[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of High Bridge 2-9-2006 as Ch. 58 of the 2006 Code of the Borough of High Bridge.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any self-service or coin-operated box, container, storage
unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the display
and/or distribution and/or sale of newspapers or news periodicals.
That area between sidewalks 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. A "parkway" shall also include
any area within a roadway which is not public or open to vehicular
travel.
That portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel.
Any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians.
All that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes
and shall include, but not be limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys
and sidewalks.
A.
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack in any of the predominantly residential use districts of the Borough which, for the purpose of this chapter, shall be the zone districts known as R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 and/or any open space district known as the G-Zone as designated in Chapter 145 of this Code.
B.
In any other zone district other than described in Subsection A above, the following restrictions shall apply:
(1)
No
person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack 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 or over any portion
of the roadway of any public street.
A.
Any person or entity that installs a newsrack within the Borough
of High Bridge shall notify the Zoning Officer of the Borough of High
Bridge within 15 days of its installation and shall supply the following
information:
(1)
The location of each newsrack to be installed or maintained in the
Borough by the applicant.
(2)
The name, address and telephone number of the applicant.
(3)
The name, address and telephone number of the circulation director
of the newspaper or news periodical which is to be displayed, sold
or distributed in the particular newsrack.
B.
No more than one notification shall be required per applicant, regardless
of the number of newsracks the applicant maintains in the Borough.
C.
From the information supplied by the applicant, the Zoning Officer
shall determine whether the newsrack has been properly located.
Any newsrack which, in whole or part, rests upon, in or over
any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with the following standards:
A.
No newsracks
shall exceed five feet in height, 30 inches in width or two feet in
depth.
B.
Newsracks
which are placed near a curb or adjacent to the wall of a building.
C.
Newsracks
may be chained or otherwise attached to one another; however, no more
than three newsracks may be joined together in this manner, and a
space of no less than 18 inches shall separate each group of three
newsracks so attached.
D.
No newsrack or group of attached newsracks allowed under Subsection C hereof shall weigh, in the aggregate, in excess of 125 pounds when empty.
E.
No newsrack
shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(1)
Within
three feet of any marked crosswalk.
(2)
Within
15 feet of the curb return of any unmarked crosswalk.
(3)
Within
three feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or
other emergency facility.
(4)
Within
three feet of any driveway.
(5)
Within
10 feet to the rear of any sign or other demarcation marking the beginning
of a designated bus stop.
(6)
Within
three feet of any bus bench, except where such bench is within a bus
shelter, in which event this restriction shall not apply, provided
that the newsrack is not placed within such bus shelter.
(7)
Within
three 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.
(8)
Within
or upon any public right-of-way in a residential zone, as shown and
designated on the Zoning Map.
F.
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.
G.
Each newsrack
shall be maintained in a clean, neat condition and in good repair
at all times.
Within 30 days after this chapter becomes effective, every person or other entity which places or maintains a newsrack on the streets of the Borough of High Bridge shall have his or its name, address and telephone number of the circulation director of the newspaper or news periodical affixed thereto in a place where such information may be easily seen. The applicant shall present evidence of compliance with this section when application is made to the Zoning Officer under § 240-3 hereof.
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 10 days and procedure for obtaining a hearing before the Zoning Officer, if desired. Tagging shall include notice sent to the circulation director by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address provided in § 240-3 above.
B.
Notwithstanding Subsection A 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 the location of the newsrack, the Zoning Officer or his designate may, as an alternative to tagging said 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, and no hearing has been requested, said newsrack shall be removed by the Director of Public Works or his designate and stored in any convenient place. The Director of Public Works or his designate shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a notice of removal to the circulation director by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address provided in § 240-3 above. Such notice shall state the date the newsrack was removed, the reason therefor, the location and the procedure for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the Director of Public Works, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to these provisions shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within 45 days after such removal and upon the payment of reasonable charges of removal and storage therefor. Upon the failure of the owner to claim such newsrack and pay the reasonable charges within 45 days after the mailing of written notice of removal, such newsrack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property in possession of the Police Department and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of applicable law.
D.
In the case of 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, said newsrack may
be summarily removed and stored in a convenient location so as to
eliminate the danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public.
The Director of Public Works or his designate shall notify, as soon
as reasonably practicable, 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 Zoning Officer, if
desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to this subsection
shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within 45 days after
the mailing of a written notice of removal and upon the payment of
reasonable charges of removal and storage.
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 herein. Those newsracks installed prior to
the effective date of any provision enacted hereunder shall be brought
into compliance with said provisions within 30 days of the effective
date thereof. Any newsrack not brought into compliance within the
aforementioned time period shall be deemed to be in violation of this
chapter.
Each coin-operated newsrack shall be equipped with a coin-return
mechanism to permit a person using the machine to secure an immediate
refund in the event that the newsrack door does not open. The coin-return
mechanism shall be maintained in good working order.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place or to maintain any publication
or material in newsracks which exposes to public view any pictorial
material, which depicts or appears to depict nudity, offensive or
sexually explicit material.
B.
Definitions.
(1)
NUDITY
OFFENSIVE MATERIAL
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The showing of less than fully opaque covering of the genitals,
pubic hair, buttocks, natal cleft, perineum, anus or anal region of
any person, other than a child under the age of puberty, or any portion
of the breast at or below the areola thereof of any female person,
other than a child under the age of puberty, or the depiction of covered
male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
Material such that the work in which the representations
appear, taken as a whole, appeals to the private interest and patently
depicts or portrays the prohibited sexually explicit material in a
manner which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value.
Any pictorial material depicting human sexual intercourse,
human or animal masturbation, bestiality, oral intercourse and intercourse,
human-animal intercourse, excretory functions, homosexual acts, direct
physical stimulation or touching of unclothed genitals or pubic areas
of the human male or female or flagellation or torture by or upon
a person in the context of a sexual relationship or sexual stimulation.
(2)
The materials shall be judged without regard to any covering which
may be affixed or printed over the material in order to obscure genital
areas in a depiction otherwise falling within the definition of this
section. Works of art or works of anthropological significance are
not included within the definitions of this section.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 240-6 of this chapter, whenever the owner of a newsrack placed in the Borough of High Bridge is in violation of any provision of this chapter, that person or entity, if convicted of such offense, shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty.
