County says no to solicitors

A new ordinance passed by Santa Rosa County Commissioners on Thursday is aiming to enforce no solicitation in subdivisions that are looking to do away with door-to-door salesman and solicitors.

The amendment that was approved by commissioners at their regular commission meeting on Thursday would allow a homeowners' association to post a single sign to enforce solicitation in the entire neighborhood, rather than on individual homes within the subdivision.

Under the current ordinance, the solicitation ban is only applicable to individual homes that have a no solicitation sign.  The amendment would make it easier for entire neighborhoods or subdivisions to enforce the law with one single sign at the front entrance of their neighborhood.

Several members of the public came to speak at the public hearing Thursday morning including business owners who were concerned that their employees would be out of jobs because of the amendment.

Brandon Tibbett, a Pensacola business native manages a soliciting company that sells auto glass from door-to-door across the West Florida region. Tibbett said he was concerned that the new amendment would force him to close his business or cut back on his workers because of the loss he would suffer from not being able to sell his product.

“People that go into your neighborhoods are trained to be courteous,” said the manager who claimed his workers talk to roughly 80 people a day. “I have 15 employees, and our conversation takes 10 seconds.

“If they say ‘no we don’t want it’, we leave.  That’s their choice.”

Jerry Mills, a resident said he and his neighbors are constantly harassed by solicitors and said he doesn’t feel safe with people he doesn’t know walking through his neighborhood.

“A lot of the solicitors we get are very harassing,” Mills said. “Residents feel uneasy seeing strangers coming into the subdivision.”

Kevin Stephens an ADT representative said his company has solicitors nationwide that sell their product mainly door-to-door.

“We don’t solicit to individuals that have no solicitation on their doors,” Stephens said.

Stephens told commissioners that all of his employees were licensed, insured and underwent background checks before they could start working for the company. They also displayed name badges with permits allowing them to go door-to-door. Stephens said because of harassment complaints, his business has to suffer.

“The ordinance has come to your table because of abuse,” he said.

Tibbett agreed with Stephens and said his workers are expected to be the same way towards their customers.

“People that go into your neighborhoods are trained to be courteous,” Tibbett said.

Mills said that he has heard complaints from several of the people in his neighborhood that there are solicitors who come to their home to ask for donations. He later found out that those people were scamming homeowners.

“If I have a stranger come to my door, how do I know if they are legit or not?” Mills asked commissioners.

The amendment passed by a vote of 5-0.

Commissioners also voted to approve the use of bed-tax dollars collected by the Santa Rosa County TDC to purchase the marina in Milton, which would help with the Milton Riverwalk expansion, a priority on the TDC’s list of projects.

Commissioners also voted 5-0 to approve the multi-jurisdictional flood mitigation plan. With this plan being approved, flood insurance customers are expected to see a decrease in rates of roughly 20 percent.