Maywood Municipal Code Ch. 7 News Racks

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

(a) "News rack" shall mean 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.

(b) "Street" shall mean all that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes and shall include, but not be limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys, and sidewalks.

(c) "Roadway" shall mean that portion of a street improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.

(d) "Parkway" shall mean that area between the sidewalk and the curb 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.

(e) "Sidewalk" shall mean any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973)

(a) No person shall install, use, or maintain any news rack or other structure 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 news rack 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 public use, or when such news rack 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 the use of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes, or other objects permitted at or near such location, or when such news rack interferes with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973)

Any news rack which, in whole or in part, rests upon, in, or over any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with the following standards:

(a) No news rack shall exceed five (5′) feet in height, thirty (30″) inches in width, or two (2′) feet in thickness.

(b) News racks shall only be placed near a curb or adjacent to the wall of a building. News racks placed near the curb shall be placed no less than eighteen (18″) inches nor more than twenty-four (24″) inches from the edge of the curb. News racks placed adjacent to the wall of a building shall be placed parallel to such wall and nor more than six (6″) inches from the wall. No news rack shall be placed or maintained on the sidewalk or parkway opposite a newsstand or another news rack.

(c) No news rack shall be chained, bolted, or otherwise attached to any property not owned by the owner of the news rack or to any permanently-fixed object.

(d) News racks may be chained or otherwise attached to one another; however, no more than three (3) news racks may be joined together in this manner, and a space of no less than eighteen (18″) inches shall separate each group of three (3) news racks so attached.

(e) No news rack or group of attached news racks permitted by the provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall weigh, in the aggregate in excess of 125 pounds when empty.

(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of Section 4-7.02 of this chapter, no news rack shall be placed, installed, used, or maintained:

(1) Within three (3′) feet of any marked crosswalk;

(2) Within fifteen (15′) feet of the curb return of any unmarked crosswalk;

(3) Within three (3′) feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box, or other emergency facility;

(4) Within three (3′) feet of any driveway;

(5) Within three (3′) feet ahead of and fifteen (15′) feet to the rear of any sign marking a designated bus stop;

(6) Within three (3′) feet of any bus bench;

(7) At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than six (6′) feet;

(8) Within three (3′) feet of any area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs, or trees, or within three (3′) 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; and

(9) In any manner so as to obstruct or impede access to the sidewalk of a person going to or from an automobile.

(g) No news rack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than those dealing with the display, sale, or purchase of the newspaper or news periodical sold therein.

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

(i) Publications shall not be placed in news racks in such a manner as to expose to the public view any photograph or drawing contained within such publication displaying any of the following, unless such photograph or drawing is illustrative of or related to a description of a current news item in the same publication:

(1) The genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, natal cleft, perineum, anal region, or pubic hair region of any person, other than a child under the age of puberty; or

(2) Any portion of the breast, at or below the areola thereof, of any female person other than a child under the age of puberty.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973, as amended by § 1, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

On or before January 26, 1974, every person or other entity which places or maintains a news rack on the streets of the City shall have his or its name, address, and telephone number affixed thereto in a place where such information may be easily seen.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973)

Every person or other entity which places or maintains a news rack on a public sidewalk or parkway in the City shall file a written statement with the City Clerk, satisfactory to the City Attorney, whereby such person or entity agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City, and its officers, directors, and employees, from any loss or 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 news rack within the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973, as amended by § 1, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

Every person or other entity which places or maintains a news rack on a public sidewalk or parkway in the City shall provide and keep in force during the time such news rack is allowed to remain public property a policy of public liability insurance, naming the City as an additional insured, in an amount not less than Fifty Thousand and no/100ths ($50,000.00) Dollars combined single limit for any injury to persons and/or damages to property by reason of the installation, use, and maintenance of such news rack on public property. Such policy shall provide that the insurance coverage shall not be canceled or reduced by the insurance carrier without the City having been given thirty (30) days' prior written notice thereof by such carrier.

(§ 1, Ord. 73-110, eff. December 27, 1973, as amended by § 1, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

Upon a determination by the Chief Administrative Officer, or his authorized employee, that a news rack has been installed, used, or maintained in violation of the provisions of this chapter, an order to correct the offending condition shall be issued to the owner of the news rack. Such order shall be telephoned to the owner and confirmed by mailing a copy of the order by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the offending news rack is not properly identified as to the owner under the provisions of Section 4-7.04 of this chapter, an order to correct the offending condition shall be attached to the news rack. The order shall be effective immediately when it is deposited in the United States mail or attached to the news rack. It shall specifically describe the offending condition and suggest actions necessary to correct the condition. Failure to properly correct the offending condition within five (5) days after the effective date of the order shall result in the offending news rack being summarily removed and processed as unclaimed property under the provisions of Chapter 6 of Title 3 of this Code. When a news rack has been removed and processed as unclaimed property, the owner of such news rack shall be charged a processing fee of Twenty-Five and no/100ths ($25.00) Dollars before the news rack may be released.

(§ 1, Ord. 74-111, eff. February 21, 1974, as amended by § 2, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

In the event any news rack installed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter is not serviced with the publication it is designed to disseminate for a period of over seven (7) days, the City reserves the right to remove such news rack pursuant to the procedure set forth in Section 4-7.07 of this chapter. For the purposes of this section, "abandonment" shall include, but not be limited to, circumstances where no publication is in the news rack for a period of over seven (7) days.

(§ 2, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

Any person or entity aggrieved by a finding, determination, notice, or action taken under the provisions of this chapter may appeal and shall be appraised of his right to appeal to the Planning Commission. An appeal shall be perfected within three (3) days after the receipt of the notice of any protested decision or action by filing with the office of the City Clerk a letter of appeal briefly stating therein the basis for such appeal. A hearing shall be held on a date no more than thirty (30) days after the receipt of the letter of appeal. The appellant shall be given at least five (5) days' notice of the time and place of the hearing. The Planning Commission shall give the appellant, and any other interested parry, a reasonable opportunity to be heard in order to show cause why the determination of the Chief Administrative Officer should not be upheld. In all such cases, the burden of proof shall be upon the appellant to show that there was no substantial evidence to support the action taken by the Chief Administrative Officer. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Planning Commission shall make a final and conclusive determination.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the City shall not enforce compliance with an order to correct while an appeal therefrom is pending.

(§ 2, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)

In the case of violations of this chapter relative to the restrictions upon attachments of news racks to property other than that owned by the owner of the news rack, to fixed objects, or to each other and upon the location of news racks, any City employee authorized by the Chief Administrative Officer, as an alternative to removal under Section 4-7.07 of this chapter, may remove such attachment and/or move such news racks in order to restore them to a legal condition.

(§ 2, Ord. 78-187, eff. December 28, 1978)