[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
There has been a proliferation of privately owned public telephones
being installed in the public right-of-way in the City. These telephones
have become a focal point in the City, particularly in commercial
districts, for illegal activity, including serving as a center of
drug trafficking, and having caused vehicular and pedestrian obstructions
to traffic when the telephones are in use. It is, therefore, the determination
of this Council that in the interests of the public safety and welfare
of the citizens of the City of Poughkeepsie, and the City itself,
this article regulating the installation and placement of public telephones,
is hereby enacted.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person responsible for placing and maintaining a pay
telephone in a public right-of-way.
Any self-service currency or credit-operated telephone, including
customer-owned or customer-leased telephone, and including any telephone
owned by the local exchange company or by any other person, which
is held out for use by the general public upon payment of a fee or
charge by currency or credit.
Any individual, business, firm, corporation, association,
partnership or other organization or group of persons.
Any area dedicated to public use for the purpose of travel
or passage and including streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, planting
strips, alleys and roadways.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
No person shall place or maintain any pay telephone on or above
any public right-of-way or in any place requiring the user to stand
in or otherwise occupy any public right-of-way in the City of Poughkeepsie
without first having obtained a permit as provided in this article.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
(a)
Application for permit shall be made in writing to the City Administrator
upon such form as may be established for such purpose and shall contain
the name and address of the applicant, the specific location of the
proposed telephone or telephones and shall be signed by the applicant.
(b)
Before installation, a plan of the pay telephone shall be submitted,
in sufficient detail describing the size, location, equipment and
means of installation and cabling.
(c)
Each application must be accompanied by a permit fee of $25 per pay
telephone covered by such application.
(d)
The term of a permit shall be one year to commence on June 1 and
to expire on May 31.
(e)
A renewal application shall be filed no later than 60 days prior
to the expiration date and must be accompanied by a fee of $10 for
each pay telephone covered thereby if no change is to be made in the
location of said pay telephone or $25 per pay telephone for which
a change of location is requested.
(f)
Each applicant shall file with the application for a permit or for
the renewal thereof a certificate of public liability insurance written
on an occurrence basis indicating the City of Poughkeepsie as a named
insured with limits of not less than $1,000,000 per accident and $2,000,000
aggregate and property damage insurance with limits of not less than
$100,000 per accident and $300,000 aggregate. Said certificates of
insurance must be written by an insurer licensed to do business in
the State of New York.
(g)
The City Administrator shall be informed of the intent of any person
to remove or relocate a pay telephone.
(h)
Before receiving a permit, an applicant shall:
(1)
Execute an indemnification agreement substantially as follows:
The applicant and any other person on whose behalf the application
is made agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Poughkeepsie
against liability for all claims for damage to property or injury
to or death of persons arising out of or resulting from the issuance
of the permit or the control, maintenance or ownership or use of each
pay telephone.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
(a)
Pay telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without
charge:
(b)
Current telephone rates shall be posted on the pay telephone or on
the telephone booth.
(c)
The identity of the inter-exchange company carrying calls from the
pay telephone and instructions for obtaining access to other inter-exchange
companies shall be posted on the pay telephone or booth.
(d)
The permit number shall be posted on the pay telephone or booth.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
Pay telephones shall comply with the following standards:
(a)
No booth surrounding a pay telephone shall exceed eight feet in height,
four feet in width or four feet in depth.
(b)
Each pay telephone shall be equipped with a coin-return mechanism
to permit a person using the telephone to secure an immediate refund
if a call cannot be placed. The coin-return mechanism shall be maintained
in good working order.
(c)
Each pay telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible to
everyone using the telephone, a telephone number of the distributor
and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report
a malfunction, to secure a refund or to give the notices provided
for in this article.
(d)
Pay telephones shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition
and in good repair at all times. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, a telephone shall be served and maintained so that:
(1)
It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked
paint in the visible painted areas thereof.
(2)
It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the visible unpainted
metal areas thereon.
(3)
Any clear plastic or glass parts are unbroken and reasonably
free of cracks, dents, graffiti blemishes and discolorations.
(4)
Any paper or cardboard parts or inserts are reasonably free
of tears, peeling or facing.
(5)
The structural parts thereof are not broken or unduly misshapen.
(6)
The telephone receiver is attached to the pay telephone.
(e)
Any owner or permittee who fails to maintain its pay telephone in
working condition may be given a ten-day notice by the city to repair
the telephone. If the telephone is not in working condition at the
end of the ten-day period, the City Administrator may revoke the permit
unless the permittee provides assurance that the telephone shall be
repaired or removed.
(f)
Each pay telephone shall provide local directory or information assistance
without charge, provided that the distributor is not charged for such
call by the local telephone company.
(g)
Each pay telephone shall, upon written request of the Chief of Police,
be restricted to outgoing calls only, within 10 days of the request.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
(a)
No pay telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any
public street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:
(1)
Endangers the safety of persons or property;
(2)
Unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrians
or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles;
(3)
Unreasonably interferes with the ingress or egress from any
residence or place of business; or
(4)
Interferes with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants
or mailboxes permitted at or near said location.
(b)
Pay telephones shall be placed or otherwise secured so as to prevent
their being blown down or around the public street or sidewalk, but
shall not be chained or otherwise secured to any traffic or street
signs, signals, hydrants or mailboxes.
(c)
No pay telephones shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(1)
Within any marked crosswalk.
(2)
Within three feet of a curb return of any unmarked crosswalk.
(3)
Within 15 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 of any public area improved with a lawn, flowers,
shrubs, trees or other landscaping.
(6)
At any location where the clear space for the passageway of
pedestrians is reduced to less than six feet.
(7)
Within three feet of any building unless written permission
is secured from the property owner and filed with the application.
(8)
Within 10 feet of any entrance to a residence, store or public
building.
(d)
Pay telephones shall not be placed on sidewalks in front of street
addresses where there appears to be continuous criminal activity.
"Continuous criminal activity" means reports to police of more than
four criminal incidents at an address in a month prior to the date
of the application or more than 12 reported criminal incidents in
a year prior to the date of the application.
(e)
No pay telephone or telecommunication device shall be placed on a sidewalk within 10,000 feet of any other telephone or telecommunication device in any R-1, R-2 and PRD District as described in Chapter 19, Zoning.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
(a)
A licensee granted a permit to install or operate a pay telephone
after the date this chapter becomes effective shall pay to the city
for the continued privilege and use of the streets, rights-of-way,
easements, public ways and other facilities of the City, in the operation
of pay telephones and for supervision thereof by the city during the
term of the permit, a sum based upon the monthly gross usage of the
pay telephone as follows:
(b)
A pay telephone licensee shall file with the Commissioner of Finance,
within 45 days after the expiration of each month, a detailed financial
and revenue statement clearly showing the gross monthly usage of each
pay telephone during the preceding month and certified by a certified
public accountant or officer of a pay telephone licensee attesting
to the accuracy, completeness and veracity of the usage figures. Such
statement shall be in the form and format approved by the Comptroller
of the city.
(c)
Payment of the monthly commission shall be rendered to the city at
the time the financial statement is filed.
(d)
In the event that payment is not made within 30 days after the date
specified in this section, then such pay telephone licensee may be
declared in violation of this article and the license granted hereunder
may be revoked, terminated or canceled in the manner prescribed by
this article.
(e)
The right of audit and recomputation of any and all amounts paid
as commissions shall always be accorded to the city.
(f)
No acceptance of payment shall be construed as a release of or an
accord or satisfaction of any claim that the city might have for further
or additional sums payable under the terms of this article or for
any other performance or obligation of a pay telephone licensee.
(g)
Payments of compensation made by a pay telephone licensee to the
city, pursuant to the provisions of this article, shall be considered
in addition to and exclusive of any and all authorized taxes, business
license fees, other fees, other levies or assessments presently in
effect or subsequently adopted.
(h)
In the event that an operator wishes to place more than one pay telephone
in a given location in addition to the plan or sketch as required,
he shall submit economic or demographic data to support the need for
the number of pay telephones proposed. The City Administrator shall
review this data and, after consultation with the Police Department,
he shall have the discretion to allow more than one pay telephone
to be placed or maintained in the proposed location.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
Upon receipt of a complaint by a citizen or a representative
of the Police Department that the provisions of this article are not
being complied with or that the location and use of a pay telephone
interferes with the health and welfare of the public, the City Administrator,
or his/her designee, shall conduct a hearing, after providing notices
of the same to all affected parties to ascertain if the provisions
of this article have been violated of if the use of the pay telephone
endangers the health and welfare of the community. If he/she finds
by the preponderance of the evidence presented that the use of the
telephone constitutes a violation of the standards and conditions
of this article or constitutes a threat to the health and welfare
of the public, he/she shall revoke any permit issued for the placement
of such pay telephone or may also order such other relief as he/she
deems fair.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
The distributor of all existing pay telephones, except those
who operate under a franchise granted by the city and subject to special
franchise assessment for such pay telephone equipment, shall make
application for a permit under the provisions of this article within
60 days after the effective date of this article.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, word, section or part of
this article shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such judgment shall not
affect, impune or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined
in operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, word, section or
part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment
shall have been rendered.
[Ord. of 5-15-1997, § 1]
This article shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
