Changes To Montville Peddlers Ordinance Still Under Consideration

A set of changes to Montville’s peddlers, vendors, and solicitors ordinance is still under consideration, but is set to go before the Town Council next month.

The changes to the ordinance, which was adopted in 1990, were first introduced in January. The proposed revisions have also been sent to the Economic Development Commission and Planning and Development Commission, with the Council requesting that both report to their findings by July 8. The latter board recommended at its May 28 meeting that the current ordinance remain in place but with an additional enforcement provision by law enforcement.

“The Economic Development Commission membership was kind of frustrated with that, because they hoped to look at some kind of ordinance proposal,” said Councilor Chuck Longton.

Longton said at the Council’s July meeting that the Economic Development Commission would have to make an additional review of the proposal before the Council can address it. The issue will be brought before the Council’s August meeting.

Former town councilor Gary Murphy has protested the ordinance at the Council meetings, saying it is too restrictive and is not uniformly enforced. Murphy said at the Council’s July meeting that fireworks vendors were allowed at a Montville shopping center prior to the Fourth of July weekend. The town found Murphy’s hot dog stand on Route 32 in violation of the ordinance last summer, an action Murphy says he finds unfair since he is a taxpayer.

The only change to the ordinance, according to a copy of the proposal on the municipal website, would be the elimination of one paragraph in a section on the investigation of an applicant by the police chief. The section says a license should not be issued if the vendor plans to set up within a mile of a “permanent business,” or structure appearing on Montville’s tax rolls, that sells similar products. The section also says the police chief should not issue a license if it will “result in the creation of a hazard to the motoring public.”

Opponents to the change have argued that having more lenient rules for vendors could negatively impact brick-and-mortar businesses in Montville. Those in favor of the change have said the ordinance is outdated and unfair to Montville vendors.