“It’s outdated and we have not been enforcing that provision, obviously because it’s unconstitutional,” Elliott told the Journal-News last month.
Courts have determined that door-to-door soliciting is free speech and thus protected by the First Amendment.
As reported last month by the Journal-News, Oxford was one of several Butler County communities that took another look at local soliciting laws after Liberty Twp., facing a federal lawsuit, extended the hours solicitors were allowed to come knocking on residents' doors.
Oxford will join Liberty Twp. with a 9 p.m. deadline for solicitors if city council approves the amendment, which will be on council’s agenda for a second reading and action Sept. 20.
“The proposal includes a reasonable limitation on commercial and non-commercial solicitation hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ” Elliott wrote in his report to council. “Also, it requires registration of credentials for commercial solicitors and a $50 filing fee. There is a provision which prohibits solicitation of a residence if a no solicitation or similar worded sign is posted near the entrance.”
The ordinance notes it is in compliance with the sixth Circuit Court’s decision in a case involving Englewood in 2012.
Commercial solicitors will be required to obtain city credentials and to provide them to residents asking to see them.
In addition, residents may place a sign on or near their door with the words “No Solicitation” to notify solicitors they are not to disturb those in the residence. The signs must be weatherproof, not less than 2 inches by 3 inches or more than one square foot in size. Lettering must be at least one-half inch high, according to the ordinance.
“If the sign is up and there is a knock on the door, we are asking that you call the police on the administrative line and we will come out and take care of it,” Elliott said.
He said some communities have enacted similar ordinances and included a “do-not knock” registry, which prohibits solicitors from visiting those residences, but that would not be practical in Oxford, according to Elliott.
“Seventy percent of our residences are apartments and most of those are Miami students who are gone for the summer. If we put a list together, it’s immediately out of date, ” he said. “It would be a lot of extra effort and not much reward.”
The ordinance says that any person entering on property and in any way attempting to attract the attention of someone inside the residence in defiance of a notice of “no solicitation” will be considered as trespassing.
Council member Steve Dana praised the city staff for “good drafting” of the ordinance.
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