HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1407-2009ORDINANCE NO. 1.407-2009
CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
AN ORDINANCE REGULATING NEWSRACKS AND ADDING
CHAPTER 6.20 TO THE SOUTH SAN FRAI~TCISCO MUNICIPAL
CODE.
WHEREAS, the uncontrolled proliferation and placement of newsracks in the publicright-of-
way constitutes a threat to public health, safety, and general welfare by impeding pedestrian and
vehicular traffic, interfering with ingress and egress to and. from buildings, vehicles, and public
transportation and accommodations, obstructing views of traffic signs and street-crossing
pedestrians, and impeding performance of essential utility, tl-affic control, and emergency services,
constituting conditions of public nuisance; and
WHEREAS, absent regulation, many newspaper vendors have failed to maintain newsracks
in a clean and operable condition, which has threatened public health and safety and negatively
impacted the aesthetic appearance of the public-right-of--way, constituting a public nuisance; and
WHEREAS, regulations specific to the Downtown Commercial District and the El Camino
Real Corridor are necessary to protect public health, safety, and general welfare and are consistent
with City-policy including the Downtown Beautification Plan and the and the Grand Boulevard plan
for El Camino Real; and,
WHEREAS, regulation of newsracks in other areas of the City is also necessary to promote
the public, health and safety of the residents and businesses within the remainder of the City and to
ensure safe passage of pedestrians along sidewalks.
WHEREAS, the intent of these provisions is to ensure that public health, safety, and general
welfare are protected without unreasonably restricting the dissemination of constitutionally protected
information.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco does hereby ordain
as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.20 "Newspaper Racks and Banks" .
Chapter 6.20 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code is hereby added to the South San
Francisco Municipal Code to read as follows:
"Newspaper Racks and Banks"
Section 6.20.010 Intent and purpose.
Section 6.20.020 Definitions.
Section 6.20.030 Location, placement and number of newsracks.
Section 6.20.040 Additional standards for the Newsrack Bank Zone (Downtown
Commercial District and along the EI Camino Real Corridor)
Section 6.20.050 Permit requirement and standards.
Section 6.20.060 Application for newsrack permit.
Section 6.20.070 Newsrack maintenance standards.
Section 6.20.080 Display of certain matter prohibited.
Section 6.20.090 Display of harmful material in areas where minors are not excluded -
Blinder racks.
Section 6.20.100 Standards for proper removal of newsracks.
Section 6.20.110 Abandonment.
Section 6.20.120 Abatement of violation.
Section 6.20.130 Amortization requirements.
Section 6.20.010 Intent and purpose.
(a) The City Council of the City of South San Francisco makes the following findings:
(1) The uncontrolled placement and maintenance of newsracks, stands, containers, and
similar newspaper and vending devices in public rights-of--way present an inconvenience
and danger to the safety and welfare of persons using such rights-of--way, including
pedestrians, persons entering and leaving vehicles and buildings, and persons performing
essential utility, traffic control, and emergency services.
(2) Uncontrolled placement of newsracks are unsightly, cause an inconvenience or danger to
persons and vehicles using public rights-of--way, and are detrimental to the public health,
safety and welfare.
(3) It is a matter of public necessity that the city protect minors and unconsenting adults in
and on its public streets, sidewalks and other public rights-of--way from viewing public
displays of words and pictorial material describing and depicting explicit sexual conduct,
which may be presented indiscriminately upon unwilling audiences of adults and minors
and constitute assaults upon individual privacy. Additionally, it is a matter of public
necessity that the city protect minors from materials which are harmful to their
psychological or physical well being.
(4) Although California Penal Code Section 313.1 makes the knowing sale, distribution or
display of harmful matter to minors a criminal offense, Penal Code Section 313.1(d)
explicitly authorizes the city to adopt an ordinance restricting the display of material that
is harmful to minors in a public place, other than. a public place from which minors are
excluded, by requiring the placement of devices known as blinder racks in front of the
material, so that the lower two-thirds of the material is not exposed to view.
(5) The factors described above in section 6.20.010(a)(1)-(4) constitute an unreasonable
interference with, and obstruction of, the use of public rights-of--way, constitute an
unwarranted invasion of individual privacy, are injurious to public health, safety and
welfare, offensive to the senses, and constitute such an obstruction of the free use of
property as to interfere in the comfortable enjoyment of life and property by the entire
community.
(6) The city council recognizes, however, that the use of such rights-of--way is so historically
associated with the sale and distribution of newspapers and publications that access to
those areas for such purposes should not be absolutely denied. The city council further
finds that these strong and competing interests require a reasonable accommodation
which can only be satisfactorily achieved through the means of this chapter which is
designed to accommodate such interests regulating the time, place and manner of using
such newsracks.
(7) The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety, and welfare through
the regulation of placement, appearance, number, size, and serving of newsracks on
public rights-of--way so as to:
A. Provide for pedestrian and driving safety and convenience;
B. Insure no unreasonable interference with the flow of pedestrian or vehicular
traffic including ingress into, or egress from, any residence or place of business,
or from the street to the sidewalk, by persons exiting or entering parked or
standing vehicles;
C. Provide reasonable access for the use and maintenance of sidewalks, poles,
posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes, and access to locations used
for pubic transportation services;
D. Reduce visual blight on the public rights-of--way, and protect the aesthetics of
store window displays, public landscaping and other improvements;
E. Maintain and protect the value of surrounding properties;
F. Reduce exposure to the City to personal injury or property damage claims and
litigation;
G. Protect the right to distribute information protected by State and Federal
constitution through the use of newsracks.
The regulation of the free distribution newspapers and the sale of other publications dispensed in
vending machines as set forth in this chapter provides the least intrusive and burdensome means for
ensuring the purposes stated in this section are carried out while still providing ample opportunities
for the distribution of news to the citizens of the city.
Section 6.20.020 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the words and
phrases used herein shall have the following meanings:
"Combination dispenser" means a common structure housing two or more newsracks, and is
subject to the same standards and regulations as a newsrack unless otherwise stated in this chapter.
"Director" means the director of public works or his or her designee.
"Distributor" means the person responsible for placing and maintaining a newsrack in a public
right-of--way, or the person responsible for placing a publication in a newsrack bank space.
"Newsrack" means any self-service orcoin-operated box, container, storage unit or other dispenser
installed, used, or maintained for the display and sale of newspapers or other news periodicals or
publication, that rests or projects, in whole or in part, in or upon any portion of the public right-of-
way, and which is not a newsrack bank.
"Newsrack Bank Zone" means the Downtown Commercial District and along the El Camino Real
Corridor, as defined in the city's General Plan and as shown in Exhibit A to this ordinance. No
newsracks other than newsrack banks are allowed within the Newsrack Bank Zone.
"Newsrack bank" means acity-installed fixed pedestal unit, the size and design of which are
approved by the director and generally consistent with the design set forth in Exhibit B, with
multiple storage spaces used or maintained for the display, sale, and distribution of publications,
which is located in the Newsrack Bank Zone.
"Newsrack permit" means authorization granted by the director to use and maintain a newsrack or
to use a space in a newsrack bank.
"Parkway" means the area between the sidewalk and the curb of any street, and where there is no
sidewalk, the area between the edge of the roadway and the property line adjacent thereto. "Parkwa}~'
shall also include any area within a roadway that is not open to vehicular travel.
"Permittee" means the person or entity designated on the permit as responsible for the newsrack
or for use of a newsrack bank space.
"Person" means any person or persons, or entity including, but not limited to, a corporation,
partnership, unincorporated association or joint venture.
"Roadway" means that portion of a street improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular
travel.
"Shared newsrack" means a single newsrack housing more than one publication, and is subject to
the same standards and regulations as a newsrack, unless otherwise stated in this chapter.
"Sidewalk" means that area of improved real propertybetween any curb face and the property line
of adjoining real property on the same side of the street as the curb face.
"Street" means any place commonly used for the purpose of vehicular public travel.
Section 6.20.030 Location, placement and number of newsracks in areas other than
the Newsrack Bank Zone.
(a) No newsrack shall be installed, used or maintained which prof ects 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 the roadway of any public street;
(b) No newsrack shall be installed, used or maintained in a manner that endangers the
safety of persons or property, or when such site or location is used for public utility or public
transportation purposes, or other governmental use, or when such newsrack unreasonably interferes
with or impedes the flow of pedestrian, wheelchair or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked
or stopped vehicle, 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, fire hydrants, parking
meters, mailboxes or other objects permitted at or near such location, or when such newsrack
interferes with the cleaning of any sidewalk by the use of mechanical sidewalk cleaning machinery;
(c) Newsracks shall only be placed near a curb or adjacent to the wall of a building.
Newsracks placed near the curb shall be placed not less than eighteen (18) inches or more than
twenty-four (24) inches from the edge of the curb. Newsracks placed adjacent to the wall of a
building shall be placed parallel to such wall and not more than six inches from the wall. No
newsrack shall be placed or maintained on a sidewalk or parkway opposite a newsstand or another
newsrack;
(d) Any operable element of a newsrack shall not exceed 48 inches in height or be less
than 15 inches above the public right-of--way on which it is located;
(e) No newsrack or shared newsrack shall exceed S2 inches in height, 30 inches in width,
or 24 inches in depth. No combination dispenser shall exceed 60 inches in height, 120 inches in
width, or 30 inches in depth;
(f) No newsrack shall weigh, in the aggregate, in excess of one hundred twenty-five (1.25)
pounds when empty;
(g) Newsracks shall only contain current editions of the publication(s) for which the
permit was issued;
(h) No newsrack shall be chained, bolted, or otherwise attached to any fixture located in
the public right-of--way, including any tree, sign, or other object.;
(i) Newsracks may be placed next to each other, provided that no group of newsracks
shall extend for a distance of more than eight feet along a curb, and a space of not less than four feet
shall separate each group of newsracks.
(j) No newsrack shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(1) Within five feet of any marked crosswalk;
(2) Within fifteen feet of the curb return. of any unmarked crosswalk;
(3) Within five 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 ahead or twenty-five feet to the rear of any sign marking a
designated bus stop;
(6) Within five feet of the outer end of any bus bench;
(7) Within five feet of any sidewalk obstruction which shall include, but not be limited
to, traffic signals, street light poles, trees, parking meters, sign posts, telephone and utility poles;
(8) At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is
reduced to less than six feet;
(9) Within three feet of or on any public area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs,
trees or other landscaping, or within three feet of any display window of any building abutting the
sidewalk or parkway or in such a manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of such
window for display purposes;
(10) Within one hundred feet of any other newsrack on the same side of the street in
the same block containing the same issue or edition of the same publication, unless the distributor
establishes to the satisfaction of the director that (a) there is insufficient room in one newsrack for
the publications which maybe sold in one day, or (b) it publishes more than one edition for sale at
the same time;
(11) On any access ramp for disabled persons;
(12) Within one hundred (100) feet of the entrances to public gathering places where
queuing of pedestrian traffic may occur;
(13) At any location where vehicular sight distance is impaired as determined by
standard traffic engineering principles;
(14) In or over any public 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 facilities purposes, public transportation purposes or other governmental use, or when such
newsrack unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicle traffic,
including access for the disabled, bicycle access, ingress or egress from any residence, place of
business or the use of poles, posts, parking meters, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, postal service
collection boxes or other objects permitted at or near said location.
Section 6.20.040 Additional standards for the Newsrack Bank Zone (Downtown
Commercial District and along the El Camino Real Corridor)
In addition to sections 6.20.050, 6.20.060, 6.20.080, 6.20,090, and all other applicable provisions of
this chapter, the following regulations shall apply to the Newsrack Bank Zone.
(a.) Only newsrack banks installed by the city pursuant to the provisions of this section
are permitted in the Newsrack Bank Zone. Privately installed newsracks or newsracks proposed by
another public agency are prohibited in the Newsrack Bank Zone.
(b.) The size, number, composition, and location of these newsrack banks shall be
established and modified as necessary by the director in conjunction with the city's chief planner.
The current size, number, composition, and location of the newsrack banks shall be posted on the
city's website and available in the office of the city clerk.
(c.) Newsracks installed or maintained in the Newsrack Bank Zone maybe summarily
removed in accordance with section 6.20.120(a) of this chapter.
(d.) The city shall be responsible for the installation and maintenance of the newsrack
banks.
(e.) Allocation of space within newsrack bank. The director shall allocate spaces in
newsrack banks in accordance with the following:
(1.) An interested publication or distributor of multiple publications to be dispensed
within a newsrack bank can apply for only one newsrack permit slot per newsrack bank.
(2.) Limited space within the newsrack banks shall be allocated by frequency of
publication. The priority shall be as follows: daily publications, weekly publications, monthly
publications, quarterly publications, and semi-annual publications. Five spaces shall be
allocated to daily publications, two to weekly publications, and one to less frequent
publications.
(3.) If the number of applications for a particular frequency is less than the spaces
available, the director will allow the next highest frequency to apply for that space. If space
still remains, an interested party may apply for more than one space within a specified corral,
not to include the same publication.
(4.) If the number of applications exceeds the number of spaces available for any of the
frequency of publication categories set forth in subsection (2) above, the director will request
that the interested parties meet to determine if a signed agreement for allocation of the spaces
can be reached. If an agreement is reached, the director will assign the permits based on the
agreement so long as it conforms with the requirements of this section. If an agreement cannot
be reached or the parties refuse to meet, the director will give priority to the publication that has
been "historically located" closest to the location where the newsrack bank will be placed. If
neither publication can demonstrate a historical presence in the location where the newsrack
bank will be placed, the director shall hold a lottery to allocate the available spaces in
accordance with the frequency hierarchy.
Section 6.20.050 Permit requirements and standards.
It shall be unlawful to install, use or maintain any newsrack or use or occupy a space within a
newsrack bank without first obtaining a permit from the director or his or her designee.
(a) General provisions. The director shall charge a newsrack permit fee as set forth by
resolution of the city council to cover the administrative costs of processing permits. A distributor
must pay a permit fee for each newsrack or newsrack bank slot it occupies. Any permit issued shall
expire at the end of the calendar year. Any newsrack permit obtained after the first quarter of the
calendar year will be charged a prorated permit fee. A permit must be renewed annually.
(b) Issuance of permits, denials, and appeals. Applicants interested in installing newsracks or
in maintaining existing newsracks shall submit to the director an application pursuant to this chapter.
Upon a finding that the applicant is in compliance with the standards set forth in this chapter, the
director shall issue a newsrack permit covering each location approved by the director within fifteen
(15) business days. If a newsrack permit is disapproved, in whole or in part, the director or his or her
designee shall notify the applicant promptly, explaining the reasons for denial of a newsrack permit.
The applicant may appeal the decision by filing a written appeal with the city manager within fifteen
(15) business days. Upon receipt of an appeal, the city manager's office shall, within fifteen (15)
business days, notify the applicant of the date, time and place of the hearing. The city manager or
designee shall issue his/her decision in writing no later than fifteen (15) business days after the
hearing. The decision of the city manager or designee shall be final.
(c) Renewals. Existing permittees interested in renewing their newsrack permits shall submit
to the director annually by January 10 unless a notice of nonrenewal is sent to the permittee by the
director.
(d) Revocations. The city has the prerogative to terminate a permit earlier if the newsrack or
use of space in a newsrack bank conflicts with a capital improvement project, changes to a nearby
public or private property make it necessary to relocate the rack. Permits may also be revoked if or
newsracks or newsrack banks are used or maintained in a manner that violates applicable law or
permit conditions, or if information in the permit application or related supporting documents is
inconsistent with the number or locations of the newsracks as represented by the applicant.
(e) Newsrack Bank Zone permits. Newsrack banks within the Newsrack Bank Zone require a
permit specific to the zone and the requirements of section 6.20.040 apply to this permit process.
The timeframe for issuance of newsrack permits outside the zone does not apply, and the director
shall process applications for permits within the zone within a reasonable timeframe. Permit fees
shall be paid annually.
Section 6.20.060 Application for newsrack permit
(a) A person seeking issuance of a permit pursuant to this chapter shall file with the director
a written application on a form supplied by the city. The application shall include 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 newsrack. The distributor has a duty to
promptly notify the city if the responsible person for the newsrack changes at any time.
(3.) The proposed number of newsracks and specific locations of each newsrack by
provision of a site map or diagram, drawn to scale, showing the proposed location of the newsrack
and the sidewalk, streets, and other adjacent improvements within twenty-five (25) feet, including,
but not limited to, buildings, building entrances, driveways, marked and unmarked crosswalks,
traffic signals, parking meters, street light poles, fire hydrants, bus stops and bus benches, utility
poles, telephones, existing newsracks.
(4.) Name(s) of newspapers or periodicals to be contained in each newsrack.
(5.) A written statement in a form approved by the city attorney, whereby the applicant
agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the city, the South San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
and their officers, employees, agents and representatives, from any loss, claim, liability, or damage,
including expenses and costs, for bodily or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any
person as a result of the installation, use, placement and/or maintenance of a newsrack within the
city.
(c) Except for the provisions set forth in section 6.20.040 of this chapter specific to the
Newsrack Bank Zone, one permit will be issued per applicant covering all newsracks in each
application. Each permit maybe amended by submitting an Amendment of Permit Application to
the director, provided fees are paid for additional newsracks. A condition of any permit issued under
this section is that the permittee shall keep an accurate record readily identifying the locations of its
newsracks to be made available to the director upon request within two business days. This
information may be used to check the accuracy of information provided in the permit application or
to verify compliance with local law or permit conditions.
(d) An applicant shall submit evidence of commercial liability insurance subject to the
reasonable requirements of the director covering liability arising from, connected with, or caused or
claimed to be caused by, any newsrack for which the permittee is responsible and any newsrack
owned by or attributable to permittee to the director along with the applicant's written application for
a permit. No newsrack permit may be issued and no newsrack may be installed, used or maintained
until the director has approved the requisite insurance certificate. A permittee must maintain at all
times during the term of any newsrack permit, and at all times permittee's newsrack(s) remain(s) on
any portion of the public right-of--way, said insurance.
6.20.070 Newsrack maintenance standards.
Any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any public sidewalk or parkway, shall
comply with the following standards:
(a) 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 periodical sold therein;
(b) Each coin-operated newsrack shall be equipped with a functional coin-return
mechanism;
(c) Each newsrack shall have a door or covering preventing the publications therein from
getting wet or falling out due to rain, wind, or similar conditions;
(d) Each newsrack shall have affixed to it in a readily visible place so as to be seen by
anyone using the newsrack, a notice setting forth the name, address, and permit number of the
distributor and the telephone number of a working telephone service to call to report a malfunction,
or to secure a refund in the event of a malfunction of the coin-return mechanism, or to give the
notices provided for in this chapter;
(e) Each newsrack shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair at
all times. Specifically, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each newsrack shall be
serviced and maintained so that:
(1) It is reasonably free of dirt and grease;
(2) It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint in the visible
painted areas thereon;
(3) It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the visible unpainted metal areas
thereon;
(4) It is reasonably free of graffiti. The permittee shall be required to remove graffiti
on any newsrack within twenty-four (24) hours of oral or written notification by
the city to the permitted of the existence of the graffiti. If the graffiti is not
removed within that time, the permitted is deemed to have given the city authority
to remove the graffiti at the permit tee's expense;
(5) The clear plastic or glass parts thereof, if any, through which the publications
therein are viewed are unbroken and reasonably free of cracks, dents, blemishes
and discoloration;
(6) The paper or cardboard parts or inserts thereof are reasonably free of tears, pealing
or fading; and
(7) The structural parts thereof are not broken or unduly misshapen.
Section 6.20.080 Display of certain matter prohibited.
Publications offered for sale from newsracks shall not be displayed or exhibited in a manner which
exposes to public view from the street, sidewalk, roadway or parkway any of the following:
(a) 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;
(b) Any picture or illustration of a person's genitals, pubic hair, perineum, anus, or anal region of
any person, or of a mature female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola where
such picture or illustration has as its purpose or effect sexual arousal, gratification, or affront; or
(c) Any picture or illustration depicting explicit sexual acts as defined in this section where such
picture or illustration has as its purpose or effect sexual arousal, gratification, or affront.
"Explicit sexual acts," as used in this section, means depictions of sexual intercourse, oral
copulation, anal intercourse, oral-anal copulation, bestiality, sadism, masochism, or 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 genitals, pubic hair, perineum, anus or anal region.
Section 6.20.090 Display of harmful matter in areas where minors are not excluded -
Blinder racks.
No person shall knowingly display or cause to be displayed, in any public place, other than a public
place from which minors are excluded, and with knowledge of, or failure to exercise reasonable care
in ascertaining, the age of the persons to whom the material is displayed, any harmful matter as
defined in Section 313 of the California Penal Code, unless such matter is displayed in or upon
newsracks, newsstands, shelves, containers, storage units, or any other dispensers equipped with
devices commonly known as blinder racks affixed in such a manner that the lower two-thirds (2/3) of
the matter is not exposed to view
Section 6.20.100 Standards for proper removal of newsracks
Upon removal of any newsrack, the permitted or responsible person shall eliminate any potential
hazards to the public, such as bolts, brackets, or holes, and shall restore any disturbed area of the
public right-of--way to the same or reasonably similar condition as any adjoining publicright-of--way
by leaving the public right-of--way level and free of protrusions or depressions, and shall be liable for
all costs and expenses, including attorneys fees, associated with restoring the right of way to the
condition that would leave existed had the newsrack not been installed.
Section 6.20.110 Abandonment.
An abandoned newsrack may be removed by the director or his or her designee and may be disposed
of if it is not claimed by the responsible party within thirty (30) days. Newsracks remaining empty
for thirty days or not claimed within thirty days of seizure shall be deemed abandoned.
Section 6.20.120 Abatement of violation.
(a) Summary abatement. If the director or a code enforcement officer determines that: (1) the
condition or placement of a newsrack poses an immediate danger to public health, safety, or
welfare; (2) a newsrack is located within the public-right-of--way without a permit; (3) a
newsrack is located within the Newsrack Bank Zone; or (4) the director is unable to readily
contact the permitted or otherwise responsible party for a newsrack or newsrack bank space
based exclusively on information provided in a current permit, related permit application, or
affixed to the offending newsrack, the director and/or a code enforcement officer may cause the
newsrack to be summarily removed, relocated, or corrected and stored a place convenient to the
city.
(b) Post-abatement hearing for summary abatements. If the permitted or otherwise responsible party
does not dispute the merits of the removal, they may waive their rights to apost-removal notice
and hearing and may reclaim the offending newsrack upon the payment of reasonable charges of
removal and storage. In all other cases, the director and/or the code enforcement division shall
inform the permitted or distributor of the date the newsrack was removed, the reasons therefore,
the location and procedure for claiming the newsrack and the procedure for obtaining apost-
removal hearing within ten days of summary removal. The hearing procedures set forth in this
subsection (d) of section 6.20.120 of this chapter shall apply.
(c) Abatement. For newsrack and newsrack bank violations that do not warrant summary
abatement, the distributor shall be notified by posting and mailing prior to removal or
rehabilitation of any newsrack. The notice shall specify the manner in which this chapter is
violated, shall give the owner or permitted ten days to remedy the violation and/or contest
removal. Failure to either remedy the violation or contest removal within ten days after the
mailing date of the notice shall result in removal and impoundment of the newsrack by the
director or his or her designee, or reallocation of the newsrack bank space, at any time after
expiration of the ten day period. If no identification is shown on the newsrack or newsrack bank
space and no newsrack permit has been obtained, posting of the notice on the newsrack or
newsrack bank space alone shall be sufficient.
(d) Hearing. If a hearing is requested, it shall be provided within ten (10) business days of the
request and shall be conducted by the city manager or his or her designee. The permitted or
newsrack owner shall be given at least five days notice of the time and place of the hearing and
shall be entitled to present evidence showing that the newsrack was not installed, used or
maintained in violation of this chapter. Formal rules of evidence shall not be applicable, nor shall
any party have the right to require that witnesses be sworn or subject to cross examination. The
notice to correct shall be stayed pending completion of the hearing and rendering of the decision.
The city manager or his or her designee shall issue a written decision either affirming, vacating
or modifying the notice to correct within five business days of the conclusion of the hearing. The
decision of the city manager or his/her designee shall be final. Failure to so render the decision
within five business days shall not affect the validity of such decision. If the notice to correct is
not vacated, the permitted shall comply with the notice within five business days of issuance of
the written decision. Failure of the permitted to comply shall result in removal and
impoundment.
(e) Cost recovery. The costs of removal and storage of any newsrack, including staff time expended
and reasonably related to inspection and the removal, as well as attorneys fees for the prevailing
party, as determined by a court proceeding or administrative proceeding, shall be borne by the
distributor. No newsrack which has been removed and impounded by the city shall be released to
the distributor unless the costs of removal, impoundment and any necessary repair to the
premises on which the newsrack was placed have been paid. If a newsrack which has been
removed and impounded remains unclaimed for a period of thirty (30) days, it shall be deemed to
be unclaimed personal property and disposed of in accordance with law.
(f) The city manager or his or her designee may, after a hearing in accordance with this chapter,
order the newsrack returned upon payment of costs of storage and/or removal; or, without cost to
the newsrack owner/permitted if no violation of this chapter is found.
Section 6.20.130 Amortization requirements.
(a) Every newsrack that does not comply with this chapter shall be removed or otherwise brought
into conformance with this article within six months of the effective date of the ordinance codified in
this chapter.
(b) Within one hundred twenty (120) days of the effective date of this ordinance, the owners and
operators of existing newsracks shall obtain the permits required by this article, install permit decals
in accordance with this article, and remove all newsracks from the Newsrack Bank Zone.
(c) Nothing contained herein shall prevent or inhibit the city from taking all legal and appropriate
steps to ensure that existing newsracks are not located on or projecting into the publicrights-of--way
in the city so as to present a hazard to public health and safety, or otherwise reasonably unmitigable
obstruction to either pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
SECTION 2. Severability.
In the event any section or portion of this ordinance shall be determined invalid or
unconstitutional, such section or portion shall be deemed severable and all other sections or portions
hereof shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. Publication and Effective Date
Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 36933, a summary of this Ordinance
shall be prepared by the City Attorney. At least five (5) days prior to the Council meeting at which
this Ordinance is scheduled to be adopted, the City Clerk shall (a) publish the summary, and (2) post
in the City Clerk's office a certified copy of this Ordinance. Within fifteen (15) days after the
adoption of this Ordinance, the City Clerk shall (1) publish the summary, and (2) post in the City
Clerk's office a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance along with the names of those City
Council members voting for and against this Ordinance or otherwise voting. This Ordinance shall
become effective thirty (30) days after its adoption.
Introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of South San Francisco, held
the 26th day of August, 2009.
Adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South Francisco at a regular meeting of the City
Council held the 9th day of September, 2009 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Pedro Gonzalez, Richard A. Garbarino, and Kevin Mullin,
Vice Mayor Mark Addiego and Mayor Karel Matsumoto
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
City
As Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, I do hereby approve the foregoing Ordinance
this 9th day of September, 2009.
ryl Matsumoto, Mayor