§ 5.31. News racks.

No person shall place any news rack or news box, or any other equipment, facility or item for the sale or distribution of newspapers or other publications, on any street, alley, sidewalk or parkway of the City without a permit from the City to do so, upon compliance with the following terms, standards and conditions:

(a)

Definitions. For purposes of this Section, the geographic area referred to as the Central Business District or CBD shall have the same boundaries as the City's first Tax Increment Redevelopment Project Area, commonly known as Tax Increment Finance District No. 1, as set forth in Ordinance O-16-86.

(b)

Applications. Application for a news rack permit shall be filed with the City Clerk on a form as prescribed by the City, which form shall, at a minimum, include information sufficient to confirm that the placement and design of the news rack will conform to the standards set forth in subsection (c) hereof.

(c)

Standards.

(1)

To assure uniformity and to preserve the aesthetic appearance of the City and, in the CBD, to assure an appearance complimentary to the design of the CBD, all news racks shall be located within structures designed, placed and provided by the City.

(2)

All news racks outside the CBD shall conform to the following location standards:

(A)

No more than six news racks may be located at any one intersection.

(B)

No news rack shall project onto any part of the roadway or public street.

(C)

No news rack shall be placed in a manner so that its installation, use or maintenance endangers the safety of persons or property, or unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, ingress or egress to any residence, business or legally parked vehicle. At least six feet of continuous, unobstructed clear space shall be provided for the passage of pedestrians on any sidewalk.

(D)

No news rack shall be placed in a manner so that it interferes with the use of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes or other objects permitted at or near such placement.

(E)

No news rack shall be placed in a manner so that it interferes with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery.

(F)

No news rack shall only be placed less than eighteen (18) inches or more than twenty-four (24) inches from a curb, or facing the curb line, or adjacent to and less than six inches from the wall of a building.

(G)

No news rack shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any property not owned by the owner of the news rack, to any pole, post, bench, traffic signal, hydrant, mailbox or other object or structure in the public right-of-way, or to another news rack; provided, that no more than three news racks may be joined together in this manner so long as there is a space of not less than eighteen (18) inches separating each group of three news racks from any other group.

(H)

No news rack shall be placed, installed, used or maintained in any of the following locations: (i) within three feet of a marked crosswalk; (ii) within fifteen (15) feet of the curb of any unmarked crosswalk; (iii) within three feet of a fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility; (iv) within three feet of any driveway; (v) within three feet ahead of and fifteen (15) feet to the rear of any sign marking a designated bus stop; (vi) within three feet of any bus bench; (vii) within three feet of any area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs, or trees; or (viii) within three feet of any display window of any building abutting the sidewalk or parkway, or in such manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of such window for display purposes.

(I)

No news rack shall be placed within a sight triangle described by the edge of pavement lines of two intersecting streets and a line connecting said edge of pavement lines, and any leg of such triangle shall be a minimum of forty-five (45) feet in length.

(J)

No news rack shall be placed on any handicapped access ramp.

(3)

All news racks shall conform to the following size and appearance standards:

(A)

No news rack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than advertising dealing directly with the display, sale or purchase of the newspaper or publication contained therein.

(B)

Each news rack shall be maintained in a clean, neat and attractive condition and in good repair at all times.

(C)

All news racks shall be constructed from materials which are weather resistant, and which either have sufficient weight or are weighted to assure the stability of the news rack.

(D)

All news racks shall conform with a standard size not to exceed fifty (50) inches in height, eighteen (18) inches in depth and twenty-four (24) inches in width.

(d)

Consideration of Application for Permit.

(1)

The City Clerk shall review the application for a permit for placement of a news rack, and within five days of receipt of an application shall either notify the applicant that the application is incomplete, or if the application is complete, shall grant the permit therefor if the proposed placement conforms to the standards set forth in subsection (c) of this Section.

(2)

A permit granted hereunder shall apply only to the location provided for in the permit, and no news rack permitted hereunder shall be relocated without application for and issuance of a new permit.

(3)

Denial of an application for a permit hereunder shall be deemed a final administrative decision of the City, subject to administrative review.

(e)

Enforcement.

(1)

Every person who places or maintains a news rack on the streets of the City shall provide the name, address and telephone numbers of such person in a place on the news rack where it can readily be seen.

(2)

In addition to the fines and penalties established for violations of this Code, if any news rack is installed, used or maintained in violation of the provisions of this Section, the City Clerk shall provide written notice to the owner of the news rack, if known, and if the news rack is not removed or placed so as to be in conformance with this Section, within five days from the date of such notice, the news rack may be removed and stored in any convenient place by the City. If the owner of the news rack is unknown, or if the placement of the news rack creates a danger to the public, the City may summarily remove it and store it in any convenient place as provided herein. The City shall then take reasonable steps to notify the owner of the news rack. Upon failure of any owner to claim a news rack which has been removed and stored by the City, and to pay the City's expenses for such removal and storage, such news rack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property in possession of the City and may be disposed of pursuant to state law and City ordinances governing the disposition of unclaimed property.

(3)

In the case of violations of this Section relative to restrictions on location of news racks, the City may, as an alternative to removal under subsection (e)(2) of this Section, move the news rack so that its location conforms to the requirements of this Section.

(Ord. 12-2000 § 1)