[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Valley Stream 6-27-1994 by L.L. No. 2-1994. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Valley
Stream finds and declares that:
A.
The uncontrolled placement of newsracks in public
rights-of-way presents an inconvenience and danger to the safety and
welfare of persons using such rights-of-way, including pedestrians,
persons entering and leaving vehicles and buildings and persons performing
essential utility, traffic control and emergency services.
B.
Newsracks located as to cause an inconvenience or
danger to persons using public rights-of-way, and unsightly newsracks
located therein, constitute public nuisances.
C.
The provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained
and enacted are in pursuance of and for the purpose of securing and
promoting the public health and general welfare of persons in the
Village of Valley Stream in their use of public rights-of-way.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The person responsible for placing and maintaining a newsrack
in a public right-of-way.
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 other news periodicals.
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 property line adjacent thereto. "Parkway" shall also include
any area within a roadway that is not open to vehicular travel.
That portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel.
All that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes,
and shall include but not be limited to roadways, parkways, alleys
and sidewalks.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to erect, place, maintain or operate on any public street
or sidewalk or in any other public way or place in the Village of
Valley Stream any newsrack without first having obtained a permit
from the Village Clerk specifying the exact location of such newsrack.
1 permit may be issued to include any number of newsracks and shall
be signed by the applicant.
Application for such permit shall be made, in
writing, to the Village Clerk upon such form as shall be provided
by him/her and shall contain the name and address of the applicant
and the proposed specific location of said newsrack and shall be signed
by the applicant.
A.
As an express condition of the acceptance of such
permit, the permittee thereby agrees to indemnify and save harmless
the Village of Valley Stream, its officers and employees against any
loss, liability or damage, including expenses and costs for bodily
or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any person
as the result of the installation, use or maintenance of a newsrack
within the Village of Valley Stream.
B.
Permits shall be issued for the installation of a
newsrack or newsracks without prior inspection of the location, but
such newsrack or newsracks and the installation, use or maintenance
thereof shall be conditioned upon observance of the provisions of
this chapter. Permits shall be issued within 72 hours (excluding Saturdays,
Sundays and legal holidays) after the application has been filed.
A permit fee of $100 per applicant and $25 for each newsrack shall
be required.
C.
Such permit shall be valid for two years and shall
be renewable pursuant to the procedure for original applications herein
upon payment of the permit fee.
D.
Stickers showing the permit number shall be issued
with the permit and must be displayed on the front of each newsrack
at all times.
Any newsrack which, in whole or in part, rests
upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with
the following standards:
A.
No newsrack shall exceed four feet six inches in height,
thirty inches in width or two feet in thickness.
B.
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 periodical sold therein.
C.
Each 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 he/she is unable to receive the publication
paid for. The coin-return mechanisms shall be maintained in good working
order.
D.
Each newsrack shall have affixed to it in a readily
visible place so as to be seen by anyone using the newsrack a notice
setting forth the name and address of the distributor and the telephone
number of a working service to call to report a malfunction, to secure
a refund or to give the notices provided for in this chapter.
E.
Each newsrack shall be maintained in a neat and clean
condition and in good repair at all times. Specifically, but without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, each newsrack shall be serviced
and maintained so that:
(1)
It is reasonably free of dirt and grease.
(2)
It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and
cracked paint in the visible painted areas thereof.
(3)
It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the
visible unpainted metal areas thereon.
(4)
The clear plastic or glass parts thereof, if any,
through which the publications therein are viewed are unbroken and
reasonably free of cracks, dents, blemishes and discoloration.
(5)
The paper or cardboard parts or inserts thereof are
reasonably free of tears, peeling or fading.
(6)
The structural parts thereof are not broken or unduly
misshapen.
Any newsrack which rests in whole or in part
upon or on any portion of a public right-of-way or which projects
onto, into or over any part of a public right-of-way shall be located
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
A.
No newsrack shall be used or maintained 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 newsrack may be bolted to any fixture located in
the public right-of-way. No newsrack may be chained and locked or
similarly attached to any fixture located in the public right-of-way
unless the distributor places and maintains on deposit with the Village
Clerk a duplicate key to each locking mechanism employed for this
purpose. The Village may cause the temporary removal of such chained
and locked newsracks for such work in the public right-of-way as may
be necessary or required from time to time, in the sole discretion
of the Village. Newsracks may be chained, bolted or otherwise attached
to other newsracks.
C.
Newsracks may be placed next to each other, provided
that no group of newsrack shall extend for a distance of more than
eight (8) feet along a curb and a space of not less than three (3)
feet shall separate each group of newsracks.
D.
No newsrack shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(1)
Within three feet of any marked crosswalk.
(2)
Within 12 feet of the curb return of any unmarked
crosswalk.
(3)
Within five feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box,
police call box or other emergency facility.
(4)
Within five feet of any driveway.
(5)
Within three feet ahead or 15 feet to the rear of
any sign marking a designated bus stop.
(6)
Within three feet of the outer end of any bus bench.
(7)
At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway
of pedestrians is reduced to less than six feet.
(8)
Within three feet of or on any public area improved
with lawn, flowers, shrubs, trees or other landscaping.
(9)
Within 100 feet of any other newsrack on the same
side of the street in the same block containing the same issue or
edition of the same publication.
(10)
On any handicap access ramp.
Upon determination by the Village Clerk that
a newsrack has been installed, used or maintained in violation of
the provisions of this chapter, an order to correct the offending
condition will be issued to the distributor of the newsrack. Such
order shall be telephoned to the distributor and confirmed by mailing
a copy of the order by certified mail, return receipt requested. The
order shall specifically describe the offending condition, suggest
actions necessary to correct the condition and inform the newsrack
distributor of the right to appeal. Failure to properly correct the
offending condition within five days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays
and legal holidays) after the mailing date of the order or to appeal
the order within 3 days after its receipt shall result in the offending
newsrack being summarily removed and processed as unclaimed property.
If the offending newsrack is not properly identified as to owner under
the provisions of this chapter, it shall be removed immediately and
processed as unclaimed property. An impound fee, which shall be measured
by the Village's cost and expense of impounding, shall be assessed
against each newsrack summarily removed. The Village Clerk shall cause
inspection to be made of the corrected condition or of a newsrack
reinstalled after removal under this section. The distributor of said
newsrack shall be charged an inspection fee of $10 for each newsrack
so inspected. This charge shall be in addition to all other fees and
charges required under this chapter.
Any person or entity aggrieved by a finding,
determination, notice, order or action taken under the provisions
of this chapter may appeal and shall be apprised of his right to appeal
to the Board of Trustees. An appeal must be perfected within three
days after receipt of notice of any protested decision or action by
filing with the office of the Board of Trustees a letter of appeal
briefly stating therein the basis for such appeal. A hearing shall
be held on a date no more than 10 days after receipt of the letter
of appeal. The appellant shall be given at least 5 days' notice of
the time and place of the hearing. The Board of Trustees shall give
the appellant, and any other interested party, a reasonable opportunity
to be heard, in order to show cause why the determination of the Village
Clerk should not be upheld. At the conclusion of the hearing, the
Board of Trustees shall make a final and conclusive decision. This
decision shall be immediately appealable to a court of competent jurisdiction.
The term "Village Clerk," as used in this chapter,
shall include his/her designated representative.
In the event that a newsrack remain empty for a period of 30 continuous days, the same shall be deemed abandoned and may be treated in the manner as provided in § 55A-8 for newsracks in violation of the provisions of this chapter.
