Tired of unwanted solicitations at your front door? Well, thanks to Mayor Yaede, Councilman Pone and Councilwoman Thornton, you now have the opportunity to stop solicitors from showing up at your door step.
Hamilton’s new “No Knock” ordinance, which goes into effect on October 11th, gives residents the opportunity to prohibit solicitors, vendors and peddlers from approaching their home.
“Residents – particularly our seniors and families with young children – should have the opportunity to protect themselves from unwanted solicitations if they so desire,” says Councilwoman Thornton, a co-sponsor of the ordinance. “I believe our new registry offers an added protection for our friends, neighbors and loved ones – helping to enhance the safety of our community.”
Residents can visit HamiltonNJ.com/NoKnock to sign up for protection against solicitors, such as various home and property contractors (sidewalk/concrete, driveways, home remodeling, lawn maintenance or tree trimming companies), energy companies (third-party providers of electricity and/gas) or other professions that seek to conduct business door-to-door. However, due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, some activities are protected such as charitable, religious or political activities; and therefore, this ordinance cannot infringe upon these protected rights.
“This is just one additional way that we can continue to help keep our entire community safe,” says Council President Dennis Pone. “Our new registry sends a clear message to potential criminals and unscrupulous individuals that Hamilton will not tolerate their presence in our hometown.”
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After signing up or the “No Knock” registry, residents will receive a decal to be placed on either their front doors or nearest windows adjacent to their front doors. Participating homes would remain on the registry for four years (unless residents’ voluntarily wish to remove themselves from the protection), at which time they would need to re-register.
“Every single day, we are working to improve public safety; and our new ‘No Knock’ registry is another tool for us to use to protect our residents,” says Mayor Kelly Yaede, who worked with Councilwoman Thornton on the measure.
In addition to the decal, a listing of participating homes will be made available to legal solicitors (which still must undergo routine licensing and background checks) as an extra step to protect residents.
Resident Joyce Farina who signed up couldn’t have been happier. ” This is a safety issue. This gives me peace of mind, because I live alone and really don’t want strangers knocking at my door to try and sell me stuff.
As part of this new effort, a ‘No Drop’ List was also created to help residents avoid the distribution of unwanted circulars, including commercial and non-commercial handbills, leaflets, coupon brochures or other writings, at their properties. Newspaper deliveries/subscriptions will not be impacted by signing up for the ‘No Drop’ registration (residents would need to contact the newspaper directly to cancel services).
