Sundance banishes peddler permits

Most of the time, when someone comes to City Hall asking for permission to sell their wares door-to-door, everything turns out fine. That’s not always the case, though, said Clerk-Treasurer Kathy Lenz last week as she asked for the council’s guidance on whether the city peddler permit needs to be revisited.

Lenz explained the process that is followed and the potential flaws within it.

“When they come in we ask for their ID, we give it to [Police Chief Marty Noonan] and Marty runs background checks,” she said.

This, Lenz explained, not only throws up any potential issues in the person’s history, but also makes it clear to the peddler that the city expects decent behavior.

Unfortunately, she said, it doesn’t always work. For instance, the person who is being background checked isn’t necessarily the problem.

“Criminals sometimes lie to you,” Noonan said wryly. “They’re either lying about their identity or they have a fake ID.”

Last week, a person came in to follow the process while “the felon was still in the car,” Lenz said, and it wasn’t the first time that has happened. When a permit is issued and the peddler has nefarious intentions, she continued, it can lead to vulnerable citizens being targeted – and potentially worse.

Lenz asked if there would be any way to stop allowing people to go door-to-door in this fashion or change the process to be more effective. Council Member Callie Hilty asked how common it is for the city to receive a request for a peddler permit.

“They kind of go in waves, sometimes we have a rash of them that hit town,” said Lenz. While many of these have been wonderful, she added, there have also been some incidents.

City Attorney Mark Hughes was asked to share his opinion. Hughes referred to the Green River Ordinance, which is a common city ordinance around the nation that’s used to prohibit door-to-door solicitation by making it illegal for any business to do so without express prior permission from the household.

Though he had not had opportunity to look at the ordinance when the question was asked, Hughes felt that it does give the city the right to require businesses to identify their agents. Meanwhile, he added, “You don’t have to issue the permit if you don’t want to.”

The ordinance can be enforced, in other words, by simply not issuing a permit.

“I think Kathy is smart enough to know what’s legitimate and what isn’t, but that puts a lot of pressure on Kathy,” Hughes said.

Mayor Paul Brooks added that he feels Lenz has the right to either refuse to issue the permit or contact the council to back her up. However, Council Member Joe Wilson opted to make a motion to eliminate peddler permits altogether, which was approved by the council.

In the brief discussion that followed about possible legitimate uses of the peddler permit, it was decided that the city would see how this approach goes and revisit the decision if necessary.