§ 12.18.040. Standards

a. Placement. Subject to the prohibitions contained in this section newsracks shall be placed parallel to and not less than eighteen (18″) inches nor more than twenty-four (24″) inches from the edge of the curb. Newsracks so placed shall face the sidewalk, not the street. Newsracks placed near the wall of a building or other structure must be placed parallel to and not more than six (6″) inches away from the wall.

No newsrack (s) shall be affixed, erected, installed, placed, used or maintained:

1. at any location in excess of eight (8) feet in width (plus the width of a newsrack) whereby the clear space for the passage of pedestrians is reduced to less than eight (8) feet in width; or, if the sidewalk location is less than eight (8) feet in width (plus the width of a newsrack), then the clear space for the passage of pedestrians shall not be reduced to less than five (5) feet in width; however, a width of four (4) to five (5) feet may be approved by the Commissioner if requested, only after the Commissioner consults with the Pedestrian Committee and the Disabilities Commission as to whether the particular location at issue necessitates the 4-5 foot width, and whether the pedestrian passage there could safely and reasonably be reduced to a width of 4-5 feet; and

2. within five (5) feet of any marked, or unmarked crosswalk or handicapped ramp; and

3. within five (5) feet of any fire hydrant, fire lane, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility, mail box, telephone booth or stand; and

4. within five (5) feet of any part of a curb return of a curb ramp or driveway, or in the case of a curb ramp or driveway without a curb return, within five (5) feet of the point where the curb edgestone or edging begins a change in grade toward the driveway or ramp on each side thereof, or in the case of a termination of the curb, edgestone or edging without a change in grade or a turn, within five (5) feet of the point of the same terminates on each side of the ramp or driveway; and

5. within five (5) feet of any traffic control signal or traffic sign; and

6. within five (5) feet of a bicycle rack; and

7. within five (5) feet ahead or fifteen (15) feet to the rear of any designated bus stop, taxi stand, valet parking area, loading zone or fire lane, or any disabled parking space, unless such newsrack is placed parallel against a wall that is within four feet (4′) of a designated bus stop, taxi stand, valet parking area, loading zone or fire lane and the newsrack so placed does not project into or otherwise interfere with the unobstructed flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic;

8. which in any way protrudes onto a street;

9. on any sidewalk immediately abutting a public school; or

10. within three (3) feet of any structure's window or within three (3) feet of any pre-existing sign.

The Commissioner may require that newsracks at locations in which more than three (3) are adjacent shall be set within an open-ended corral installed by the City; and the Commissioner may require that newsracks at a particular location be chained to each other and/or to a permanent hitching post installed by the City. The Commissioner may choose the locations for corrals and hitching posts based on the history of misaligned or knocked over newsracks at the location, the high volume of pedestrian traffic at the location, or the relatively high concentration of newsracks at the location. However, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the locations at which corrals and hitching posts may be required.

(Ord. 1291, Amended, 11/07/2005)