Ord. No. 11-90-1451 NEWSRACKSORDINANCE NO.11-90-1451
AN ORDINANCE CONSOLIDATING AND REENACTING ALL PREVIOUS
ORDINANCES WHICH AMEND THE "CODE OP THE CITY OF SOUTH
MIAMI"BY ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS FOR NEWSRACKS ON
PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND IN PARTICULAR AMENDING CHAPTER
13 FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADDING PROVISIONS FOR"NEWSRACKS
ON PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY";ESTABLISHING SPECIAL
PROCEDURES CERTIFYING THE INSTALLATION,MAINTENANCE AND
INSURING OF NEWSRACKS;PROVIDING FOR THE SEVERABILITY
OF THE PROVISIONS HEREOF;REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES
INCONSISTENT HEREWITH;AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 13-58ofthe"Codeofthe City
ofSouthMiami,occupational licensing is required for each
newspaper operator and each newspaper vending machine;and
WHEREAS,substantial growth in numbers of newspaper
operators and newsracks inthe City has produced a significant
increaseinthenumberofnewsracksinstalledinpublicrights-
of-way,resulting in complaints by citizens and businesses about
certain ofthese installations,and concern therefore bythe
publicand City officials with regard tothe safety,convenience,
and aesthetics thereof;
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA:
Section 1.That section 13-58 ofthe "Code of the City of
South Miami"is revised to delete newspaper operators and vending
machines from occupational licensing;
Section 2.That Chapter 13of the "Code of the City of
South Miami"is amended by adding thereto the following Article:
ARTICLE IX.NEWSRACKS ON PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY
Section 13-59.Purpose and Criteria.The purpose of this article
isto promote the public health,safety and welfare through the
regulation of placement,type,appearance,servicing and insuring
of newsracks on public rights-of-way so as to:
(a)Provide for pedestrian and driving safety and convenience
and handicapped access;
(b)Restrict 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 for public and property safety during hurricane
conditions;
(d)Provide reasonable access for the use and maintenance of
poles,posts,traffic signs or signals,hydrants,mailboxes and
access to locations used for public transportation purposes;
(e)Relocate and/or replace newsracks which result in a visual
blight and/or excessive space allocation on the public rights-of-
way,or which unreasonably detract from the aesthetics of store
window displays,adjacent landscaping and other improvements;as
well as to have abandoned newsracks removed;
(f)Maintain and protect the values of surrounding properties;
(g)Reduce unnecessary exposure of the public to personal
injury or property damage;
(h)Treat all newspapers equally regardless of their size,
content,circulation,or frequency of publication;
(i)Maintain and preserve freedom of the press;
(j)Cooperate to the maximum with newspaper distributors.
Section 13-60.Definitions.
(a)"Newsrack"shall mean any type of unmanned device for the
vending,storage or free distribution of newspapers or new
periodicals or advertising literature.
(b)"Public right-of-way"shall mean any public street,
highway,sidewalk,parkway or alley.
Section 13-62.Requirements and duties.
(a)General Placement of newsracks.
Subject to the prohibitions set forth in subsection (a)of
Section 13-63 of this Chapter,newsracks shall be placed
parallel to and no less than eighteen (18)inches nor more
than twenty-four (24)inches from the edge of the curb.In
areas where there are no marked parking spaces,newsracks
may be placed no less than twelve (12)inches nor more than
twenty-four (24)inches from the edge of the curb.All
newsracks placed in this district shall open away from the
street.Unless the City determines that placement near a
curb is not suitable,in which case the City may authorize
placement near the wall ofa building.Newsracks placed
nearthe wall ofa building must be placed parallel to and
not more than six (6)inches from the wall.
(b)Installation and Maintenance.
(1)Newsracks shall be single pedestal,TK-80PM or K-80PM
SHO-RACK with special pedestal mount and fourteen inch (14")
square base plate (mandated),or TK-80 or K-80 SHO-RACK with
specialpedestaland14inchsquarebaseplate(allowedonly
if demand warrants at the installation location)or
equivalent.Under"warranteddemand"a Newspaper Publishing
Company may include with ordinary demand a reasonable
percentage factorto accommodate peak yearly distribution in
the quantity of newspapers dispensed,andthe City shallnot
unreasonable withhold approval of such proposal bythe
Newspaper Publishing Company in accordance with Section 13-
59.
(2)Newsracks shallhave gloss brown pedestals,gloss beige
sidesanddoor,andglossbrowncoin box,coatedper
standard SHO-RACK specifications.Theheightofthe cabinet
top of all newsracks shall be39 inches above the finished
grade level.
(3)Newsracks shallcarrynocard holders oradvertising
exceptthenameofthe newspaper being dispensed centered
fifteeninches (15")fromthetopofthecabinet,with
duplicate lettering onthe front and back ofthe cabinet,
suchletteringnotexceedingoneandthree-quartersinches
(1 3/4")in height.
(4)Newsracks for freenewspapersmayomitthecoinboxand
mayhavethepullbarweldedtothedoortoproducean
"Honor Rack".
(5)Newsracks shall be maintained in good working order at
all times,freshly painted and with unbroken hoods and to
meetSouth Florida Building Code requirements.
(6)Thename,address,andtelephonenumberofa
responsiblepersonwhomaybecontactedat any time
concerning the newsrack shall be displayed on the hood of
the newsrack in such a manner astobe readily visible and
readable to a prospective customer thereof.
(7)Mount shall be bolted in place through four standard
holes in the base plate in accordance with standards
provided in Section 13-68.
Section 13-63.Prohibitions.
No newsrack shall be placed,installed,used or maintained:
(1)Within ten (10)feetof any marked or unmarked
crosswalk or whenever the triangle of vision is blocked by
an existing structure.
(2)Within ten (10)feetof any fire hydrant,fire call
box,police call boxor other emergency facility.
(3)Within five(5)feetof any driveway.
(4)Within five (5)feet ahead of,and fifteen (15)feet to
therearof any sign marking a designated busstop,measured
along the edge of pavement.
(5)Within two (2)feetof any bus bench,or plaza bench.
(6)At any location whereby the clear space for the
passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than thirty-two
(32)inches.
(7)Where a vertically-protruding member of the Newsracks
isonor within twelve inches (12")of any area improved
with lawn,or hedges,or within three feet (31)of flowers
or trees.
(8)Within three (3)feetof any display window of any
building abutting the sidewalk or parkway orin such a
manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of
such window display purpose,or within five (5)feet ofa
building entrance.
(9)Within one-hundred fifty (150)feet of another
newsrack containing the same newspaper or news periodical
except where separated by a street corner.Where warranted
bythe quantity of newspaper sales,the City Manager may
allow two newsracks of the same newspaper to be placed side
by side.
(10)Pacing another newsrack,divided only by the width of
a sidewalk or pedestrian walk.
(11)Onor within two (2)feet of signs,parking meters,
street lights or utility poles.
(12)In any residential zoning district.
Section 13-64 Enforcement Procedures.
(a)Non Conforming newsracks.Within one-hundred fifty (150)
days after this ordinance becomes effective and at any time
thereafter,any newsrack in violation of any provision of this
Chapter shall be subject to remedy and due process under the
provisions of Section 10-64 in the City of South Miami Land
Development Code.
(b)Abandonment.In the event any newsrack installed pursuant
tothis Chapter does not contain the publication specified
therefore within a period of forty-eight (48)hours after release
ofthecurrent issue,theCodeEnforcementDivisionmaydeemthe
newsrack abandoned andtake appropriate action.Inaddition,a
newsrack shall be deemed abandoned when no publication isin the
newsrackforaperiodofmorethanseven (7)consecutive days.
Inthe event a Newspaper Publishing Company orits Distributor
desiresto voluntarily abandon anewsracklocation,said
Distributor shall notify the City Manager,completely remove the
newsrack andmount,and restore the public right-of-way toasafe
condition,leaving no holes or projections inthe mounting
surface.The City Managershallalsobe notified upon completed
abandonment and restoration.
Section 13-65.Application and issuance of Certificate of
Compliance.
(a)Issuing authority.The issuing authority and coordinator
shall bethe City Manager whois responsible for fairly
coordinating and administering the physical placement of
newsracks of the type and location herein specified,and upon
compliance herewith is responsible for issuing the certificates
of compliance.
(b)Approving authorities.The approving authorities shall be
the City Manager or the Manager's Designee.
(c)Applications.The applicant shall file with the City
Manager a written application for an installation certificate of
compliance which shall contain the following information:
(1)The name,address and telephone number of the
applicant,who is the owner and/or principal in responsible
charge of the newsrack(s).
(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 newsracks.
(3)The number of newsracks and the proposed location of
each shown on a drawing provided by the City as in part (d)
below.
(4)Names of newspapers or periodicals to be contained in
each rack.
(5)Type or brand of newsrack,including an illustration
and description of the newsrack and mount if other than a
single pedestal,TK-80PM or K-80PM SHO-RACK with special
pedestal mount and fourteen inch (14")square base plate
(mandated)or TK-80 or K-80 SHO-RACK with special pedestal
mount and fourteen inch (14")square base plate (allowed
only if demand warrants at the installation location).
(d)Procedure.The City Manager or his Designee shall:
(1)Develop a map which istoa large enough scale to show
general citywide locations of newsracks by each publisher or
distributor.
(2)Request a list of proposed newsrack locations,marked
on the above map,from each distributor.
(3)Prepare a drawing of each newsrack location showing the
position and name of each newsrack at that location.
(4)Obtain approvals of the above newsrack drawings from
the Mayor and City Commission.
(5)Obtain confirmation approvals of the above approved
4
newsrack drawings from each distributor.
(6)Have the Public Works Department,following certificate
of compliance issuance,then mark placement locations with a
template so that installation crews will have no problem.
(e)Issuance of certificate of compliance.Upon a finding that
the applicant isin compliance with the provisions of this
Chapter,the City Manager shall cause to be issued a certificate
of compliance for installation by the newspaper publishing
company in accordance with the application and the provisions of
this chapter.
(f)Denial of certificate of compliance.If a certificate of
compliance for some newsrack location(s)applied for shall be
denied,the applicant shall be immediately notified of the
specific cause of such denial bythe City Manager.The applicant
may reapply for substitute alternative location(s)at no
additional certificate of compliance fee.
(g)Additional Newsrack Certificate(s)of Compliance.Ifat any
time after initial application for an installation Certificate of
Compliance a Publisher wishes to install additional newsracks,
thenthe above Procedure and Applications paragraphs are tobe
repeated in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
Section 13-66.Insurance.Prior to the issuance of a
certificate of compliance,the applicant shall furnish to the
City Manager a certificate of insurance and aone time only
returnable bond deposit.Reasonable evidence of equivalent self-
insurance coverage may be substituted by the applicant for the
above certificate of insurance,subject to the approval of the
City Attorney.Insurance under this Section shall run
continuously with the presence of the applicant's newsrack(s)in
the City rights-of-way,and any termination of lapse of such
insurance shall be violation of this Chapter,subject to
appropriate remedy by Code Enforcement.
Section 13-67.Fees.There shall bea one-time only certificate
of compliance fee in the amount of $50.00 (fifty dollars)for
each newspaper publisher,advertisers and advertising publishers,
plus $10.00 (ten dollars)per newsrack.Failed inspections are
subject to a reinspection fee of $10.00 (ten dollars).All of
the above fees will be used to defray administrative expenses
related to this ordinance.
(a)Appeals.Any applicant who has been denied a certificate of
compliance pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter may file an
appeal with the City Commission by requesting in writing to the
City Manager appearance before the Commission in regular session
assembled.
Section 13-68.Newsrack Mounting Standards.
(1)Foundation four inch (4")minimum concrete,2500 psi
(28 day strength),Class I.
(2)Two inch (2")minimum concrete edge distance for bolts.
(3)One-half inch (1/2")chamfer all concrete edges.
(4)Three-eighths of an inch (3/8")diameter galvanized lag
bolt mounts,three inch (3")minimum imbedment,through four
(4)corners of the pedestal base.
Section 3.That if any section,subsection,sentence,
clause,phrase,word or amount of this ordinance shall be
declared unconstitutional or invalid by competent authority,then
the remainder of the ordinance shall notbe affected thereby,and
shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 4.That all ordinances or parts of ordinances
inconsistent orin conflict herewith shall be and they are hereby
repealed insofar as there is conflict or inconsistency.
Section 5.That this Ordinance shall take effect
immediately at the time of its passage.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 21 st day of August,1990.
APPROVED:
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MAYOR
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM
CITY ATTORNEY