ID badge at Upper Merion Township Police Department they would be informed about the official no solicitors message, they would know what the no solicitors message looks like and they would learn that when they see the no solicitors message affixed on a door they must walk away from the home; • Actions by commercial solicitors to avoid approaching a door so they wont see a no solicitors message would also be illegal; • There is an enforcement clause as part of the proposed ordinance including a fine of up to $300 and/or 90 days in jail; • This ordinance would not apply to religious solicitation or political solicitation as religious and political speech have greater constitutional protections than commercial speech; and • This ordinance would not apply to charitable and nonprofit organizations. I want to conclude by thanking our residents for engaging me on this subject, especially one resident (you know who you are) who sent me a private message through Facebook which prompted my original post on this matter. Thats what got the ball rolling.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 18:36:21 +0000