Solicitors who have committed a crime within the last decade won’t sell goods in Sammamish anytime soon.
The city council passed a new ordinance Tuesday that requires criminal background checks, limits hours of door-to-door solicitation and requires vendors to obey by signs that clearly display “no soliciting.”
“We now have an ordinance that replaces basically nothing,” Councilman Tom Vance said. “We had nothing before.”
The city previously required solicitors obtain licenses, but now they will be subjected to background checks. Applicants will be denied if they have been convicted of a crime directly related to the sale or representation of any goods within 10 years, including, but not limited to burglary, theft and fraud.
The council hopes the added regulation will help quash the threat of door-to-door salespeople related to theft rings — a growing problem in Sammamish.
Solicitors will also be subject to new time constraints, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Previously, there was no restrictions on a time someone could come knocking.
The time is comparable to other sister communities, falling in the middle. Issaquah currently has a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., while Redmond is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It is also now clearly stated that it is a violation to solicit on premises that clearly display a “no solicitors” sign, or a sign with similar language.
Certain people are eligible for exemption, including those who sell agricultural goods, magazines and newspapers, non-profit organizations along with other civic, charitable educational and political groups. They will all, however, be required to obtain exemptions before going door-to-door.
All solicitors will be required to show licenses or exemptions upon request by home owners.
Tuesday’s approval passed with a 4-1 vote, with councilmembers John Curley and Tom O’Dell absent.
The only dissenting vote came from Ramiro Valderrama, who was concerned about how it would impact small businesses.
“I see this as attacks on legitimate businesses and I think it’s going to end up being a cost to the city in time,” he said.
Community member Mary Jo Kahler voiced her concerns, claiming the ordinance had too many loopholes designed to protect the solicitor and not the property owner.
“The public safety role of the city is to protect its citizens, not the commercial interests of anyone who has broken faith with law abiding citizens,” she said. “In the past six weeks, I have found not one person who was comfortable with solicitors coming to their door.”
Councilwoman Nancy Whitten agreed the new rules might not be perfect, but said they are better than none.
“Frankly, I wish we could ban outright solicitation on our doors,” she said. “I think given our legal constraints that we have, something is better than nothing.”
