Chapter 12.04
NEWSRACKS
Sections:
12.04.010 Purposes and intent.
12.04.060 Standard for installation and placement.
12.04.070 Standard for maintenance and operation.
12.04.010 Purposes and intent.
The principal purpose and objective of this chapter is to provide for the administration and regulation of newsracks placed on the public rights-of-way. Newsracks are recognized as a means for public distribution and sale of periodicals and publications. As such, newsracks are frequently placed on the public rights-of-way to serve the convenience of the public. Without proper and orderly regulation, newsracks and their placement on the public rights-of-way would interfere with the health and safety of pedestrians and motorists using the rights-of-way, and adversely impact the appearance and aesthetics of the city streets. The provisions enumerated within this chapter shall apply to all newsracks placed on the public rights-of-way. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.020 Definitions.
The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless otherwise noted:
“Custodian” means a person who has responsibility of placing, servicing or maintaining a newsrack by depositing in and/or removing material from such newsrack and/or collecting money from such newsrack.
“Director” means the director of public works of the city or his designee.
“Newsrack” means any self-service or coin-operated box, container, storage unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the display and sale of newspapers or news periodicals.
“Parkway” means that area between the sidewalk and the curb or the paved edge of any street, and where there is no sidewalk, that area between the edge of the roadway and the property line adjacent thereto. “Parkway” shall also include any area within a roadway which is not open to vehicular travel.
“Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation or other legal entity.
“Public right-of-way” means and includes a parkway, roadway, sidewalk, and street as said terms are defined in this section.
“Roadway” means that portion of a street improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, excluding driveways.
“Sidewalk” means any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians.
“Street” means all that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes and shall include, but not be limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys and sidewalks. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.030 Applicability.
A. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all newsracks, whether installed and maintained prior to or after the effective date of any of the provisions of the ordinances codified in this chapter. Those newsracks installed prior to the effective date of any provision enacted by the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be brought into compliance with such provisions within thirty days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
B. Any newsrack not brought into compliance within the time period set forth in subsection A of this section shall be deemed to be in violation of this chapter. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.040 Registration.
A. No person shall install or maintain any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, on or over any public sidewalk or parkway without first registering each newsrack with the Director. This registration requirement shall be deemed fulfilled upon receipt of the registration fee by the Director and a registration form which must contain the following information:
1. Each applicant must provide their name, address and telephone number.
2. The exact location of each newsrack to be installed or maintained in the city by the applicant must be identified by the nearest assigned street address and submitted by each applicant.
3. An applicant must provide proof of adjudication at the time of registration if the publication is to be considered adjudicated as a newspaper of general circulation, pursuant to Title 1, Division 7, Chapter 1 of the California Government Code.
B. Every person or other entity which submits a registration application for a newsrack on a public sidewalk or parkway in the city shall file a written statement with the Director satisfactory to the city attorney whereby he, she or it agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the city, its officers, agents and employees, from any loss, liability or damage, including expenses and costs for bodily or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any person as a result of the installation, use or maintenance of a newsrack within the city; and shall also file a certificate of insurance establishing that there is in force and effect an insurance policy for the applicant which will remain in force during the time such newsrack is allowed to remain in the public right-of-way, which policy shall provide public liability insurance form a company admitted to do business in California. Said written statement and the certificate of insurance shall be submitted upon the initial registration of each newsrack in accordance with this Section, and shall be updated and resubmitted to the Director, or his or her designee, on an annual basis.
C. At the time of registration and annually thereafter, the applicant shall pay to the city a registration fee for each newsrack, as established by city council to cover the cost of processing the registration and administering these regulations, and as enumerated in Section 12.04.050. Such fees are nonrefundable.
D. In the event of a change in the ownership of a newsrack or a change of publication, the new owner must immediately provide written notification to the Director informing the Director of the change and providing the name, address and phone number of the new owner(s) and/or publication.
E. From the above registration information and following the review and approval by the Director, the Director shall approve and/or designate locations. The Director shall be guided therein solely by the standards and criteria set forth in Sections 12.04.060 and 12.04.070. Such application may be granted either in whole or in part when more than one location is proposed by the applicant. In any event, when denial is solely as to location, it shall be without prejudice to amend such application to state a different location or locations.
F. Once an application has been approved and a location has been assigned by the Director, each newsrack shall be entitled to remain at the assigned location as long as each newsrack is in compliance with the standards set forth in Sections 12.04.060 and 12.04.070. In the event that the owner wishes to relocate the newsrack to another location, the owner must submit a new application for the proposed location. If approved, the Director will designate the new location of the newsrack in accordance with the applicable standards set forth in Sections 12.04.040, 12.04.060 and 12.04.070.
G. Each registered newsrack placed or maintained on the streets of the city shall be identified with a label, issued by the city, listing the distributor’s name, address and telephone number affixed to the inside of the newsrack, visible from the outside, and in a place where such information may be easily seen.
H. If the applicant removes a registered newsrack from its approved location, then the applicant shall notify public works staff of its removal. Upon verification, staff shall then delete the newsrack from the registered newsrack inventory for that particular location. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.050 Fees.
The city council may adopt, by resolution, a newsrack permit fee schedule, setting forth registration fees, annual newsrack fees, abatement and storage fees, and any other fees necessary for the implementation of this chapter. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.060 Standard for installation and placement.
Any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with the following standards:
A. No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack which projects onto, into or over any part of the roadway of any public street, or which rests, wholly or in part, upon, along or over any portion of the roadway of any public street.
B. No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway, when such installation, use or maintenance endangers the safety of persons or property, or when such site or location is used for lawfully permitted sidewalk dining, or when such site or location is used for public utility purposes, public transportation purposes, or when such newsrack unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicle, the ingress into or egress from any residence or place of business, or restricts the use of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, utility access vaults, manholes, hydrants, mailboxes or other objects permitted at or near such location, or when such newsrack interferes with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery.
C. A registered newsrack shall only be placed near a curb or adjacent to the wall of a building. Newsracks placed near the curb shall be placed no less than eighteen inches nor more than twenty-four inches from the edge of the curb. Newsracks placed adjacent to the wall of a building shall be placed parallel to such wall and not more than six inches from the wall. No newsrack shall be placed or maintained on the same sidewalk or parkway opposite another newsrack.
D. No newsrack shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any property not owned by the owner of the newsrack or to any permanently fixed object, nor shall any newsrack be chained or attached to loose objects including but not limited to, bricks, rocks, cinder blocks, pipes or other such objects. Every newsrack shall be installed on a single pedestal or on a multiple post which shall be securely anchored to the ground.
E. No newsrack or group of attached newsracks shall weigh, in the aggregate, in excess of one hundred thirty-five pounds when empty.
F. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A and B of this section, no newsrack shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
1. Within five feet of any marked crosswalk;
2. Within fifteen feet of the curb return of any unmarked crosswalk;
3. Within five feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility;
4. Within five feet of any driveway, excluding the flared ends;
5. Within five feet ahead of, and twenty-five feet to the rear of any sign marking a designated bus stop;
6. Within six feet of any bus bench;
7. At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than six feet;
8. Within three feet of any area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs or trees;
9. Directly in front of any display window of any building abutting the sidewalk or parkway;
10. At any location whereby the newsrack obstructs motorists’ view of regulatory or advisory traffic and parking signs or at any other location whereby the newsrack obstructs motorists’ view of pedestrians; or
11. Within fifty feet of any other newsrack containing the same publication except where there are less than eight newsracks in any approved location in which case additional/duplicate newsracks containing the same publication shall be permitted for each available space up to the maximum of eight at any one location. The Director in assigning such additional/duplicate newsrack space shall be guided solely by the criteria set forth under subsection G of this section. In the event that an owner of an individual/nonduplicate publication wants to place a newsrack at a location where there exists more than one newsrack containing the same publication, the individual/nonduplicate publication shall have priority over the duplicate newsrack of any other publication pursuant to the priority provisions of this chapter.
G. No more than eight newsracks shall be located on any public right-of-way within a space of two hundred feet in any direction within the same block of the same street; provided, however, that no more than sixteen newsracks shall be allowed on any one block. As used in this section, “block” shall mean one side of a street between two consecutive intersecting streets.
1. In determining which newsracks shall be permitted to remain, the Director shall be guided solely by the following criteria:
a. First priority shall be given to newsracks used for the sale of publications which have been adjudicated to be newspapers of general circulation for Los Angeles County, pursuant to the procedure set forth in Title 1, Division 7, Chapter 1 of the California Government Code.
b. Second priority shall be given to newsracks used for the sale of daily publications (those published on five or more days in a calendar week) which have not been adjudicated to be newspapers of general circulation for Los Angeles County.
c. Third priority shall be given to newsracks used for the sale of weekly publications (those published on at least one but less than five days in a calendar week) which have not been adjudicated to be newspapers of general circulation for Los Angeles County.
2. As between newspapers included within any single category of priority above, the Director shall also be guided by the following criteria of priorities whenever more than eight newsracks are proposed for any one location (two-hundred-foot space) or more than sixteen newsracks are proposed for any one block:
a. First priority shall be daily publications (published five or more days per week).
b. Second priority shall be publications published two to four days per week.
c. Third priority shall be publications published one day per week.
3. In the event that there is a conflict between newspapers within the same priority seeking the same location, and there are insufficient newsrack spaces remaining to accommodate the conflicting newspapers after first filling as many spaces as possible by utilizing the criteria set forth above, then the Director shall assign the space or spaces at random by lot by drawing, one by one, the names of those applicants applying for the remaining spaces until the remaining number of unfilled spaces at that location has been filled. Such drawing shall be open to the public at a time and date designated by the Director. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.070 Standard for maintenance and operation.
Any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with the following standards:
A. No newsrack shall exceed forty-eight inches in height, thirty inches in width, and twenty-four inches in thickness.
B. All newsracks shall conform to the specifications established by council resolution. Specifications shall not require that newsracks be made by any particular manufacturer, but may require newsracks to be the equivalent (i.e., same configuration and dimensions) of specified models.
C. Newsracks may be permanently attached to one another; however, no more than three newsracks may be joined together in this manner. Attaching the newsracks together with chains or cables shall be prohibited. All newsracks, whether single or grouped, shall be capable of standing alone, without relying on adjacent newsracks or structures for support.
D. No newsrack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than that dealing with the display, sale or purchase of the newspaper or news periodicals sold therein. Permitted locations for signs of such periodicals shall be the front and back panels below the window displays. Signs placed perpendicularly atop the newsrack are prohibited.
E. Each newsrack shall be maintained in a clean and neat condition and in good repair at all times. The newsrack shall be maintained at all times in good working order, free of graffiti, graffiti-related decals, extraneous markings and rust, and faded, chipping or peeling paint. The plexiglass view windows shall be clear, not yellowed or scratched.
F. Any material which is displayed or exhibited in any newsrack in a public place shall comply with Sections 313 et seq. of the California Penal Code as currently in effect and as may be amended. (Ord. 1696 § 1, 2007; Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.080 Violations.
A. Any newsrack installed, used or maintained in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be tagged with a “notice of violation” stating the violation, date of tagging, notice of intention to remove the newsrack if the violation is not corrected within ten days, and procedure for obtaining a preremoval hearing before the Director, if desired.
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, in the case of violations of this chapter relative to restrictions upon attachments of newsracks to property other than that owned by the owner of the newsrack, to fixed objects, or to each other, and upon location of newsracks, the Director or his or her designee may, as an alterative to tagging such newsrack, move, align, remove such attachment, or otherwise move such rack or racks in order to restore them to a legal condition.
C. Any newsrack which has been tagged and remains in violation of the provisions stated on the tag past the ten-day correction period, for which no hearing has been requested, shall be removed by the Director or the Director’s designee and stored in a secured location. The Director or his or her designee shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a “notice of removal” to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall state the date the newsrack was removed, the reasons therefor, the location and procedure for claiming the newsrack, and the procedure for obtaining a postremoval hearing before the Director, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to these provisions shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within thirty days after such removal and upon the payment of any fees due. Upon failure of the owner to claim such newsrack and pay the reasonable charges within thirty days after the mailing of written notice of removal, such newsrack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of Section 2.60.120.
D. Any newsrack in violation of the provisions of this chapter, which violation creates an immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare of the public, which violation cannot be corrected by moving or otherwise repositioning the newsrack, such newsrack may be summarily removed and stored in a secured location so as to eliminate the danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public. The Director or his or her designee shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a notice of removal to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall state the date the newsrack was removed, the reasons therefor, the location and procedure for claiming the newsrack, and the procedure for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the Director, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to this subsection shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within thirty days after the mailing of written notice of removal and upon the payment of abatement and storage fees. Upon failure of the owner to claim such newsrack and pay the reasonable charges within thirty days after the mailing of written notice of removal, such newsrack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of Section 2.60.120.
E. In the event that the curb, sidewalk or any other improvements in place within the public right-of-way is damaged due to the installation, placement, maintenance or use of a newsrack, the Director shall notify the owner in writing of the damage and the nature and extent of repairs that will be required. If the required repairs are not made within thirty days to the satisfaction of the Director after the mailing of the notice to do so by the Director, the Director may order the repairs made and bill the owner of the newsrack for the cost therefor. If the bill is not paid within a period of sixty days, or arrangements made satisfactory to the Director, the cost of the repairs, plus the cost of collection, may be recovered by civil action in the courts, and until paid the Director, or his or her designee, may not issue to the person in default a subsequent newsrack registration. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)
12.04.090 Appeals.
A. Any person who is aggrieved by a determination made by the Director pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may, within ten consecutive calendar days from the date of the notice, file a written appeal with the city manager who shall set a time and place for an informal hearing no more than ten days from the receipt of the appeal. The appeal shall be accompanied by the applicable fee set in accordance with Section 12.04.050.
B. Any person who is aggrieved by a determination made by the city manager pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may, within ten consecutive days from the date of the city manager’s determination, file a written appeal with the city clerk who shall set the matter for consideration before the city council no more than forty-five days from the receipt of the appeal. The appeal shall be accompanied by the applicable fee set in accordance with Section 12.04.050.
C. At the time of the appeal, the appealing party, the Director, and any other interested person may present such relevant evidence as they may have relating to the determination from which the appeal is taken.
D. Based upon the submission of such evidence, the review of the city’s files and inspection of the newsrack and/or the site, if appropriate the city manager, or the city council on the appeal, shall issue a written determination and order upholding, modifying, or revoking the determination from which the appeal is taken and if appropriate, specifying the time period in which corrective actions must be taken.
1. The notice of the city manager shall specifically make reference to the right to appeal to the city council within ten calendar days from the date of the notice and that absent a timely appeal, the decision of the city manager shall be final.
2. The notice of the city council shall specifically make reference that any petition for judicial review shall be filed within ninety days from the date of the city council’s decision in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure 1094.6.
E. A timely appeal shall stay the order from which the appeal is being taken. (Ord. 1621 § 2 (part), 2002; Ord. 1585 § 3 (part), 2000)