Selectmen postpone hawkers and peddlers ordinance after questions on exemptions and enforcement

The Board of Selectmen closed a public hearing July 27 on proposed changes to Litchfield’s hawkers, peddlers and vendors ordinance and agreed to repost the measure with edits, moving consideration to the board’s Aug. 10 meeting.

Town staff summarized the revisions and cited the enabling statute as posted in the notice. Kim Kleiner, staff, told the board the draft adds specific RSA citations and proposes a fee schedule that would allow permits for varying periods — a week, month or year — and emphasized the selectmen retain discretion to deny permits when public safety warrants it. “We wanted to make it clear that, according to RSA, the selectmen…have the right to deny the permit if they see it in the best fit of the community to do so,” Kleiner said.

Board members and members of the public raised questions about how the town would treat state‑permitted food trucks differently from door‑to‑door hawkers, how background checks and health inspections intersect with town permitting, and who will decide whether an organization qualifies for an exemption. A resident who spoke during public comment urged clearer exemption procedures and recommended the town publish an online list of active vendors so residents can verify who is authorized to operate. “If somebody sees somebody going, they can go right on the town’s website and say, oh, Joe Smith…has a hawkers and peddlers [license],” the resident said.

After discussion over wording (including replacing the term “fitness determination” with language preferred by the police chief and clarifying the nonprofit exemption), the board voted to repost the ordinance after staff edits and to take up both the ordinance and a companion amendment to town fees at the Aug. 10 meeting. The motion carried unanimously, 5–0.