Tanna Woods

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Standard-Examiner correspondent?

CLEARFIELD — Solicitors now have to obtain a permit and a city-issued identification badge before selling goods or services in the city.?The change is per new regulations set out in the recently approved and amended consolidated fee schedule in the ordinances of title two and chapter five as well as the amended title 4 of business regulations. This was a unanimous decision by the city council.?Community Development Director Adam Lenhard said the city has not regulated solicitors in the past. He added that the city has received a lot of phone calls about solicitors.?”A lot of people have a lot of concerns about (solicitors) coming to their doors,” Lenhard said. “(Residents) always ask if they have to have a license.”?Changes to the consolidated fee schedule and the business license portion of the code now set up a process for licenses. Applicants will pay $215 for a new application, $64 for a renewal, and $15 for a lost ID badge.?Licensing requires a background check because no convicted felons will be issued an

ID/permit. The police department receives and reviews the background checks.?Once the application is approved, the applicant will receive a photo ID badge that includes the name of the company for which the person is working. Solicitors will need that badge and the permit to operate in the city.?If solicitors don’t do that, they can be charged with a class B misdemeanor. Lenhard said solicitors have to follow all the rules, including obeying “no solicitor” signs.?The new fee schedule includes changes to five different fees. Meanwhile, the business regulations also addressed temporary and mobile vendors.?The rules now include requiring the applicants for such businesses to have permission from property owners to set up where they do, to have access to a bathroom, and a to provide a certificate of health from the health department.?”This will be a more complete process,” Lenhard said.?Lenhard said changes will prevent temporary vendors from setting up shop permanently in one location. He explained several businesses have come to the city and obtained a temporary business license, then established permanent presence.?”We like the variety these vendors provide,” he said. “We know we have people who frequent these establishments, but if the applicant wants to be temporary, it needs to be temporary.”?There will be a two-month limit imposed on temporary vendors, after which they will need a new license and a new location. Lenhard said there are only a few of these ven

dors in the city right now.