SR-091608-7ECity Council Meeting: September 9, 2008
Agenda Item: ~' -
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lee E. Swain, Director -Department of Public Works
Subject: Ordinance Amending Sections of Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter
6.28 Related to Newsracks
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council introduce for first reading an ordinance
amending sections of Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.28 related to general
requirements for all publication vending machines (newsracks) in the public right-of-
way.
Executive Summary
Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.28 requires all newsracks in the public right-of-
way to conform to permitting, installation, and maintenance standards. The purpose of
this ordinance is to promote safety, improve aesthetics, and resolve maintenance issues
by controlling the size, number, construction, location and appearance of all newsracks
in the City: This ordinance also modifies the insurance requirement; amends language
related to the .collection of annual fees and programs costs; adds the authority to adopt
administrative guidelines; and eliminates redundant language. This recommendation
has no financial or budget impacts.
Background
The City's newsrack ordinance was last amended in 1996. The existing newsrack
ordinance requires all newsracks in the public right-of-way to obtain a permit and abide
by standards for maintenance and installation. Prior to issuance of a permit, the
applicant must provide proof of a city business license, liability and property damage
insurance, and pay an annual permit fee. The City regulates the size, type, number,
construction and location of newsracks to (1) provide for adequate pedestrian and
vehicular access; (2) maintain and protect values of surrounding properties; (3) reduce
unnecessary exposure of the City to damage claims; (4) enhance the aesthetics of the
public landscape and reduce visual blight; and (5) provide for and maintain the freedom
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of newspapers .and other publications using newsracks for distribution. These
regulations have been designed to ensure that the applicant's constitutional right to
distribute newspapers through newsracks is protected.
Discussion
For some time, residents and business .owners have complained about the growing
number of nonconforming newsracks. Staff received input from the local publications,
and learned that temperature variations cause deterioration of the woodgrain.
appearance of the panels, which increases the time and expense of owners having to
replace the newsrack panels. -Staff recognizes the need to find a visually and
aesthetically consistent alternative to woodgrain panels, and therefore, proposes
allowing painted panels on a newsrack.
The proposed amendments to the newsrack ordinance will further improve aesthetics
and safety, and address maintenance concerns by making the newsrack regulations
and requirements uniform throughout the City. The general newsrack requirements are
as follows:
• Newsracks must be K-Jack Model 100 (KJ M-100) or a dimensionally equivalent
model with the same style hood, paneling, and pedestal. KJ M-100 is an industry
standard newsrack manufactured by K-Jack Engineering Company:
• The entire newsrack must be constructed of metal and the color of the frame
must be olive drab. The newsrack may have woodgrain panels or painted olive
drab panels on all four sides of the display casing. Both styles are visually
compatible with each other.
• Newsrack must be supported by a single pedestal base, and be permanently
mounted. The pedestal base must be painted gloss black; and be bolted in place
in accordance with specification provided by the Department of Public Works,
and only at permitted locations.
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This ordinance authorizes the Director of Public Works to adopt administrative
regulations for the Newsrack Program. Current placement standards keep newsracks
from obstructing the right-of-way, and maintenance standards require that newsracks be
kept in a clean, neat condition and in good repair at all times. A notice of violation is
attached to all nonconforming newsracks. The amended language allows the owner of
a newsrack 10 days to correct a violation or file a written protest and request a hearing
with the Director of Public Works. Newsracks not in compliance with the City's
regulations will be removed in accordance with the current legal requirements.
The ordinance also modifies the insurance requirement from $300,000 to $500,000
commercial general liability insurance. A higher insurance limit provides adequate
protection against liability claims for bodily injury and/or property damage arising out of
the placement or operation of a newsrack in the public right-of-way. The Director of
Risk Management may also authorize a program of self-insurance if it contains an
equivalent level of coverage to the City.
In FY 2008-09, staff will be evaluating the replacement of free standing newsracks with
fixed modular systems at designated locations citywide. Modular systems are news
dispensers with two or more compartments within a single unit mounted at a fixed
location. This type of program requires the use of a lottery system to assign
publications with rack .spaces. Such systems have been successfully implemented in
the cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, San Diego and San Francisco to
control the placement of newsracks in the public right-of-way. Staff will bring back its
findings for Council to consider and provide direction.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The recommendation presented in this report has no budget or financial impact.
Prepared by: Erika Bustamante, Senior Administrative Analyst
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Approved:
~-~C Z
Lee E. Swain, Director
Department of Public Works
Attachment: Ordinance
Forwarded to Council:
_-
-Ly
P. ont Ewell
City Manager
4
f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\Newsrack Ordinance Amendments(2) 7-8-08
City Council Meeting: September 9, 2008 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 6.28 RELATING TO
PUBLICATION VENDING MACHINES (NEWSRACKS)
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.28 ("Publication Vending
Machines Ordinance") and Public Works Department Newsrack Guidelines establish
standards for the permitting, installation, and maintenance of newsracks; and
WHEREAS, the Publication Vending Machines Ordinance and the administrative
guidelines are applicable to all newsracks in the City; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of these requirements is to promote the public health,
safety and welfare through the regulation of public vending machines (newsracks) in the
public right-of-way in order to provide for pedestrian and driving safety, to restrict
unreasonable interference with pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow, to eliminate
newsracks that may result in visual blight and visual clutter, to maintain property values,
and to reduce City exposure to claims based on personal injury or property damage;
and
WHEREAS, the public distribution of newspapers through newsracks is entitled
to First Amendment protection; and
WHEREAS, the City's Publication Vending Machine Ordinance does not infringe
on this constitutional right since the ordinance authorizes newspapers to be sold from
hundreds of locations throughout the City, allows newsrack strings to be easily seen
and identified through their distinctive shape thereby being readily distinguishable from
other types of street furniture, and allows the individual paper's masthead, headline, and
lead stories and photos to be seen from the newsrack so that a prospective purchaser
can easily select the desired publication; and
WHEREAS, the City is authorized to impose reasonable time, place and manner
regulations on the use of newsracks to protect legitimate state interests including
aesthetics and safety; and
WHEREAS, the City advances these interests by regulating newsracks' size,
type, number, construction, and location, and by establishing maintenance
requirements; and
WHEREAS, requiring a standard style newsrack with standard panel face
ensures that the newsrack string is a visually coherent, unobtrusive structure and is not
a visual distraction resulting in possible accidents or traffic slowdowns; and
WHEREAS, the City has an extensive and wide-ranging program of regulating
aesthetics of its public streetscape and private development; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendments to the Publication Vending Machine
Ordinance will further improve aesthetics and safety by making the newsrack
regulations uniform throughout the City,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.28.030 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.030 Requirements and duties_
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fe-}~ General Newsrack Requirements ¢^~ ^" "a.,,..~.n..V~ :„ ++,., r:«.,
The following requirements and duties shall apply to all newsracks in the City on
the public right-of-way:
(1) Newsracks shall be kept clean, and maintained in good working order at
all times, freshly painted and with unbroken hoods.
(2) The name, address and telephone number of a responsible person who
may be contacted at any time concerning the newsrack shall be displayed on the hood
of the newsrack in such manner as to be readily visible and readable to a prospective
customer thereof.
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(3) Frames and racks for A}newsracks shall be
t"° °°^,° °"~'° ^° +"° K-Jack Model 100 (KJ M-100) or a dimensionally equivalent
model with the same style hood, panelinq, and pedestal. a ^^^ ~ 1 nn ,nn r^nL ~hn~~
(4) The entire newsrack shall be primarily constructed of metal and the color
of the frame must be olive drab, otherwise known as K-Jack Brown. The newsrack may
have woodgrain panels or painted olive drab panels on all four sides of the display
casing.
(5) Newsradks shall be supported by a single pedestal base, and be
permanently mounted. The pedestal base shall be all painted gloss black and shall be
bolted in place in accordance with specifications provided by the Public Works
DepartmenYand only at locations designated by such department.
(6} Newsracks shall not carry advertising except the name of the newspaper or
periodical being dispensed on the bottom ohe third of the plastic hood.
t7) No person shall place, affix, erect, construct or maintain a newsrack upon
any public right of way without first obtaining a permit in accordance with the provisions
of this Chapter.
(b} Provisions Supplemental to Business License Regulations. The
provisions of this Chapter are intended to augment and be in addition to the .provisions
providing for a business license tax. Whenever the provisions of this Chapter impose a
greater restriction upon persons, premises or practices than is imposed by the general
business license regulations, the provisions of this Chapter shall control.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.28.040 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.040 Standards for maintenance and installation.
Any publication vending machine which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over
any public sidewalk or parkway, shall comply with the following standards:
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{-b}~ Publicatio n vending machines shall only be placed near a curb or adjacent
to a wall or a building. Such machines placed near the curb shall be placed no less
than eighteen inches nor more than twenty-four inches from the edge of the curb. Those
machines 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 such machine shall be placed or
maintained on the sidewalk or parkway opposite another publication vending machine
or group of such machines.
~}~ No publication vending machine shall be chained, bolted or otherwise
attached to property not owned by the owner of said machine or to any permanently
fixed object, unless the custodian of said machine shall have first obtained the written
permission of the owner of the object to which the machine is affixed.
{d3~ Publication vending machines may be placed next to each other, provided
that no group of said machines shall extend more than eight feet along a curb or wall
and a space of no less than three feet shall separate each such group of machines.
ce~Sush machines-may-"~^h,~.6„ed~r~t"ea~v;se-anac-hed +-zo-ane-a.~ #.e~
fg)(e}~ eNo
publication vending machine 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 any other
emergency facility;
(4) Within five feet of any driveway;
(5) Within five feet ahead of or twenty-five feet to the rear of any sign marking
a designated bus stop;
(6) Within s}*five feet of any bus bench;
(7) to At any location whereby the cress clear space er for the passageway of
pedestrians is reduced to less than six feet; aad
(8) Within three feet of any area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs or trees,
or within three feet of any display window or 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;
(g) Within one hundred fi~feet of °^~~ ^+"°. ^ ^" ,,,°^";^° ^^ +"° ~ ~;,+°
another newsrack containing the same newspaper or news periodical except where
separated by a street or corner, or except where a newspaper demonstrates that there
is insufficient room in one machine for the newspapers which may be sold in one dad
(10) Facing another newsrack, divided only by the width of a sidewalk or
pedestrian walk.
t11} In a manner inconsistent with the Newsrack Guidelines adopted by the
Public Works Department pursuant to Section 6.28.120.
{-h-}(e) No such machine shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes
other than dealing with the display sale, or purchase of the publications sold therein.
{i3(f) Each such machine shall be maintained in a clean, neat and attractive
condition and in good repair at all times, and no issue or edition of any publication shall
be allowed to remain in any such machine for a period in excess of seven days from the
date of initial issuance or publication, whichever is sooner.
SECTION 3. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.28.060 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.060 Removal of newsracks.
(a) Nonconforming Newsracks.
(1) Commencing ninety days after +;;~-~#^R,=,se Ordinance Number
C( CS} becomes effective, any newsrack in violation of any provision of this ordinance
will be deemed nonconforming. The City may attach a notice to correct to a
nonconforming newsrack, that shall r-ec+te state the nature of the violation and the rights
of the owner of the nonconforming newsrack under this Chapter. In addition to such
notice, and contemporaneously therewith, the Director of ~^~~'•^^^,a^*^~ ^^a Public
Works "~.,=~age.;,~R shall make all reasonable efforts to notify the owner of-the
.~f~ ~^^rack of the violation, and inform him or her of his rights ~~*
Sk~apt2r. Within five ten working days after the notice is attached, the owner may either
cure the violation, or file a written protest; er and request as eral hearing with the
Director of Public Works AAaaagar~e~t. -Any decision of the Director
of Public Works shall be in writing and is final
(2) If the violation is not corrected and/or the Director of ~^~~~~^^m°^+°' °^~
Public Works ""^^~sem~,=,t upholds the decision that the newsrack is in violation of this
ordinance~° ~^~+h•^ +~^ f•„^ a^„ r.,,~+^+~^^ the City may impound the newsrack and
shall make all reasonable efforts to notify the permittee or his authorized agent of the
impoundment.
(3) Upon failure of the permittee to claim an impounded newsrack and pay the
expenses of such removal and storage within thirty days after removal, the newsrack
shall be deemed unclaimed property and may be disposed of by the City pursuant to
applicable provisions of this Code.
(b) Abandonment.
(1) If any newsrack installed pursuant to this Chapter does not contain the
publication specified in the application therefore within a period of forty-eight hours after
release of the current issue, or if no publication is in the newsrack for a period of more
than seven consecutive days, the newsrack may be considered abandoned and
nonconforming. The Director of ~^~~'~^^^~^^+^' ^^~ Public Works A,t<~s~ent-shall
notify the owner and take action to remove the newsrack from. the public right-of-way in
accordance with the procedure set out in subsection (a) of this Section.
(2) In the event a permittee of a newsrack desires to voluntarily abandon a
newsrack location, said permittee shall completely remove the newsrack and mount,
and restore the public right-of-way to a safe condition, leaving no holes or projections in
the payt~ent pavement.
(c) Hearing. The owner (permittee) may, within thirty days of the impoundment,
request in writing a hearing before the City Manager or his/her designee +"+"~~~e
P~`o;`oa-ooard for the purpose of demonstfating that the newsrack was not rightfully
impounded and should be returned to the permittee. The City Manager shall establish
procedures for the conduct and timing of this hearing,
SECTION 4. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.28.070 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.070 Application and issuance of permits.
(a) Applications. The applicant shall file with the Director of ~^~^•^^^,^^+^~ ~^~
Public Works Management a written applicatioh for a permit which shall contain the
following information:
(1) The name, address and telephone number of the applicant.
(2) The name, address and telephone number of a responsible person whom
the city may notify or contact at any time concerning the applicant's newsrack.
(3) The number of newsracks and the proposed location of each.
(4) Names of newspapers or periodicals to be contained in each newsrack.
(5) Type or brand of newsrack, including description of the newsrack and
mount, if other than K-Jack Style Mount Model 100.
(b) Issuance of Permits. Upon a finding by the Director of ~^~~ ~^^y^°^+^~ ^^~
Public Works n^^°~.age.;,ent that the applicant is in compliance with the provisions of this
Chapter, he shall issue a permit in accordance with application and the provisions of
this Chapter.
(c) Denial of Permit. If a permit shall be denied, the applicant shall be
immediately notified of the specific cause of such denial by the Director of
F^~~'~^^m°^+^' ^^~' Public Works {atirflagemeat.
SECTION 5. Santa Monica Municipal Code Sectiori 6.28.080 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.080 Insurance.
Prior to the issuance of a permit by the Director of ~^~~~~^^m^^+^' ^^~ Public Works
pa°^^".t, the applicant shall furnish to the Director of E^~^r^^^'°^+^~ ^^-' Public
Works "~,~,t a certificate of commercial general liability insurance "C( GL"} that
the applicant has then in force and effect ,
naming the City as an additional insured, in an amount not less-than tliree five hundred
thousand dollars minimum liability
~'°^~°^°` ^^r ^^~°^^ °^~' per occurrence/and in the general aggregate. The insurance
shall be obtained from an insurer with a current A.M. Best's rating of no less than A-:6.
The evidence of insurance filed with the Director of ~^~~'~^^^'°^+^' ^^^' Public Works
"n°^,9.n, ~ug~~,ent shall include a written statement by the insurance carrier that coverage
shall not be cancelled except after (30~thirty days prior written notice or ten (10) dam
prior written notice for non payment of premium has been will--be given to the City
certified mail before any cancellation of coverage. The Director of Risk Management
may authorize a program of self-insurance if it contains an equivalent level of coverage
and protection to the Cit
SECTION 6. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.28.090 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
6.28.090 Fees.
There shall be an annual permit fee established by resolution of the City Council
in an amount sufficient to
recover the actual costs of the newsrack program including permitting inspection, and
administration.
+r~.~iaAatfor}. This fee shall be adiusted annually for inflation by the percentage change in
the Consumer Price Index ("CPI") commencing on July 1, 2009 and on Juiy 1St of each
near thereafter. The cost of installation, maintenance, replacement, removal, and
relocation of newsracks shall be at the sole expense of the owner or permittee.
SECTION 7. Section 6.28.120 is hereby added to the Santa Monica Municipal
Code to read as follows:
6.28.120. Administrative Guidelines.
The Director of Public Works Management shall have the authority to promulgate
and or adopt administrative regulations that are consistent with and further the terms
and the requirements of this Chapter. All administrative guidelines shall be in writing,
SECTION 8. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 9. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection,. sentence, clause,
or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 10. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the
official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Attachment 2
Newsracks (K-Jack Model 100 equivalent)
09/02/2008
I Woodgrain panel.
Single pedestal base, bolted.
Painted metal frame (olive drab).