Sandy considers law to punish people who ignore ‘no soliciting’ signs

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SANDY, Utah —Door-to-door salespeople can be intrusive, pushy, and downright annoying. As a Get Gephardt Investigation found, ignoring no soliciting signs is not against the law in all Utah cities. Sandy City is one place where there is absolutely nothing against the rules about a salesman seeing a sign from a homeowner declaring they don't want to be bothered and just ignoring it. Tuesday evening, the Sandy City Council took up unwanted door-to-door sales in their city. In doing so, council member Zach Robinson referenced the Get Gephardt Investigation that aired earlier this year, which got the attention of the people he represents. “People actually did reach out to me,” he told the council chamber. That report featured Sandy City homeowner Matt Luers who is ticked that salesmen frequently ignore the ‘no soliciting’ sign in his front yard. "It's just really annoying to be bothered when you're trying to rest at home, especially after a long day at work," he said. Investigating, KSL-TV learned that Sandy City is a bit of an outlier in Utah. Unlike many cities, there is no code on its books that specifically forbids salespeople from walking right passed a ‘no soliciting’ sign and knocking on a door. Robinson has proposed changing that. “If they don't want people knocking on their door, I want to give them that authority to say so,” he said. Tuesday the proposal was a first reading, meaning it was more of a formal conversation; No laws could be passed this night. But the idea seemed to have support, especially as other council members and the mayor complained about knocks on their own doors.

“I have a no soliciting sign on my door and every salesperson ignores it,” council member Ryan Mecham said.
There were concerns expressed about a law going too far and perhaps impacting campaigning politicians, religious groups, or Girl Scouts selling cookies. In the end, the council decided putting any law on Sandy's books that could penalize people who ignore ‘no soliciting’ signs is worth discussing more.

“I do think this will be a really good thing for our residents,” Robinson said. As it is now, in Sandy City, and everywhere else, if you tell a salesman to leave and they refuse, they could be criminally charged with trespass. But by then, of course, the bell has already rung, and you have already been bothered.