[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Great
Neck Plaza 10-19-1983 as L.L. No. 9-1983.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Great Neck Plaza hereby finds
it to be in the public interest to provide for the regulation of the installation
and maintenance of newspaper vending machines within the Village of Great
Neck Plaza.
The unregulated 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 persons performing essential utility, traffic control and emergency services.
Unregulated newsracks may cause an inconvenience or danger to persons using
public rights-of-way, are unsightly and constitute a public nuisance. The
provisions contained in this chapter are intended to remedy these problems.
A.
DISTRIBUTOR
NEWSRACK
ROADWAY
SIDEWALK
STREET
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 and commonly known as "honor boxes."
That area between the sidewalks and the curb of any street, and where
there is no sidewalk that area between the property lines adjacent thereto,
whether open to vehicular travel or not, but improved, designed or ordinarily
used for traffic.
Any surface provided and intended for the exclusive use of pedestrians.
All that area dedicated to public use for street purposes and shall
include, but not be limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys, stairs and sidewalks.
B.
The use of the singular herein shall include the plural.
Any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public
sidewalk or roadway shall conform to the following requirements:
A.
No newsrack shall exceed five feet in height, 30 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 periodicals offered for sale therein. The sign shall use
no more than three colors (with black and white considered colors), none of
which may be fluorescent or Day-Glo colors. The sign area shall be no more
than 50% of the total area of the newsrack. If illuminated, the sign shall
be illuminated indirectly or internally with white light. Exposed neon tubing
shall not be permitted. An underwriter's label shall be affixed to every
sign having an electrical component.
C.
Each newsrack shall be equipped with a coin-return mechanism
in good working order so as to permit a person inserting a coin to secure
an immediate refund in the event that the newspaper or news periodical offered
for sale therein is not received by that person for any reason.
D.
Each newsrack shall have affixed to it in a permanent
manner a visible, legible notice in substantially the following form:
|
IN CASE OF A MALFUNCTION OF THIS
NEWSRACK OR AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING IT
OR TO SECURE A REFUND, THE DISTRIBUTOR
WHO HAS PLACED AND MAINTAINS IT IS:
|
|
Name of distributor
Number, street or P.O. box
Post office, zip code
Telephone number, including area code
|
E.
Each newsrack shall be maintained in a neat and clean
condition and in good repair at all times.
F.
No newsrack shall be placed or allowed to remain in any
location so that it interferes with the removal of snow or ice or the removal
of leaves or debris, whether the removal is a public or private duty.
G.
No newsrack shall be placed or maintained projecting
onto, into or over or resting wholly or partly upon any portion of the roadway
of a public street.
H.
No newsrack shall be placed or maintained in such a manner
as to endanger the safety of persons or property, or in a place used for public
utility purposes, public transportation or other public or governmental purposes,
or in such a way as to interfere with or impede the flow of pedestrian or
vehicle traffic, the ingress or egress from any structure or building, whether
residential, business or governmental, or the use of public fixtures, including,
but not limited to, utility poles, mail boxes, fire alarms, traffic signals
or control signs, hydrants or parking meters.
I.
No newsrack shall be affixed or attached to any fixture
or other property owned or maintained by the Village of Great Neck Plaza,
which property is not suitable for such attachment, including, but not limited
to, aluminum streetlighting poles, traffic signal equipment and poles erected
for the placement of traffic regulatory signs. No newsrack shall be affixed
or attached to any other fixture upon, in or over any public sidewalk or roadway
unless that fixture is owned by the distributor or by a person who has consented
to such attachment in a writing filed in the office of the Building Inspector
of the Village of Great Neck Plaza. Further, no newsrack shall be affixed
or attached to any fixture upon, in or over any public sidewalk or roadway
unless the attachment is rigid and secure and prevents the newsrack from swiveling,
turning or otherwise moving while so attached, and such newsrack, as so attached,
does not violate any other provision of this chapter.
J.
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 15 feet of any fire hydrant.
(4)
Within five feet of any fire or police call box, fire
alarm or other emergency communication device, including, but not limited
to, public telephones.
(5)
Within five feet of any driveway, public or private.
(6)
Within 50 feet of any fire or police station.
(7)
Within three feet ahead or 15 feet to the rear of any
designated bus stop, taxi stand or place marked for handicapped parking.
(8)
Within three feet of any bus bench or shelter.
(9)
At any location in which the clearance space for the
passage of pedestrians is reduced to six feet or less.
(10)
Within 300 feet of any other newsrack which contains
the same issue or edition of the same newspaper or new periodical.
[Amended 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
(11)
On a sidewalk or parkway opposite a newsstand or another
newsrack.
(12)
Within three feet of any area improved with lawn, flowers,
shrubs or trees or within three feet of any display window of any building
abutting the sidewalk or parking or in such manner as to impede or interfere
with the reasonable use of such window for display purposes.
(13)
So that adjacent newsracks extend for more than four
feet parallel to any curb.
[Added 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
(14)
At any location at which it will obstruct the egress
of any passenger from a legally parked vehicle.
[Added 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
K.
Twice every year, upon adequate prior written notice
of not less than five business days, the permit holder will arrange for temporary
removal of its newsracks for street cleaning purposes.
[Added 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
[Amended 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
A.
Each distributor shall be required to obtain a permit
from the Building Inspector for each newsrack prior to its being placed in
a public right-of-way, which permit shall be renewed annually on or prior
to January 30 of each year. The Building Inspector shall take action on any
application for such a permit within 15 business days after its submission.
B.
The fee for the initial permit shall be $20 per newsrack,
and the fee for each renewal permit shall be $10 per newsrack.
C.
The application for such permit shall be filed with the
Village Clerk and shall include the following information:
(1)
The specific location of each proposed newsrack, either
by a metes and bounds description or by exactly marking the location of each
newsrack on a copy of the village map.
(2)
The physical dimensions of the newsrack.
(3)
A photograph of the newsrack as it is proposed to be placed in the village, in sufficient detail so as to demonstrate conformance with the provisions of § 212-4B of this chapter.
(4)
An agreement to indemnify the village and hold it harmless
from all claims, expenses, loss, damage, injury and liability resulting from,
arising out of or in any way connected with the operation or placement of
the proposed newsracks within the village.
(5)
Proof of liability and property damage insurance for
each newsrack in the amount of at least $1,000,000, naming the village as
an additional insured.
(6)
A description of how each newsrack will be secured.
(7)
The name, address and telephone number of the permit
holder.
(8)
The name, address and telephone number of the person
or company responsible for maintenance of each newsrack on a day-to-day basis,
if other than the permit holder.
D.
No company will be issued a permit for more than five
newsracks containing the same newspaper.
A.
Any person who places in operation a newsrack without
first obtaining a permit or who places in operation a newsrack which violates
the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
Each violation of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed
$250 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both.
B.
Any distributor who installs a newsrack in a public right-of-way
within the village without first having obtained a permit for said newsrack
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or who is maintaining a
newsrack without having in effect a valid permit under the provisions of this
chapter, shall have five business days after written notification of said
violation to correct it. Failure to correct a violation in the prescribed
time period will authorize the village to remove the newsrack. In addition,
the village may remove a newsrack without notice if the violation of this
chapter creates an imminent danger of personal injury or property damage.
In the event that a newsrack is impounded by the village, the permit holder
will be promptly notified and charged an impoundment fee of $75. per newsrack.
[Added 9-6-1989 by L.L. No. 8-1989]
It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector and he is given the power
and authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
