[Adopted 2-7-1994 by Ord. No. 94-03 (Ch. 137, Art. IV, of the 1987 Code)]
The following words and terms, when used in this article, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
CLEAR ZONE
That roadside border area, starting at the edge of the traveled way, available for safe use by errant vehicles. For the purpose of this article, the "clear zone" shall be as follows:
Posted Speed Limit
(miles per hour)
Clear Zone
(feet)
25
10
35
15
45
17.5
50
20
NEWS DISPENSERS
Any structure or device designed, intended or having the purpose of making available to the general public any newspaper, magazine, periodical or other literature in either an open or enclosed (weathertight) container, rack or fixture located outside the confines of a building.
A. 
News dispensers may be placed adjacent to the wall of a building, but shall not be separated from such wall by more than six inches, provided that there is sufficient sidewalk area remaining so as to not unreasonably interfere with pedestrian traffic or require pedestrians to leave the sidewalk on account of an obstruction created by the placement of such news dispensers. Unless otherwise permitted by this section, news dispensers may not be placed within 1 1/2 feet of a gutterline or within one foot thereof in areas where the distance from the gutterline to the far edge of the sidewalk is less than 6 1/2 feet wide.
B. 
Placement of news dispensers is prohibited within the following locations:
(1) 
Within the traveled way, shoulders or acceleration or deceleration lanes of any street.
(2) 
Within medians or channelizing islands.
(3) 
Within three feet of any marked crosswalk.
(4) 
Within the curbed portion of a curb return (from point of tangency to point of tangency), except that news dispensers may be placed adjacent to the wall of a building as set forth in Subsection A above notwithstanding this subsection.
(5) 
Within five feet of any fire hydrant or similar emergency facility.
(6) 
Within three feet of any driveway.
(7) 
Within 10 feet to the rear of any sign or other demarcation marking the beginning of a designated bus stop.
(8) 
Within three feet of any bus bench.
(9) 
Placement of news dispensers is prohibited within the clear zone, subject to the following exceptions:
(a) 
News dispensers shall be permitted within the clear zone in close proximity to fixed objects which might operate to impede the safe recovery of errant vehicles to the traveled way, but shall be no closer to the traveled way than said fixed object. For the limited purpose of this exception, clusters or rows of a maximum of three news dispensers positioned adjacent to one another are permissible, provided that at least one of the aforesaid news dispensers in each row or cluster shall be at least partially within five feet of the aforesaid object.
(b) 
Even where there are no fixed objects which might operate to impede the safe recovery of errant vehicles, news dispensers shall be permitted within the clear zone where there are sidewalks or walkways but shall be placed on the far side thereof.
(c) 
News dispensers shall be permitted within the clear zone on the near side of a sidewalk or walkway or in the grassy area, as close to the sidewalk or walkway as practicable, but only where it is not practicable to be on the far side of the sidewalk or walkway or in close proximity to a fixed object.
(d) 
News dispensers shall be permitted in areas within the clear zone where there are no fixed objects which might operate to impede the safe recovery of an errant vehicle to the traveled way, sidewalks or walkways, but only in areas where pedestrians gather for other purposes. These areas include bus stops and park and ride facilities. Placement of a news dispenser pursuant to this exception shall be at least 7 1/2 feet away from the gutterline where practicable, and the news dispenser shall be placed to service only the area where pedestrians gather.
(e) 
Circumstances referred to in Subsection B(9)(c) and (d) above which will render placement of news dispensers not practicable include, for example, where news dispensers would encroach upon private property or block display windows or where there are unacceptable ground conditions, such as a ditch, which prevent the placement of or access to a news dispenser.
(10) 
Except as provided for in Subsection C(2) hereafter, no news dispenser shall be placed within a two-hundred-fifty-foot radius of another.
C. 
Any news dispenser which, in whole or in part, rests upon or in any public street right-of-way shall comply with the following standards:
(1) 
Unless otherwise permitted, news dispensers shall not exceed 55 inches in height, 36 inches in width or 30 inches in depth.
(2) 
News dispensers may be chained or otherwise attached to one another; however, no more than three news dispensers may be joined together in this manner.
(3) 
No news dispensers shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes, other than that dealing with the display, sale or purchase of a newspaper or periodical sold therein.
(4) 
Every news dispenser placed in the street right-of-way shall have affixed thereto, in a place where such information may be easily seen, the name, address and telephone number of the owner and person (if different from the owner) responsible for maintaining the news dispenser.
(5) 
Any news dispenser maintained on any street right-of-way which creates an imminent, unreasonable hazard to pedestrians or traffic or interferes with the response to an emergency situation by a public officer, firefighter, ambulance corps or medic may be summarily relocated to the nearest location not presenting said hazard. Any such relocation shall be reported as soon as reasonably possible to the permittee, who may then relocate the news dispenser to any location which is in compliance with the terms of this article.
(6) 
Unless otherwise approved by the governmental agency owning the street right-of-way on which the news dispenser is located, no news dispenser shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any public fixture located within the right-of-way, including but not limited to official signs, sign supports, guide rails, traffic signal supports, streetlighting supports, controller boxes or bus shelters. In no event shall any attachment be made to any fire hydrant.
(7) 
News dispensers shall be securely placed so as to reasonably prevent personal injury or property damage due to tilting, tipping or overturning.
(8) 
Every news dispenser shall be maintained so that:
(a) 
It is reasonably free of dirt and grease.
(b) 
It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint.
(c) 
It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion.
(d) 
The structural parts thereof are intact.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both.