HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 10-O-26 (1) (1)
08/24/2026
10-O-26
AN ORDINANCE
Amending Title 3, Chapter 11, “Peddlers and Solicitors” and Repealing
Title 9, Chapter 5, Section 25, “Panhandling and Soliciting”
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston is a home rule municipality under the Illinois
Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston recognizes the paramount importance of
protecting the First Amendment rights of people living, working, and doing business in
Evanston; and
WHEREAS, courts have held that requesting money is a form of speech
protected by the First Amendment, and have therefore struck down local laws that
specifically target panhandling and solicitation; see Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S.
155 (2015); Norton v. City of Springfield, 806 F.3d 411 (7th Cir. 2015); and
WHEREAS, in recognition of these holdings, at least thirteen municipalities in
Illinois have repealed their panhandling and solicitation regulations, including Chicago,
Glen Carbon, Carbondale, Woodstock, Aurora, Champaign, Decatur, Elgin, Moline, Oak
Park, Peoria, Urbana, and Downers Grove; and
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston is committed to preventing and ending
homelessness and recognizes that the criminalization of activities such as panhandling
and solicitation disproportionally punishes people experiencing homelessness, and is
ineffective as it perpetuates cycles of poverty; and
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WHEREAS, the City of Evanston recognizes that people of color
disproportionally experience homelessness due to historic and ongoing systemic racism
and is committed to anti-racism and advancing racial equity; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has used the existence of such laws, and
their alleged lack of enforcement, as a justification for militarization of American
communities, including the deployment of federal agents in our community; and
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston also desires to standardize and modernize its
ordinance on peddling and solicitation, to ensure that it applies equally to everyone
regardless of the type of peddling; and
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston additionally wishes to ensure that peddling
activity near Evanston schools does not disturb or tend to disturb the peace or goodwill
of the school session, and desires to prevent undue interference with normal school
activity;
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVANSTON,
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS:
SECTION 1. Title 3, Chapter 11, “Peddlars and Solicitors” is hereby
amended as follows:
3-11-1. DEFINITIONS.
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CHARITABLE
ORGANIZATION
An organization that has applied for, and is recognized by the
Illinois Attorney General as a Charitable Organization and is
catalogued in the Illinois Attorney General Charitable Trust
database.
PEDDLING. Shall include the selling, bartering or exchanging or the offering for
sale, barter or exchange of any goods, wares and merchandise
upon or along the streets, highways or public places of the City, or
at the doors of residences or apartments, from any wagon, motor
vehicle, pushcart or by pack, but shall not include the delivery of
any item previously ordered or the sale of items along delivery
routes where the purchaser has previously requested the seller to
stop and exhibit his/her items, nor shall "peddling" include the
solicitation of orders by sample where the goods are not delivered
at the time the order is taken. Peddling shall not include the sale
of goods by charitable organizations for charitable purposes.
PACK
PEDDLER.
Shall mean and include those peddling goods, wares and
merchandise from a basket or other like receptacle carried by a
peddler.
PUSHCART
PEDDLER.
Shall include those peddling goods, wares and merchandise from
a cart or similar vehicle drawn or propelled by human power.
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WAGONOR
VEHICLE
PEDDLER.
Shall include those peddling goods, wares and merchandise by
means of a motor vehicle or horse-drawn vehicle.
3-11-2. LICENSE REQUIRED; APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of peddling any
goods, wares or merchandise as hereinabove defined within the City without first having
obtained a license for that purpose as provided herein.
Any person who desires a license as a peddler shall make application in
writing to the City Collector. Such application shall contain the full name and
address of the applicant, whether he/she desires to be licensed to peddle by
pack, from a pushcart, wagon or other vehicle as herein defined, together with a
description of the commodities, articles or other type of merchandise which
he/she intends to peddle.
Any application to peddle food, food products, bakery goods, prepared
food, confections, ice cream, beverages, juices, butter, eggs or any food or drink
intended for human consumption shall be investigated by the Public Health
Director, whose duty it shall be to ascertain that the applicant has complied with
all ordinances of the City pertaining to the sale and distribution of food and
beverages and report his/her findings to the City Collector before a license is
issued.
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The applicant shall register with the City Collector's office and furnish that
office with information regarding applicant's name and address, by whom he/she
is employed or with whom he/she is associated, together with the place of
residence of the registrant during the preceding twelve (12) months, the names
and addresses of at least two (2) persons who have known the registrant for at
least one year and to whom the registrant is willing that inquiry be made to verify
the facts stated by the registrant. In addition, thereto, such registrant shall submit
to the City Collector two (2) photographs of himself/herself.
3-11-3. LICENSE FEES.
The annual license fees for peddlers shall be as follows $50.00.
Pack peddler ..... $ 50.00
Pushcart peddler ..... 50.00
Peddle by wagon or motor vehicle ..... 135.00
3-11-4. PEDDLER'S IDENTIFICATION CARD.
Each peddler, as defined herein, shall receive from the City, when his/her license
is granted, an identification card bearing the words "Evanston Peddler's License," the
license number, the year in which the license is to be in effect and a picture of the
peddler to whom the license has been issued. Such identification card shall be worn
and conspicuously displayed by the peddler on his/her outer garment at all times while
engaged in business in the City.
3-11-5. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS.
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(A) Peddlers Of Food Products Display Name On Vehicle. Every wagon or
vehicle used by peddlers of food products shall have displayed upon each side thereof
in plain print the name and address of the owner and the kind of goods for sale.
(B) License Decal Required; Display. Every peddler whose license entitles
him/her to use a motor vehicle in and about his/her business shall obtain from the City
Collector, at the time his/her license is issued, one license adhesive decal for each
vehicle to be used in or about said business. The decal shall be affixed to the lower right
corner of the windshield window.
(C) Assistants On Vehicles. Upon each motor vehicle there shall be permitted but
one assistant to the driver of such vehicle.
3-11-6. EXCEPTIONS TO REGULATIONS.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not be construed to apply to any person
selling vegetables, fruits, berries, poultry or other products of their own farms or
premises, or to the sale of tickets for charitable purposes.
3-11-7. FRAUD AND MISREPRESENTATION.
It shall be unlawful for any licensed peddler to be guilty of any fraud, cheat,
misrepresentation or imposition or to violate, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the
provisions of this Chapter.
3-11-8. RESERVED. LICENSE ADVERSE ACTION.
An application or approved license may be denied, revoked, suspended, or not
renewed for any of the following reasons:
(A) The application contains material omissions or false, fraudulent, or deceptive
statements.
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(B) A vehicle is operated in such a manner as constituting a public nuisance per
the Evanston Code of Ordinances or State statutes.
(C) The proposed peddling operation is in violation of any Federal, State, or local
laws including, but not limited to, the provisions of this City Code pertaining to food, fire
prevention, public health or safety. The provisions of this Section are not exclusive. This
Section shall not preclude the enforcement of any other provisions of this City Code or
State and Federal laws and regulations.
3-11-9. EVANSTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL AREA.
On days when school is in session at Evanston Township High School, it shall be
unlawful for any peddlers to sell or offer for sale any food, beverages, or any other
merchandise whatsoever on the following streets:
Church Street between Pitner Avenue and Dewey Avenue
Dodge Avenue between Lyons Street and Dempster Street
Lake Street between Pitner Avenue and Darrow Avenue
On days when events are being conducted within the Evanston Township School
Memorial Stadium, it shall be unlawful for any peddler to sell or offer for sale any food,
beverages or any other merchandise whatsoever on the following streets:
Church Street between McDaniel Avenue and Dewey Avenue
Hartrey Avenue between Emerson Street and Church Street
Lyons Street between Leland Avenue and Hartrey Avenue
Pitner Avenue between Church Street and Lake Street
3-11-10. HOURS PEDDLING PROHIBITED.
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It shall be unlawful for any person to peddle food products from trucks or other
vehicles on the public streets, sidewalks or public ways of the City before the hour of
eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. and after the hour of nine o'clock (9:00) P.M.
3-11-11. VEHICLE RESTRICTIONS.
The vehicles used for such peddling shall not be permitted to park or stand in any
location on the public streets except where the parking of motor vehicles is permitted
under the provisions of this code, and the parking or standing of such vehicles on the
streets or public ways except in lawful parking places is prohibited. The vehicle of such
peddler shall not be permitted on the public streets within a given block for more than
one period not to exceed one-half (½) hour during any calendar day.
3-11-12. AREAS SURROUNDING SCHOOLS.
On days when school is in session at elementary and secondary schools (public
or private), it shall be unlawful for any peddlers to sell or offer for sale any food,
beverages, or any other merchandise whatsoever within five hundred feet (500') of the
property of said schools. Exception: During summer school sessions, this restriction
shall apply only to those individual schools which are in operation.
SECTION 2: Title 9, Chapter 5, Section 25 is hereby repealed in its
entirety.
SECTION 3. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 4: If any provision of this Ordinance or application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Ordinance that can be given effect
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without the invalid application or provision, and each invalid application of this
Ordinance is severable.
SECTION 5: This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect beginning
upon passage.
SECTION 6: The findings and recitals contained herein are declared to
be prima facie evidence of the law of the City and shall be received in evidence as
provided by the Illinois Compiled Statutes and the courts of the State of Illinois.
Introduced: _________________, 2026
Adopted: ___________________, 2026
Approved:
__________________________, 2026
_______________________________
Daniel Biss, Mayor
Attest:
_______________________________
Stephanie Mendoza, City Clerk
Approved as to form:
______________________________
Alexandra B. Ruggie, Corporation Counsel
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August 24
September 14