[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Somerville 6-15-87 as Ord. No. 1023; amended in its entirety 9-6-88 by Ord. No. 1053. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any self-service or coin-operated box, container, storage
unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the display
and/or distribution and/or sale of newspapers or news periodicals.
That area between sidewalks and the curb of any street and,
where there is no sidewalk, that area between the edge of the roadway
and the property line adjacent thereto. A "parkway" shall also include
any area within a roadway which is not public or open to vehicular
travel.
That portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel.
Any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians.
All that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes
and shall include, but not be limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys
and sidewalks.
A.Â
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack in any of the predominantly residential use districts of the borough which, for the purpose of this chapter, shall be the zone districts known as "R-1, (Single-Family Residential District)," "R-2, (Single-Family Residential District)," "G (Garden Apartment District)" and the "A (Apartment District)" as more particularly described in § 102-83, § 102-84, § 102-85 and § 102-86 of the Somerville Borough Code.
B.Â
In any other zone district other than described in Subsection A above, the following restrictions shall apply:
(1)Â
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack or other structure
which projects onto, into or over any part of the roadway of any public
street or which rests, wholly or in part, upon or over any portion
of the roadway of any public street.
(2)Â
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack which is located
in or any public sidewalk or parkway when such installation causes
the newsrack to be located within one of the prohibited locations
described in § 113-4F below.
A.Â
Any person or entity that installs a newsrack within the Borough
of Somerville shall notify the Director of Public Works of the Borough
of Somerville within fifteen (15) days of its installation and shall
supply the following information:
(1)Â
The location of each newsrack to be installed or maintained in the
borough by the applicant.
(2)Â
The name, address and telephone number of the applicant.
(3)Â
The name, address and telephone number of the circulation director
of the newspaper or news periodical which is to be displayed, sold
or distributed in the particular newsrack.
(4)Â
A rough sketch of the location of each newsrack sketch shall show
its location with respect to any of the restricted locations described
in § 113-4F of this chapter.
B.Â
No more than one (1) notification shall be required per applicant,
regardless of the number of newsracks the applicant maintains in the
borough.
C.Â
From the information supplied by the applicant, the Director of Public
Works shall determine whether the newsrack has been properly located.
Any newsrack which, in whole or part, rests upon, in or over
any public sidewalk or parkway shall comply with the following standards:
Within thirty (30) days after this chapter becomes effective, every person or other entity which places or maintains a newsrack on the streets of the Borough of Somerville shall have his or its name, address and telephone number of the circulation director of the newspaper or news periodical affixed thereto in a place where such information may be easily seen. The applicant shall present evidence of compliance with this section when application is made to the Director of Public Works under § 113-3 hereof.
A.Â
Any newsrack installed, used or maintained in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be tagged with a notice of violation stating the violation, date of tagging, notice of intention to remove the newsrack if the violation is not corrected within ten (10) days and procedure for obtaining a hearing before the Director of Public Works, if desired. Tagging shall include notice sent to the circulation director by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address provided in § 113-3 above.
B.Â
Notwithstanding Subsection A in the case of violations of this chapter relative to restrictions upon attachments of newsracks to property other than that owned by the owner of the newsrack, to fixed objects or to each other and upon the location of the newsrack, the Director of Public Works or his designate may, as an alternative to tagging said newsrack, move, align, remove such attachment or otherwise move such rack or racks in order to restore them to a legal condition.
C.Â
Any newsrack which has been tagged and remains in violation of the provisions stated on the tag past the ten-day correction period, and no hearing has been requested, said newsrack shall be removed by the Director of Public Works or his designate and stored in any convenient place. The Director of Public Works or his designate shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a notice of removal to the circulation director by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address provided in § 113-3 above. Such notice shall state the date the newsrack was removed, the reason therefor, the location and the procedure for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the Director of Public Works, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to these provisions shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within forty-five (45) days after such removal and upon the payment of reasonable charges of removal and storage therefor. Upon the failure of the owner to claim such newsrack and pay the reasonable charges within forty-five (45) days after the mailing of written notice of removal, such newsrack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property in possession of the Police Division and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of applicable law.
D.Â
In the case of any newsrack in violation of the provisions of this
chapter, which violation creates an immediate danger to the health,
safety or welfare of the public, which violation cannot be corrected
by moving or otherwise repositioning the newsrack, said newsrack may
be summarily removed and stored in a convenient location so as to
eliminate the danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public.
The Director of Public Works or his designate shall notify, as soon
as reasonably practicable, the owner thereof by mailing a notice of
removal to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall
state the date the newsrack was removed, the reasons therefor, the
location and procedure for claiming the newsrack and the procedure
for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the Director of Public
Works, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to
this subsection shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed
within forty-five (45) days after the mailing of a written notice
of removal and upon the payment of reasonable charges of removal and
storage.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all newsracks,
whether installed and maintained prior to or after the effective date
of any of the provisions herein. Those newsracks installed prior to
the effective date of any provision enacted hereunder shall be brought
into compliance with said provisions within thirty (30) days of the
effective date thereof. Any newsrack not brought into compliance within
the aforementioned time period shall be deemed to be in violation
of this chapter.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 113-6 of this chapter, whenever the owner of a newsrack placed in the Borough of Somerville is in violation of this chapter or in any section thereon, that person or entity, if convicted of such offense, should be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500).
Each coin-operated 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 the newsrack door does not open. The coin-return
mechanism shall be maintained in good working order.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to place or to maintain any publication
or material in newsracks which exposes to public view any pictorial
material which depicts or appears to depict nudity, offensive or sexually
explicit material.
B.Â
Definitions.
(1)Â
NUDITY
OFFENSIVE MATERIAL
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The showing of less than fully opaque covering of the genitals,
public hair, buttocks, natal cleft, perineum, anus or anal region
of any person, other than a child under the age of puberty, or any
portion of the breast at or below the areola thereof of any female
person, other than a child under the age of puberty, or the depiction
of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
Material such that the work in which the representations
appear, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest and patently
depicts or portrays the prohibited sexually explicit material in a
manner which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value.
Any pictorial material depicting human sexual intercourse,
human or animal masturbation, bestiality, oral intercourse and intercourse,
human-animal intercourse, excretory functions, homosexual acts, direct
physical stimulation or touching of unclothed genitals or public areas
of the human male or female or flagellation or torture by or upon
a person in the context of a sexual relationship or sexual stimulation.
(2)Â
The materials shall be judged without regard to any covering which
may be affixed or printed over the material in order to obscure genital
areas in a depiction otherwise falling within the definition of this
section. Works of art or works of anthropological significance are
not included within the definitions of this section.
