Chino, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages. The clerk questions below cover the gap.

• The answer: Yes — a special business permit, on top of a city business license. Chino has no peddlers or solicitors chapter; door-to-door selling is handled inside the business license chapter. "Solicitor" is one of the twelve categories that require a special business permit (5.04.380(B)(4)), and no one may carry on any business in the city without first applying for a license certificate, paying the license tax, obtaining any permit required, and paying the permit or issuance fee (5.04.040(A)). The city's own business license information sheet says door-to-door selling or leaving fliers on doors in a residential area takes a Special Business Permit.
• Where it comes from: The Business License Division, under the director of finance. The application is filed with the director of finance (5.04.400), who within thirty days refers it to the special permit committee (5.04.420). That committee is made up of at least one member each from development services, public works, the police department and administration (5.04.430(A)). The city's information sheet says the Chino Police Department conducts a review which may be subject to a background investigation.
• Fee: The code sets no dollar figure in the text — the fee is "an amount set forth in the city's revenue and cost recovery system" (5.04.410), and business license processing fees come from the Comprehensive Fee Schedule codified as Appendix I (5.04.140). Appendix I is the 2017 user fee study and its two money columns are labeled effective 1/1/2017 and effective 1/1/2018. On the 1/1/2018 column a special business permit hearing, regular applicant, no hearing is $213.00 (it was $203.00 on the 1/1/2017 column), and a special business permit renewal for a regular applicant is $170.00 (from $162.00). A business license tax is due on top (5.04.040(A)(2)). Call the Business License Division for the figure being charged now — the codified schedule is eight years old.
• Hours you may knock: Chino does not publish knocking hours. Chapter 5.04 sets none, and Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, has no solicitation chapter — its chapters run felon registration, false reports, gambling, intoxication, public urination, obscene conduct, display of publications, loud and unruly gatherings, noise, false alarms, destruction of property, offensive substances, expectoration, littering, juvenile curfew and firearms. Ask the clerk before you build a schedule around it.
• What the rep carries: The special business permit, or a copy verified by the director of finance, carried on the person and displayed whenever a city representative or a member of the public asks (5.04.480). A rep must also show current and valid identification and the license certificate or permit when a police officer or code enforcement officer requests it (5.04.040(B)).
• What takes the time: The referral clock alone is thirty days: the director of finance has thirty days from receiving the application and fee to send it to the special permit committee, which then investigates (5.04.420, 5.04.430(B)). The application asks for prior criminal convictions of the applicant, its employees, associates and anyone supervising the business, and a certificate of insurance for liability and property damage in amounts satisfactory to the committee (5.04.400(G), (K)). Renewal is filed at least fifteen days before expiry and the committee acts within fifteen days (5.04.500).
• Code: Chino Municipal Code Chapter 5.04, Licenses Generally — 5.04.040; 5.04.140; 5.04.380; 5.04.400; 5.04.410; 5.04.420; 5.04.430; 5.04.470; 5.04.480; 5.04.490; 5.04.500 — with fees in Appendix I, Comprehensive Fee Schedule. Municode shows the Chino Municipal Code codified through Ordinance No. 2026-002, passed March 24, 2026 (Supp. No. 38), with online content updated August 11, 2026.
• Worth knowing: The permit runs for whatever period the special permit committee or the city council on appeal sets — there is no fixed term in the code (5.04.470). It is not transferable without the committee's consent (5.04.490). Leaving handbills or samples on doors is its own separate permit category (5.04.380(B)(6)), and Appendix I prices that one per business plus per distributor. A rep or vehicle cited for selling on city streets without the license or permit can have the product and the vehicle confiscated and held as evidence until the case ends (5.04.040(C)). Claiming an interstate commerce or constitutional exemption means filing a verified statement with the director of finance, with an order blank or contract form attached (5.04.090).
• Read it yourself: Chino Municipal Code Chapter 5.04, Licenses Generally · Chino Municipal Code Appendix I, Comprehensive Fee Schedule · Chino Municipal Code Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare · City of Chino Business License information for new business owners · Chino Code of Ordinances, title page · checked 20 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• What the special business permit for a solicitor costs today, and whether it is charged per rep or per company
• Whether the city enforces any hours for door-to-door knocking
• How long the police background review runs, and what period the special permit committee sets the permit for

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________