Seal Beach Expected to Approve Extension of Solicitors’ Hours

The City Council tonight is expected to reluctantly approve an ordinance extending until 10 p.m. the hours that solicitors and fund-raisers can knock on doors.

A private organization soliciting funds for the Sierra Club complained to city officials about the 8 p.m. deadline in Seal Beach, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established 10 p.m. as a reasonable cutoff time.

Council members unanimously approved a first reading of the new ordinance Aug. 22, but Councilwoman Marilyn Bruce Hastings said the extension of hours was disrespectful to homeowners.

“I was always taught in my home that it was inconsiderate to call people after 8:30 at night,” she said. “And you didn’t call your relatives after 9. I don’t want people knocking on my door at night.”

But Hastings and her council colleagues unanimously approved the ordinance after City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said the city could be challenged in court for restricting hours earlier than 10 p.m. “Basically, the council’s hands are tied on this,” Bankston said.

Mayor George Brown questioned whether the prohibition on solicitors in the gated community of Leisure World could also be vulnerable to a court challenge. But City Atty. Quinn Barrow said gated communities are allowed to ban door-to-door solicitation.

Barrow said residents can fend off late-night solicitors by posting a “no solicitors” sign. Solicitors who knock on doors when such a sign is visible are in violation of the law, according to Barrow.