[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover 12-10-1984 as Ord. No. 21-1984. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Handbills — See Ch. 207.
Obscene materials — See Ch. 259.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 337.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
DISPLAY WINDOW
A window used for the display of merchandise.
MAINTAIN
Place, install, maintain or operate a newspaper vending machine.
NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE
Any self-service or coin-operated box, stand, rack, container, storage unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the purpose of offering for sale, vending, distributing or giving away any publication.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association or entity.
PUBLICATION
Any newspaper, magazine, periodical or similar printed matter.
ROADWAY
The portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.
SIDEWALK
Any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians, including the area between the sidewalks and the curb of any street, or, if there is no sidewalk, the area between the edge of the roadway and the property line adjacent thereto.
STREET
All the area dedicated to public use for public street purposes, including but not limited to roadways, parkways, alleys and sidewalks.
UNPROTECTED LANDSCAPED AREA
An area improved with flowers or shrubs that is not protected by either a man-made barrier, such as a fence, or a natural barrier, such as a hedge.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 9-1985]
No person shall maintain a newspaper vending machine on any public property in the Town of Dover in violation of the provisions of this chapter. Prior to or simultaneous with locating a newspaper vending machine, the owner of said machine shall apply for a newspaper vending machine permit for the machine. One permit shall be required for each newspaper vending machine.
An application for a newspaper vending machine permit or for a change of location of an existing newspaper vending machine shall be filed in writing with the Town Clerk on forms provided by her for that purpose. The application shall state:
A. 
The name and address of the applicant.
B. 
The proposed specific location(s) of the newspaper vending machine(s).
C. 
The dimensions of the machine.
D. 
The person responsible for repair or to be notified for any reason whatsoever.
A. 
Type and amount. No newspaper vending machine permit shall be issued unless the machine owner shall have filed with the Town Clerk a copy of an insurance policy, issued by a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of this state providing for the payment of not less than $1,000,000 to satisfy all claims for damage by reason of bodily injuries to or the death of any person due to the maintenance of such machine and further providing for the payment of not less than $25,000 to satisfy all claims for property damage due to the maintenance of such machine.
B. 
Notice. The insurance policy shall provide that the insurance company shall notify the Town of Dover 10 days prior to cancellation or substantial change in coverage.
No newspaper vending machine permit shall be issued unless the machine owner shall have executed and filed with the Town Clerk an indemnification agreement pursuant to which the owner agrees to forever defend, protect, indemnify and save harmless the Town of Dover, its officers, agents and employees from and against any and all causes of action, injuries, losses, damages, expenses, fees and costs arising out of or to arise out of the owner's maintenance of a machine or machines in the Town of Dover.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 9-1985]
The fee for a newspaper vending machine permit shall be $25.
All newspaper vending machine permits shall expire annually on January 1 at 12:00 midnight. Permits may be renewed annually by filing an application in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. All permits issued during the year shall expire on the annual date set forth above, and there shall be no reduction in permit fees.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 9-1985]
Newspaper vending machine permits shall be issued within 10 business days after the filing of an application therefor, provided that the applicant has complied with all the requirements of this chapter. In the event that a machine for which a permit is sought is not in compliance with the provisions of this chapter but the machine can be relocated at the same location so as to comply with this chapter, then the town shall so notify the owner, identifying the violation involved, and issuing a permit conditioned on the correction of the violation. In the event that no adjustment of a machine at a particular location would succeed in bringing it into compliance with this chapter, the town may deny a permit and advise the owner of the reasons of denial. The owner shall be given five working days to remove or relocate the machine.
No person shall maintain a newspaper vending machine on any portion of a roadway, nor shall any person permit a newspaper vending machine to project onto, into or over any portion of a roadway.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 9-1985]
A. 
Subject to provisions hereinafter set forth, newspaper vending machines maintained on public sidewalks shall be either:
(1) 
Parallel to the curb, with the outer edge not less than 12 inches nor more than 18 inches from the edge of such curb; or
(2) 
Parallel to the wall of a building, with the inside edge not more than six inches from such wall but less than three feet from an entrance or exit of a building.
B. 
No person shall place, install, maintain or operate a newspaper vending machine at any of the following locations on any public sidewalk or parkway:
(1) 
Within six feet of any marked crosswalk as measured along the curbline.
(2) 
Within 15 feet of the curb return of any unmarked crosswalk as measured along the curbline.
(3) 
Within 15 feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility as measured along the curbline.
(4) 
Within six feet of any driveway as measured along the curbline.
(5) 
Within three feet ahead of and 15 feet to the rear of any sign marking a designated bus stop as measured along the curbline.
(6) 
Within four feet of the outer edge of any bus bench.
(7) 
Within six feet of any unprotected landscaped area.
(8) 
Within six feet, as measured along the building line, of any display window of any building abutting the sidewalk or in such location as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of such window for display purposes and as to all other nondisplay windows not in front of such window if it will block in any way the view into or out of such window.
(9) 
At any location where installation of the machine would reduce the clear space for the passage of pedestrians to less than three feet.
(10) 
At any location that would interfere with the use for a public utility purpose, public transportation purpose or other governmental purpose.
(11) 
At any location where the machine would unreasonably interfere with or obstruct the flow of pedestrian or vehicle traffic, the ingress into or egress from any residence, place of business or any legally parked or stopped vehicle or at any location where the machine would endanger the safety of persons or property.
(12) 
At any location where the machine would unreasonably interfere with the use of poles, posts, traffic signs, traffic signals, hydrants, mailboxes or other objects permitted at or near such location.
(13) 
At any location where the machine would interfere with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery.
(14) 
Within 200 feet of any other machine on the same side of the street containing the same issue or edition of the same publication or at any location directly opposite any other machine.
Any newspaper vending machine which is placed, installed, maintained or operated, in whole or in part, upon or projecting over any portion of a public sidewalk or roadway shall comply with the following standards:
A. 
No machine shall be larger than five feet in height, 30 inches in width and two feet in depth.
B. 
No machine shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any property not owned by the owner of such machine.
C. 
Machines may be chained or otherwise attached to one another; however, no more than two machines may be joined together in this manner, and a space of not less than 18 inches shall separate each group of three machines so attached.
D. 
No machine, or group of attached machines, shall weigh, in the aggregate, in excess of 125 pounds when empty.
E. 
No machine shall be used for advertising, signs or publicity purposes, other than that dealing with the display, sale or purchase of the publication sold therein.
F. 
Each machine shall be maintained in a clean, neat condition and in good repair at all times.
G. 
The owner of each machine shall permanently affix thereto his name, address and telephone number in a place where such information may be easily seen.
A. 
The police of the Town of Dover may impound any newspaper vending machine that creates a danger to pedestrians or vehicles.
B. 
Written notice of the impoundment must be sent to the owner of the impounded machine within two business days. The owner shall be entitled to obtain the return of the impounded machine from the police upon request during normal business hours, provided that the machine is not being held as evidence in any criminal proceeding.
Any person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $1,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days. Each violation of a section or subsection of this chapter, and each day that a violation continues, shall constitute a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Chapter 1, General Provisions, Art. I.