Board starting talks on ‘do not knock’ list

HATFIELD TWP. >> It’s still in the early discussion stages, but Hatfield Township officials are looking into whether the town should set up a formal “do not knock” list to prohibit certain businesses from going door-to-door.

“What this basically would do would be to create a list: if residents were interested, they would be able to sign up to be on this list,” said Township Manager Aaron Bibro.

The discussion grew out of resident requests over the past several months asking commissioners whether there was any way to stop companies and businesses from going door-to-door and knocking to offer services, Bibro told the commissioners during their June 12 meeting.

Staff have begun to look into how such a donot-knock list can be established, Bibro told the board, and doing so would likely take the form of an amendment to the township’s current ordinance on solicitation. Anyone interested would sign up on the list, which would be maintained

by staff, and when a vendor applies to the township police department for a solicitation permit, they would receive a copy of the list of homes that have opted out. “There are exemptions to this ordinance: any First Amendment protected type of speech — religious speech, political speech — would all be exempt from this ordinance,” Bibro said. During talks with the township’s planning and zoning committee, members there also suggested that nonprofit groups like Boy and Girl Scout troops also be exempt, as well as other nonprofits trying to raise funds, according to the manager. “There was an agreement that it would make sense to have those exemptions in place, besides the ones that are federally mandated,” Bibro said. In 2018 the township’s police department issued a total of 36 door-to-door solicitation permits, according to Bibro and Police Chief Bill Tierney, a number the manager said was “not an everyday occurrence, but a few times a month.” “We would imagine this would be a pretty popular list,” he said. Bibro asked for direction from the board of commissioners on whether to proceed with developing a formal ordinance, and said a draft could be back for further discussion and possible public advertisement sometime in July. Board President Tom Zipfel said the feedback he’s heard from fellow board

members so far is that the township’s rules would likely mirror those at the state and federal level, allowing exemptions for political, religious and charitable reason.

“Our ordinance that we would propose, or at least we would consider, would mirror that general expectation: that there are certain exemptions, and it’s all voluntary,” he said.

“If somebody wants to be on that list, they are on that ‘do-not-knock’ list. If they are not on that list, it’s not as though this is a prohibition of solicitation by those entities,” Zipfel said.

Solicitor Christen Pionzio clarified the legal terminology behind the board being unable to regulate the religious or political visits, but able to do so for commercial visits.

“The former is First Amendment rights of free speech, and we as a government cannot regulate that. The second is a commercial endeavor, and that is something that we can regulate, and require people to have permits,” she said.

Commissioner Gerry Andris asked how the list would be updated or maintained if a property goes on the list and then is sold, or how an apartment complex would handle units where residents are on the list but move out. Commissioner Laura Thomas said she thought the onus for being added to the list would fall on the owner, and commissioner Bob Rodgers asked if that could be done for an entire complex, not individual apartments.

“I’ll reach out to other communities that have had this in place, to see how they manage,” Bibro said.

Residents have also raised concerns about businesses that go door to door and leave hangers on doorknobs, or drop or throw bags containing ads onto residents’ properties, all of which Zipfel said could fall under the new rules.

“I would think the leaving of door knockers, or throwing something on a driveway, that would probably qualify as some form of solicitation — if somebody’s doing that, they really should get a permit,” Zipfel said.

Tierney said his department can, and does, field calls from residents asking if a business has a solicitation permit, and their rules and regulations are clear.

“As long as they encroach on private property, it’s soliciting. If they happen to throw it onto your driveway from the street, maybe we’d have a question, but if they physically come up to your door, hang it on the door, or drop those things, that is soliciting,” he said.

Bibro said he and Tierney had also been in touch with neighborhood watch groups set up by concerned residents in the township, and heard that they were “very much in favor” of the new list.

“There’s a lot of people that have been interested in this, and would like to see this move forward,” Bibro said.

Hatfield’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on June 26 and July 10, both at the township administration building, 1950 School Road.