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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6.6 Newsracks Ordinance (2) CITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT City Council Meeting Date: May 14, 1990 SUBJECT: Public Hearing: Ordinance Relating to Newsracks (Report by Public Works Director Lee Thompson) EXHIBITS ATTACHED: 1) Draft Ordinance 2) Draft Permit Form RECOMMENDATION: 1) Open public hearing Receive Staff presentation and public testimony 1A1C2) Question Staff and the public 4) Close public hearing and deliberate 5) Waive reading and INTRODUCE ordinance relating to news racks FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Minor expense of printing permit forms, as well as staff time to review applications and issue permits. This expense would be paid from the Engineering Operating Budget. The City cannot constitutionally charge a fee for the permit. DESCRIPTION: At the November 13, 1989, meeting, the City Council received a Staff report on hazardous newsrack locations and directed Staff to prepare an ordinance relating to appearance and placement of newsracks. The City can require newspaper companies to obtain permits for newsracks as long as the officer issuing the permit has no discretion. The proposed ordinance would not regulate placement of newsracks on private property such as within shopping centers. However, the provisions of the ordinance could be incorporated as a condition of approval for future land development on private property. The City Attorney has prepared a draft ordinance which provides as follows: 1) Permit would be required for newsracks placed in the public right- of-way: The permit would be issued by the City Engineer or his designee upon completion of the appropriate application. No fee would be charged for the permit. 2) Contents of the application, indemnification, and insurance requirement: The applicant would be required to submit a certificate of public liability and property damage insurance which names the City as an additional insured. In addition the permit application would contain a provision whereby the permittee would agree to indemnify the City against loss, liability, or damage arising from the newsrack installation. 3) Term of the permit is indefinite unless revoked. Once the permit is in place, the permittee would not have to apply again unless the - location is abandoned or the rack is impounded. 4) Identification required for all newsracks: The permittee would be required to label the rack with a name, address, and phone number at which a responsible party could be contacted in the event of a problem. ITEM NO. O 45 COPIES TO: 5) Location and placement requirements: This section identifies where news racks may be placed in relation to streets, sidewalk, curbs, fire hydrants, bus benches, and so forth. The Public Works Department is in the process of developing standard details for news rack placement. 6) Use of multi-user (modular) racks required in the Central Business District: The racks presently at the Dublin Boulevard/Golden Gate Drive bus stops are of this type. The Central Business District consists of the downtown area bordered by San Ramon Road, Amador Valley Boulevard, Village Parkway, and Dublin Boulevard, as well as the entire length of Dublin Boulevard itself. 7) No attachment to public or private property without consent: The racks cannot be chained or bolted to any object, including landscaping, without the permission of the property owner. 8) Maintenance obligation: The permittee would be required to maintain the racks from the standpoint of trash, damage, or vandalism and to remove a rack that is no longer being used. This section also provides that the racks shall not be used for any advertising purpose other than relating to the newspapers distributed from them. 9) Procedure for impounding news racks violating the ordinance, and minimum $25.00 fee for return of the racks: This section provides that a hazardous news rack may be impounded and outlines a procedure for notifying the owner. If the news rack owner disagrees with the City Engineer's decision to impound the news rack or feels the news rack should be returned without payment of a fee, the owner may request a hearing with the City Manager or his designee. It should be noted that the City cannot regulate display of sexually explicit material through a news rack ordinance. Prior to scheduling the proposed ordinance for a public hearing, Staff circulated copies among the local newspaper agencies and met with Mr. Blaine l:!e]::_§.g~of the Valley Times who acted as representative of various 'news distributors. Mr. Nelson requested some minor revisions in language which the City Attorney was able to include. Mr. Nelson also requested that the permit document be called by another name, as the term "permit" implies an ability to accept or reject the application. The City Attorney did not make this change, as the document is called a "permit" by other cities, and other terms do not lend themselves to this process. Revised ordinances were sent to the news agencies along with the public hearing notice for this meeting. Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a public hearing, waive the reading, and INTRODUCE the ordinance relating to newsracks. -2- ORDINANCE NO. - 90 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO NEWSRACKS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The city Council of the city of Dublin does hereby find and declare: A. There is a substantial governmental interest in promoting the public health, safety, welfare and convenience by ensuring that persons may reasonably use the public streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, and other public property without interference with such use. B. Public streets, sidewalks and rights-of-way are public forums and their reasonable use in sale, distribution and circulation of newspapers is a constitutionally protected right. c. Newspaper vending within the public rights-of-way and other public property can be accomplished without unreasonably interfering with the normal and reasonable use of these areas by the public. D. The public health, safety, welfare and convenience require that: interference with vehicular, bicycle, wheelchair or pedestrian traffic be avoided; obstruction of sight distance 1 and views of traffic signs and street-crossing pedestrians be eliminated; damage done to sidewalks or streets be minimized and repaired; the good appearance of the public streets and grounds be maintained; trees and other landscaping be allowed to grow without disturbance; access to emergency and other public facilities be maintained; and ingress and egress from properties adjoining the public rights-of-way be protected. E. The regulation of the sale of newspapers as set forth in this chapter provides the least intrusive and burdensome means for ensuring the purposes stated in this section are carried out while still providing ample opportunities for the distribution of news to the citizens of the city. ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS section 2. Permit Required. No person shall place or maintain any newspaper vending device (hereinafter "newsrack") on or projecting into any public street which includes but is not limited to, any highway, alley, sidewalk, park, parkway mall, parking lot, plaza or other public property or right-of-way, unless and until a newsrack permit has been obtained from the city Engineer, or his designee. section 3. provisions Supersede Encroachment Requlations. The provisions of this Chapter shall supersede the provisions of Ordinance No. 15-89 relating to encroachments except to the extent specifically incorporated or referenced herein. 2 section 4. Permit - Application and Issuance. Application for a newsrack permit shall be made to the City Engineer on prescribed forms containing the information required by §§ 6 and 7. Upon presentation of a completed application, the city Engineer shall issue a permit within three (3) working days. One permit shall permit placement and maintenance of any number of newsracks on the streets in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance. section 5. Permit - No Fee. No fee or bond shall be required for the issuance of a newsrack permit. section 6. Contents of Application. The newsrack permit application shall state the name, address and telephone number of those responsible for installation, use and maintenance of the newsrack(s) subject to the permit. section 7. Contents of Application - Insurance and Indemnification. As a part of an application for a permit under this Article, the applicant shall furnish to the City a certificate showing that such person has then in force public liability and property damage insurance, naming the city as an additional insured, in an amount not less than the amount prescribed by the City Manager. The permit holder shall provide and keep in force that policy of public liability insurance during such time as it continues to locate any newsrack under the terms of this Ordinance. The /' l 3 evidence of insurance filed with the city shall include a Atatement by the insurance carrier that thirty (30) days unconditional notice will be given to the City before any cancellation. In addition, ths application shall contain a provision wherein every person operating or maintaining a llewsrack upon the streets of this City shall agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the City, its officers and employees, from any loss, liability, damage, or cost sustained by any persoll or property, arising from the installation, operation, or use of sUçh newsrack. section 8. Permit Term. The permit granted pursuant to this Ordinance shall remain in effect until all newsracks are abandoned or impounded. ARTICLE 2. LOCATION AND TYPE OF PERMISSIBLE NEWSRACKS section 9. Identification. Every newsrack permittee shall permanently affix to each newsrack the permittee's name, address and phone number as required by Business and Professions Code S 17570. Section 10. Location and Placement of Newsracks. No newsracks shall be installed, used, or maintained in any location upon public property, within rights-of-way, or within public easements adjacent to streets where such installation, use, or maintenance endangers the safety of persons or property, or interferes with public utility, public transportation, or other government use, or unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of p~destrian, bicycle, wheelchair, or vehicular 4 traffic, the ingress into or egress from any residence, place of business, or any legally parked or stopped vehicle, or the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants, or mail boxes. without limitation of the foregoing, the following specific standards apply: (a) (b) (c) When a sidewalk is contiguous to a street curb, newsracks shall be placed on the back of the sidewalk away from the curb so that the back edge of the newsrack is no farther than six (6) inches from the back edge of the sidewalk. When a sidewalk is separated from a street by a planter strip, newsracks may be placed on either side of the sidewalk so that the back edge of the newsrack is no farther than six (6) inches from either edge of the sidewalk, or with the permission of the city Engineer in the planter strip; newsracks may not be placed within twenty-four (24) inches of the face of curb. When a newsrack is placed adjacent to the wall of any building, the newsrack shall be placed with its long axis parallel to the building and with the back edge of the newsrack at least six (6) inches away but no more than twelve (12) inches away from the building. Clear space for pedestrian/bicycle passage shall be maintained as follows: (1) on bicycle-pedestrian paths, at least eight (8) feet clear space, provided no newsrack (d) 5 shall be placed on the paved portion of such path. (2) on sidewalks of eight (8) feet or less in width, at least three (3) feet clear space. (e) No newsrack shall be installed, used, or maintained within the following distances, measured parallel to the street unless otherwise indicated, from the following: (1) within three (3) feet of any marked crosswalk; (2) within the area adjacent to the curb return of any intersection with unmarked crosswalks; (3) within a five (5) foot radius of any fire hydrant, traffic controller box, or other emergency facility; (4) within three (3) feet of any driveway, entrance to a building, or sidewalk leading to the entrance of a building; (5) in front of, or so situated so as to impede access to or from, any bus bench or shelter or access to or from public transit; (6) within three (3) feet of any no parking or stopping zone, unless the newsrack is located on the side of the sidewalk farthest from the street; (7) within the limits of a handicap ramp; and (8) within any area found to be a safety problem by the city Engineer. i 6 The city Engineer may require a permittee to move a newsrack if the city Engineer determines that the placement of the newsrack does not meet the criteria of this section. section 11. Permissible Types of Newsracks. a. Multi-unit Confiqurations. Newsracks in a multi-unit configuration standard in trade use permanently affixed to the ground in a manner conforming to a standard detail for permanent installation of newsracks as established by the City Engineer shall be required or permitted as follows: (1) Central Business District. In recognition of the business oriented aspects of the area bounded by San Ramon Road, Amador Valley Boulevard, village Parkway and Dublin Boulevard, and along Dublin Boulevard between Hansen Drive and Dougherty Road, which in this Article shall be designated the Central Business District (CBD) , all newsracks located within the CBD shall be of a multi-unit configuration. (2) Areas Outside the CBD. Multi-unit configurations shall be permitted in areas outside the CBD but are not required. b. Sinqle-unit Confiqurations. Any single newsrack of standard design commonly in trade use may be either movable or permanently affixed to the ground in the following circumstances: 7 (1) Notwithstanding Section (a) (1) above, in any single location in the CBD for a period of sixty (60) days in order to determine the suitability of long-term newsrack locations. (2) In any location outside the CBD. section 12. Attachinq Newsracks to Other Property. A newsrack shall not be chained, bolted, or otherwise attached to public property or any property not owned by the owner of the newsrack without the consent of the owner of the property. Newsracks shall not be chained, bolted, or otherwise attached to any shrub, tree, tree stake, or other plant nor situated upon any landscaped area, unless approved by the city Engineer. section 13. Newsrack Maintenance. Each newsrack shall be maintained in a neat, graffiti free clean condition and in good repair at all times and shall be painted on a regular basis. Newsracks that are damaged or defective shall be replaced or repaired as soon as is practical, unless the permit holder wishes to abandon the location, in which event the permit holder shall promptly remove its newsrack. When use of any newsrack is permanently discontinued, it shall be removed and the location restored to its previous condition, normal wear and tear excepted. A newsrack which is unused for six months shall be presumed to be permanently discontinued. No newsrack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity 8 purposes other than the one concerned with the display, sale, or distribution of the newspaper distributed from it. section 14. Correction or Impoundment of Newsracks. (a) The City Engineer may: (1) Immediately correct any violation of section 10 or 13 and shall do so without impounding if such correction can be accomplished simply, easily, quickly and without substantial public expense; (2) Immediately remove and impound any newsrack in violation of this Ordinance if the violation is creating a dangerous or hazardous condition which cannot be corrected under subparagraph (a) (1) above. Notice of such action and the right to request a hearing shall be mailed to the permittee within two working days after such action; (3) Notify the permittee maintaining a newsrack found in violation of this Ordinance, by mail, that unless the violation is corrected or a hearing requested, within seven working days of the date of the notice, that the newsrack will be impounded; or (4) Impound any newsrack in accordance with the decision of any hearing requested pursuant to this Ordinance. 9 section 15. Hearinqs on Impoundment. (a) Any permittee aggrieved by a decision under section 14 (a) (2) or (3) may request a hearing before the City Manager at any time within seven working days of the date of notice under section 14 (a) (2) or (3). (b) A hearing shall be held, within seven working days of the request for a hearing. At the hearing, any person may present evidence or argument as to whether the newsrack should not be impounded or should be returned without payment of an impound fee. (c) The city Manager shall render a written decision within five working days after the close of the hearing. The decision of the City Manager shall be final. Section 16. Return of Impounded Newsracks. (a) The permittee may, at any time up to and including the 30th day after the impounding, and if a hearing is held concerning the newsrack at any time up to and including the 30th day after the written decision, obtain a return of the newsrack and its contents, upon paying an impound fee of $25.00 plus the reasonable additional cost, if any, of impounding the newsrack in excess of $25.00, unless such fee is waived. 10 section 17. Disposal of Impounded Newsracks. If a hearing on the impounding of the newsrack is not timely requested or if the newsrack is not returned in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, the city Engineer may sell or otherwise dispose of the newsrack, and its contents, and deposit the proceeds, if any, from any such sale or other disposition, and any moneys contained in said newsrack, in the City's general fund. section 18. Postinq and Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from and after the date of its passage. The city Clerk of the City of Dublin shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3 ) public places in the City of Dublin in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this day of , 1990, by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk 114\ord\newsrack.ehs 11 CITY OF DUBLIN 100 CIVIC PLAZA DUBLIN CA 94568 415/833-6630 NEWSRACK PERMIT NAME: PERMIT NO. (Person responsible for installation, use, and maintenance of newsrack) ADDRESS: DATE OF ISSUE: PHONE: INSURANCE CARRIER(S): Public Liability and Property Damage POLICY NO. AMOUNT Of COVERAGE $ CERTIFICATE RECEIVED: EXPIRATION DATE: Certificate naming the City as additional insured must be on file for permit to be valid. LOCATION(S) PROPOSED: TYPE OF RACK (MODULAR, BOLTED TO SIDEWALK, FREE STfu~ING, ETC.) BY SIGNATURE BELOW, PERMITTEE AGREES TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS OF CITY OF DUBLIN ORDINANCE -90 AND INSTALL NEWS RACKS ACCORDING TO THE DETAIL ATTACHED TO THIS PERMIT. PERMITTEE FURTHER AGREES TO INDEMNIFY, DEFEND, AND HOLD HARMLESS THE CITY OF DUBLIN, ITS OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES, FROM ANY LOSS, LIABILITY, DAMAGE, OR COST SUSTAINED BY ANY PERSON OR PROPERTY, ARISING FROM THE INSTALLATION, OPERATION, OR USE OF THE NEWSRACK(S) SUBJECT TO THIS PERMIT. SIGNATURE OF RESPONSIBLE PARTY: DATE: APPROVED BY: DATE: