Council Strengthens City’s Solicitation Ordinance
On August 8, the League City Council voted to update the city’s solicitation ordinance. The changes to the ordinance place tighter restrictions on companies, businesses, organizations, and individuals wanting to solicit within League City limits. Updates to the ordinance include:
- Solicitors applying for a permit will be required to watch an online training course provided by the city and pass a test before being granted a permit.
- All persons, businesses, organizations, or corporations granted a permit will also be required to have an identification card for each individual employed by them to act as a solicitor.
- Any individual seeking an identification card will be required to pass a criminal background check, attend a required online training course, and pass an exam before a card will be issued.
- For solicitors whose primary place of business is located within League City, the fee for a permit will be $100 and the identification card fee will be $50. For solicitors whose primary place of business is outside city limits, the fee for a permit will be $200 and the identification card fee will be $50.
- Solicitors cannot solicit after sunset or 7 p.m.—whichever is earlier.
- Solicitors cannot enter a neighborhood with privately-owned streets (ex: gated community) where signs are visibly posted at all entrances indicating a prohibition against peddling and/or soliciting.
Solicitor Permits and ID Cards
League City's Current Solicitation Ordinance already requires solicitors to apply for a permit and receive an identification card from the League City Police Department in order to legally solicit in League City. Permits are valid for 12 months after the date of issuance unless the permit is revoked. The permit only allows solicitors to operate Monday through Saturday and they cannot approach a home before 9 a.m.
Identification cards are to be worn on the outside of a solicitor’s clothing so that it is reasonably visible. Homeowners should always ask to see a solicitor’s ID card. If they refuse to show it or say they don’t need one, the solicitor should be asked to immediately leave the property, and the homeowner should report them by calling the LCPD non-emergency line at 281-332-2566.
Exemptions to Permit
Solicitors exempt from permits include children (youth sports, scouts, etc.), non-profit, religious, or political groups, and federal, state, or local government employees or public utility employees engaged in the performance of his/her duty. Also exempt are real estate agents, insurance agents. and financial advisors.
No Solicitor Signs
Homeowners are encouraged to have a sign in their front yard or on their door prohibiting solicitors. Such signs need not exceed one square foot in size and may contain words such as "no soliciting" or "no solicitors" in letters of at least two inches in height. The phrase "no soliciting" or "no solicitors" shall also prohibit peddlers and handbill distributors or canvassers. If a homeowner has a visible sign and a solicitor still comes to their door, they should be asked to leave, and the homeowner should report them by calling the non-emergency LCPD line at 281-332-2566.
Signs posted by a developer, homeowners association, or any representative of an uncontrolled access subdivision with public streets do NOT meet the requirements to prohibit peddlers, solicitors, or canvassers.
Aggressive Solicitors
Solicitors are prohibited from approaching any entrance other than the front or main entrance to a home or from the sidewalk or indicated walkway (where one exists) leading from the right-of-way to the front or main entrance. Solicitors that violate this rule, or who act in an aggressive manner such as refusing to leave, placing their hand, foot, or any body part on the home’s entrance preventing the homeowner from closing the door, should be immediately reported to the LCPD non-emergency line at 281-332-2566.