The second reading of a proposed peddlers and solicitors ordinance was voted down by the Hutchinson City Council during its Tuesday meeting. The council voted the ordinance down to allow city staff time to create a new ordinance that would combine the peddlers and solicitors ordinance with the food vendor ordinance, which the council has also been wrestling with.
City Attorney Marc Sebora suggested the combined ordinance.
“You know, we started off with these two ordinances and there were a lot of changes to both of them,” he said. “ (Administrative coordinator) Melissa (Starke) and I were talking about whether there was any value in just having one ordinance, rather than two.”
Council Member Steve Cook also thought that the ordinance still needed to be tweaked.
“The way it was shaping out — the peddlers, solicitors and transient merchants, there’s a difference between that and food vendors,” Cook said. “So as I thought about it more, the easiest way to do it and clean everything up is to just do away with the license requirement if those groups are on private property.”
Cook argued that by doing away with the license requirement, it would shift responsibility to property owners to make sure they have all the necessary requirements.
“We would still have the full license requirement, including background checks and insurance requirement, if they are on public property,” he said. “That way it would protect the city from a liability standpoint. But at the same time it would be made easier and faster having a temporary license.”
He added that he was still in favor of a sponsorship license for people who want to have events on public property.
Sebora said Cook’s idea was good and still gives the city a layer of protection.
“You need to have an insurance requirement to operate on public property,” he said.
