[Adopted 3-26-2007]
It is not the intent of this article to discriminate against,
regulate, or interfere with the publication, or dissemination of any
printed material which is constitutionally protected. The purpose
of this article is to protect the safety and welfare of the public
and to safeguard the right to make orderly distribution of newspapers
and other publications within the City of West Haven.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and expressions
shall have the meanings assigned to them:
One side of a street between two consecutive intersecting
streets.
The West Haven Building Department office.
Any person responsible for the installation, operation or
maintenance of a newsrack in the City of West Haven.
Any self-service or money-operated box, container, storage
unit or other dispenser installed, operated or maintained for the
display and sale or distribution of newspapers, periodicals or other
printed matter.
An individual person, firm, corporation, or other entity.
Any area owned and/or maintained by the City of West Haven
or any other governmental entity, open for use of the public for vehicular
or pedestrian travel, including but not limited to roadways, sidewalks,
streets, alleys, public grounds or other rights-of-way.
That portion of any street improved, designed, or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder.
Any portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent
property line intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
The entire area encompassed by a roadway and a sidewalk.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to
erect, place, maintain or operate, on any public right-of-way, in
the City of West Haven any newsrack without first having obtained
a permit from the Building Department. One permit may be issued to
include any number of newsracks, and shall be signed by the applicant.
A.
Application for such permit shall be made, in writing, to the Building
Department upon such form as shall be provided to the applicant, and
shall contain the name and business address of the applicant, a telephone
number or numbers at which the applicant may be reached during normal
business hours, and the proposed location of said newsrack(s) and
shall be signed by the applicant.
B.
A permittee may place additional newsracks at any location on any public right-of-way in the City of West Haven which complies with the provisions of this article by amending its permit to include the location of each such newsrack on a form to be prescribed by the Building Department and by paying the fee set forth in § 206-45A.
A.
Such newsrack or newsracks and the installation, use or maintenance
thereof shall be conditioned upon observance of the provisions of
this article. Permits shall be issued or denied within 72 hours (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) after the application has been
filed. An annual permit fee of $25 shall be required for each proposed
location.
B.
Such permits shall be valid for one year and shall be renewable pursuant to the procedure for original applications referred to in § 206-44 and upon payment of the permit fee. A permit issued pursuant to this section shall expire automatically in the event that the insurance coverage required pursuant to § 206-47 lapses.
Every applicant for a permit to place a newsrack on a public
right-of-way in the City of West Haven shall file a written statement
with the Building Department in a form satisfactory to the Corporation
Counsel, whereby such owner agrees to indemnify and hold harmless
the City, its officers, and employees from any loss, 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 and/or maintenance of a newsrack within the City
of West Haven. Such statement shall also certify the newsrack owner's
agreement that the City is not liable for any damage to such newsracks.
Every owner of a newsrack who places or maintains a newsrack
on a public right-of-way shall provide the City of West Haven with
a certificate of liability insurance coverage issued by an insurance
company licensed to do business in the State of Connecticut insuring
the applicant and the City of West Haven against all claims for damages
to bodily injury, including death, and property which could arise
in connection with the installation, operation or maintenance of a
newsrack in the City of West Haven. The certificate of insurance shall
state that the coverage afforded thereunder shall be primary coverage
for any claims within its scope. Minimum coverage of such policy shall
be $100,000 aggregate for personal injury claims and for property
damage claims. The policy, by its terms, shall not be cancelable prior
to the expiration date of the permit without 30 days' written notice
to the City.
A.
No person shall install or maintain any newsrack which rests wholly
or in part upon, or which projects onto, into or over, any roadway.
B.
No newsrack which rests wholly or in part upon, or which projects
onto, into or over, any sidewalk or pedestrian way shall be installed
or maintained:
(1)
Within five feet of any roadway intersection, crosswalk, public bench
or access ramp for disabled persons;
(2)
Within 15 feet of any fire hydrant, fire or police callbox or other
emergency facility;
(3)
Within 10 feet of any driveway;
(4)
Within 15 feet of any school bus pick-up or drop-off location, or
parking space for the handicapped;
(5)
In any location so as to reduce clear passage for pedestrians to
less than five feet;
(6)
Within any residential zone except with the written permission of
the abutting property owner, and except on a street designated as
a major arterial street, minor arterial street or collector street
in the City of West Haven Plan of Conservation and Development as
that document may be adopted or amended from time to time;
(7)
Within 100 feet of another newsrack on the same street containing
the same issue or edition of the same publication; or
(8)
Upon any public area improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs, trees or
other landscaping.
C.
Newsracks subject to this article shall conform to the following
standards:
(1)
The dimensions of the newsrack shall not exceed four feet in height,
30 inches in width and two feet in depth.
(2)
No newsrack shall be chained, bolted, locked or otherwise attached
to any property owned or maintained by the City of West Haven, including,
without limitation, sidewalks, ramps, fences, posts, railings, poles,
trees, sewers, grates, and traffic and parking signs.
(3)
No newsrack shall be chained, bolted, locked or otherwise attached
to property owned by any other person, including, without limitation,
hydrants, telephone booths, billboards, advertising displays, and
lighting and utility poles, unless with the written consent of such
other person.
(4)
Each newsrack shall be constructed freestanding on its own base so
as not to be susceptible to rocking, swiveling, tipping, toppling,
falling or being dislodged from its specific site in the ordinary
course of use.
(5)
Each newsrack shall be maintained in a clean and neat condition and
shall be in good repair at all times.
(6)
The exterior of the newsrack shall display a notice setting forth
the name, address and telephone of the distributor.
D.
No more than five newsracks shall be located on any public right-of-way
within a space of 200 feet in any direction within the same block;
provided, however, that no more than 16 newsracks shall be allowed
on any one block. In determining which newsracks shall be permitted
to be located or to remain if already in place, the Building Department
shall be guided solely by the following criteria:
(1)
First priority shall be daily publications (published five or more
days per week);
(2)
Second priority shall be publications published two days to four
days per week;
(3)
Third priority shall be publications published one day per week.
(4)
Fourth priority shall be publications published intermittently or
less frequently than once per week.
This article shall apply to all newsracks, including newsracks
installed prior to the enactment hereof, except that distributors
responsible for such existing newsracks shall have 30 days from its
effective date within which to comply with the provisions of this
article.
A.
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by citation and subsequent process pursuant to Chapter 128 of the Code of the City of West Haven, Enforcement of Ordinances.
B.
Any distributor violating any of the provisions of this article shall
be fined not more than $100 for each offense and a like penalty for
each day's continuance thereof.
C.
In addition to all the remedies available to the City pursuant to Chapter 128 of the Code of the City of West Haven, Enforcement of Ordinances:
(1)
If the violation has not been corrected within 10 days specified
in the citation or, in the event of a hearing, within such further
period as may be specified by the hearing officer, the Building Department
shall request to remove the newsrack and place it in secure storage.
The costs of removal and storage shall be charged to the distributor.
In the event of nonpayment, the City of West Haven may bring a civil
action for money damages against the distributor in any court of competent
jurisdiction; and
Any newsrack which remains empty, or which remains unidentified as to distributor pursuant to § 206-48C(6) for a period of 30 consecutive days, shall be deemed to have been abandoned and may be removed and disposed of by the Building Department.
If any portion of this article is held to be invalid or unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect
the validity of any other portion thereof.
