The purpose of this chapter is to establish a comprehensive set of regulations applicable to publication vending machines in the public right-of-way. These regulations do not restrict the rights of freedom of the press or distribution of information but ensure the protection of the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. 462, 1984; Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
For the purposes of this chapter:
"Director"
means the community development director.
"Parkway"
means that area between the 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. Parkway also includes any area within a roadway which is not open to vehicular travel.
"Person"
means any individual, company, corporation, association, business or other legal entity.
"Publication vending machine"
means any self-service or coin-operated box, container, storage unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the display and/or sale of any printed material, including but not limited to, newspapers or news periodicals, magazines, books, pictures, photographs and records.
"Right-of-way"
means land which by deed, conveyance, agreement, easement, dedication, usage or process of law is reserved for and dedicated to the general public for street, highway, alley, pedestrian walkway, storm drainage, bicycle path or other purposes.
"Roadway"
means that portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.
"Sidewalk"
means any surface provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians.
"Street"
means all that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes and includes, but is not limited to, roadways, parkways, alleys and sidewalks.
(Ord. 462, 1984; Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
A. 
No person shall install, place, use or maintain any publication vending machine which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway without first obtaining a permit from the director. An amended application for the permit shall be filed with the director the event that additional publication vending machines are installed in the city or removed from the city by the applicant subsequent to the issuing of the original permit by the city.
B. 
The applicant shall pay a separate permit fee per publication vending machine installed in the city and in accordance with the fee schedule adopted by city council resolution.
C. 
An application for a permit for one or more publication vending machines shall be filed with the director for the placement of any publication vending machine in the public right-of-way. The permit shall be valid for one year and shall be renewed pursuant to the procedures set forth for original applications.
D. 
In addition to the permit application, the owner of the publication vending machine or his agent shall also execute a document, approved as to form by the city attorney, agreeing to hold the city, its officers, employees and agents, free and harmless from any claim, demand or judgment in favor of any person, arising out of the location of any publication vending machine located in a public parkway, and deposit with the city clerk a certificate of insurance evidencing that a liability insurance policy in minimum amounts set by the city council has been issued, naming the city as an additional insured, and containing a provision that the policy cannot be canceled except upon 20 days written notice to the city of the fact of such cancellation. If such insurance is canceled at any time during the time the publication vending machine is installed on public property, the publication vending machine shall be removed in accordance with the provisions of Section 12.32.050.
E. 
The requirement in Section 12.32.030(D) of this chapter may be waived by the director in any case when he deems it in the public interest to do so.
F. 
Any non-profit entity, whose purpose or object in their distribution of non-commercial publications is to spread knowledge and ideas, with no thought of commercial gain are exempt from all fees associated with the placement of publication vending machines but are required to adhere to Section D above and provide proof of such non-profit status to the satisfaction of the director.
G. 
A person seeking issuance of a permit pursuant to this chapter shall files with the director a written application on a form supplied by the city. The application shall contain the following information:
1. 
The name, address and telephone number of the applicant;
2. 
The name, address and telephone number of a responsible person whom the city may notify or contact at any time concerning the applicant's publication vending machine;
3. 
The number of publication vending machines and the exact proposed location of each shown on an eight and one-half inch by 11 inch diagram and identifying all items in the public right-of-way such as but not limited to: bus benches, street poles and posts, driveways, wheelchair ramps, other publication vending machines, fire hydrants, crosswalks, curb returns, fire call boxes, buildings, landscaping, bus shelters, bus stops, trash containers, mailboxes and any other public or private improvement within a 20 foot radius; and
4. 
The names of the newspapers, new periodicals, magazines, books, pictures, photographs or records contained in each publication vending machine.
(Ord. 462, 1984; Ord. 585 § 5, 1994; Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
It is unlawful for any person or custodian whether as a principal, agent or employee, either for him or herself or for any other person or body corporate or as an officer of any corporation or otherwise, to place or permit the placement of any publication vending machine within the city or to place any item in an existing publication vending machine without first obtaining a valid business license from the city.
(Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all publication vending machines, whether installed and maintained prior to or after the effective date of any of its provisions. Those publication vending machines installed prior to the effective date of any provision enacted hereunder shall be brought into compliance with this chapter within 120 days of the effective date thereof.
(Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
A. 
No person shall install, use or maintain any publication vending machine 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 a roadway.
B. 
No person shall install, use or maintain any publication vending machine which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any sidewalk or parkway, when such installation, use or maintenance endangers the safety of persons or property, or when such site or location is used for public utility purposes, public transportation purposes or other government use, or when such publication vending machine interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, the ingress into or egress from any residence, place of business, or any legally parked or stopped vehicle, or the use of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes or other objects near the location, or when such publication vending machine interferes with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery.
C. 
Any publication vending machine which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any sidewalk or parkway, shall comply with the following standards:
1. 
No publication vending machine shall exceed five feet in height, 30 inches in width, or two feet in depth.
2. 
Publication vending machines shall be placed only near a curb or adjacent to the wall of a building. Publication vending machines placed near the curb shall be placed no less than 18 inches nor more than 24 inches from the edge of the curb. Publication vending machines placed adjacent to the wall of a building shall be placed parallel to such wall and not more than six inches from the wall.
3. 
No publication vending machine shall be placed or maintained on a sidewalk or parkway within 10 feet of a newsstand.
4. 
No publication vending machine shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any property or to any permanently fixed object not owned by the owner of the publication vending machine unless the consent of the owner of such property or object is obtained in writing and presented with the permit application.
5. 
Publication vending machines may be placed, chained or otherwise attached to one another; however, no more than three publication vending machines may be joined or placed together in this manner, and a space of no less than 18 inches shall separate each group of three publication vending machine so attached.
6. 
No publication vending machine, or group of attached publication vending machines allowed under subsection D of this section shall weigh, in the aggregate, in excess of 125 pounds when empty.
7. 
Publication vending machines shall have gloss black pedestals, "wood grain" brown sides and doors, and brown coin box. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, publication vending machines may have up to four side portions of the publication vending machine which are made of Plexiglas or other transparent, non-shattering material, which contain the newspaper or periodical; provided however, that all other standards, including, without limitation, any required blinders as provided in Title 5 of this code, or any other applicable standard(s) herein, are complied with in their entirety.
8. 
Every publication vending machine shall be installed on a single pedestal or multiple posts which shall be securely anchored to the ground and shall be constructed, installed and maintained in a safe and secure condition, approved by the director.
D. 
No publication vending machine shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
1. 
Within three feet of any marked crosswalk;
2. 
Within 15 feet of the curb return of any unmarked crosswalk;
3. 
Within three feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility;
4. 
Within three feet of any driveway;
5. 
Within 15 feet of any sign marking a designated bus stop;
6. 
Within three feet of any bus bench or bus shelter;
7. 
At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than five feet;
8. 
Within three feet of any display window of any building abutting the sidewalk or parkway or in such manners as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of such window for display purposes;
9. 
So that the front face of the publication vending machine is within three feet of any lawn, flowers, shrubs or trees;
10. 
Within five feet of any bicycle rack;
11. 
Publication vending machines may be placed next to each other, provided that no more than six publication vending machines shall be placed immediately adjacent to each other. Also, no group of publication vending machines shall extend more than 13 feet along a curb or wall.
E. 
No more than six publication vending machines may be located on any public street within a space of 200 feet in any direction, and no more than 18 publication vending machines shall be allowed on any one city block.
F. 
The placement of all publication vending machine in the city shall comply with all local and state handicapped accessibility regulations.
G. 
No publication vending machine shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than reference to the name of the newspaper or periodical being dispensed.
H. 
Any person or entity that installs, vends from, operates or maintains a publication vending machine in the city, or causes to do the same, shall ensure that the publication vending machine is maintained in a clean, neat and attractive condition and shall remain reasonably free of dirt and grease, chipped, faded, peeling and/or cracked paint, graffiti, rust or corrosion, torn, peeling or faded paper or cardboard parts and/or insertions, broken or damaged structural parts, cracked and/or discolored and/or blemished parts (including but not limited to the Plexiglas or other transparent casing mentioned in subsection (C)(7) of this section). Further, publication vending machines shall be maintained in a mechanically operable condition at all times.
I. 
For purposes of location limitations and the special restrictions contained herein, publication vending machine applications shall be reviewed on a first come, first served basis. All applications shall be date and time stamped upon the city's receipt, and in the event that applications are received simultaneously and the applicants seek to place their publication vending machine in the same location, a lottery shall be conducted by the director of development services, or his or her designee, to determine in a purely random, unbiased manner which application shall receive priority for the location sought.
J. 
Every person who places or maintains a publication vending machine in the public right-of-way shall permanently affix to each publication vending machine the permittee's name, address, telephone number and permit number in a place where such information may be easily seen.
(Ord. 462, 1984; Ord. 660 § 1, 2002; Ord. 689 § 1, 2006)
No person shall sell, offer for sale, or keep or maintain any written, photographic or printed material including, but not limited to, newspapers or news periodicals in any publication vending machine or on any sidewalk in such manner as to expose to the public view any of the following:
1. 
Any statements or words describing explicit sexual acts, sexual organs or excrement, where such statements or words have as their purpose or effect sexual arousal, gratification or affront;
2. 
Any picture or illustration of genitals, pubic hair, perineums, anuses or anal regions of any person where such picture or illustration has as its purpose or effect sexual arousal, gratification or affront;
3. 
Any picture or illustration depicting explicit sexual acts where such picture or illustration has as its purpose or effect sexual arousal, gratification or affront;
4. 
"Explicit sexual acts," as used in this chapter, means depictions of sexual intercourse, oral copulation, anal intercourse, oral-anal copulation, bestiality, sadism, masochism, excretory functions in conjunction with sexual activity, masturbation or lewd exhibition of the genitals, whether any of the above conduct is depicted or described as being performed alone or between members of the same or opposite sex or between humans and animals, or other acts of sexual arousal involving any physical contact with a person's genital, pubic region, pubic hair, perineum, anus or anal region.
(Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)
A. 
Whenever the director is advised that a publication vending machine has been installed or is being maintained in violation of this chapter, he or she shall notify the person in whose name the publication vending machine is permitted. Such notice shall state the nature of the violation, the intention to impound the publication vending machine if the violation is not corrected or a hearing is not requested before the director or his designee, within 10 days after the giving of such notice, and the procedure for requesting such a hearing. A timely request for a hearing shall stay any impounding, provided that if the violation is not corrected within five days after the decision at such hearing becomes final, the director or his or her designee may impound the publication vending machine in accordance with subsection (B).
B. 
Whenever a publication vending machine is impounded pursuant to subsection (A), the publication vending machine shall be removed by the director or his or her designee and stored in a convenient place. The director or his or her designee shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a notice of removal to the address shown on the publication vending machine and if not shown, at the last known address of the owner if such an address can be ascertained. Such notice shall state the date the publication vending machine was removed, the reasons therefor, the location and procedure for claiming the publication vending machine and the procedure for obtaining a post removal hearing before the director, or his designee, if desire. Any such publication vending machine removed and stored pursuant to these provisions shall be released to its owner if claimed within 30 days after the mailing of the notice of removal and upon the payment of an amount set by city council resolution as the city's cost of removal and storage. Upon failure of the owner to claim the publication vending machine and pay the city's costs within 30 days after the mailing of notice of removal such publication vending machine shall be deemed to be unclaimed property and may be disposed of as such.
C. 
Any publication vending machine in violation of the provisions of this chapter, which violation creates an immediate danger to the health or safety of the public may be summarily removed and stored in a convenient location so as to eliminate the danger to the health or safety of the public. The director or his or her designee shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a notice of removal to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall state the date the publication vending machine was removed, the reasons therefor, the location and procedure for claiming the publication vending machine and the procedure for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the director or his designee. Any such publication vending machine removed or stored pursuant to this subsection shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within 30 days after the mailing of written notice or removal and upon the payment of an amount set by city council resolution as the city's cost of removal and storage. Upon failure of the owner to claim such publication vending machine and pay the city's costs within this 30 day period, such publication vending machine shall be deemed to be unclaimed property and may be disposed as such.
D. 
Within 10 days of the notice of violation, or notice of removal of a publication vending machine summarily impounded, the person in whose name the publication vending machine is permitted or other person who provides satisfactory proof of ownership, may request a hearing before the director or his designee. The request shall be in writing, shall state the basis thereof and shall be filed with the director or his designee. The hearing shall be held within 10 working days of the filing of the request, unless continued for good cause. At the hearing any person may present evidence or argument as to whether the use of the publication vending machine has violated this chapter. Within five working days after the close of the hearing, the director or his designee shall render a decision in writing. Notice of the decision shall be given to the person who requested the hearing within five working days of the hearing. The decision shall be final.
E. 
All notices shall be sent by certified mail to the permittee at the address shown on the permit or other address designated by the permittee.
F. 
The city's charge for permitting, removal and storage may be amended by city council resolution.
G. 
In the event any publication vending machine installed pursuant to this chapter does not contain the publication specified in the application within a period of 30 days for a daily or weekly periodical or other periodical issued at some other time interval and 60 days for a monthly periodical after the release of the current issue, or if no publication is in the publication vending machine for a period of more than 30 consecutive days for a daily or weekly periodical, or other periodical issued at some other time interval and 60 days for a monthly periodical, the director may deem the publication vending machine abandoned and may removed the publication vending machine from the public right-of-way.
H. 
In the event a permittee of a publication vending machine owned by the permittee desire voluntarily to abandon a publication vending machine location, such permittee shall completely remove the publication vending machine and mount and restore the public right-of-way to a safe condition, leaving no hole or projection in the pavement.
I. 
If no permit has been obtained for a publication vending machine located in a public right-of-way and the name and address of the owner does not appear on the publication vending machine, it shall be removed immediately and processed as set forth in Section 12.32.050(B).
(Ord. 462, 1984; Ord. 660 § 1, 2002)