[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Lynnfield 4-30-1984 ATM (Ch. 5, § 25, of the Bylaws). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 217.
The unregulated installation, use or maintenance of newsracks in public streets and private streets to which the public has a right of access will result in the obstruction of sidewalks that will interfere with the public's right to unhampered passage thereon, will create traffic congestion or illegal parking or stopping by motorists in order to purchase newspapers, will damage municipal property because of the chaining of newsracks to poles, traffic standards or other fixtures, will interfere with the performance of required municipal services, will create unsightly conditions and will endanger the safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Lynnfield.
A. 
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future; words in the plural include the singular; and words in the singular include the plural.
B. 
For the purposes of this bylaw, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given herein:
DISTRIBUTOR
Any person responsible for the installation, use or maintenance of a newsrack in a public street.
NEWSRACK
Any self-service or coin-operated box, container, storage unit or other dispenser installed, used or maintained for the display and sale of newspapers, periodicals or other printed matter.
ROADWAY
That portion of a highway, street or way improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of tire berm or shoulder.
SIDEWALK
That portion of a street between the curblines or lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines, intended for use by pedestrians, including any grass or unpaved strip between the roadway and the portion intended for use by pedestrians.
STREET
The entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained and private way to which the public has a right of access when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel, and it includes any publicly owned alley or public grounds in the Town of Lynnfield.
A. 
No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall install, use or maintain any newsrack without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the Board of Selectmen.
B. 
No such permit shall be issued until after receipt by the Board of Selectmen of a written application therefor made on forms provided by the Selectmen and signed by the applicant or his authorized representative.
C. 
No such permit shall be issued until after the applicant has filed with the Town a certificate of insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 conditioned substantially that the applicant shall indemnify and save harmless the Town of Lynnfield and its officers from all suits and actions of every kind brought against said Town and its officers for or on account of any injuries or damages received or sustained by any person or damages suffered by the Town in consequence of, or resulting from the installation, use or maintenance of each such newsrack, or the failure of any applicant to conform to the requirements of this Chapter 175 of the Town's bylaws.
D. 
No permit shall be issued for a newsrack unless all requirements of this Chapter 175, as well as all other applicable provisions of the Town's bylaws, are fully met by the proposed newsrack and its location. Any issued permit may be revoked by the Selectmen upon their determination that the newsrack to which it applies, as installed or maintained, violates any provisions of the Town's bylaws.
[Amended 3-1-1985]
E. 
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to relieve any applicant from any obligations or liabilities to the Town of Lynnfield.
A. 
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack which projects onto, into or over any part of the roadway of any public street.
B. 
No person shall install, use or maintain any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any sidewalk or other public place 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 government use or when such newsrack unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, sidewalk or street cleaning and/or snow removal, 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 permitted at or near said location.
C. 
Any newsrack which in whole or in part rests upon, in or over any sidewalk or other public place shall comply with the following standards:
(1) 
No newsrack shall exceed four feet in height, 30 inches in width or two feet in depth.
(2) 
No newsrack shall be chained, bolted or otherwise attached to any property owned or maintained by the Town of Lynnfield, except that it may be bolted to a sidewalk, in which case, upon its removal, the distributor shall restore the sidewalk to its condition prior to such installation.
(3) 
No newsrack shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(a) 
Within three feet of any crosswalk;
(b) 
Within 15 feet of any fire hydrant;
(c) 
Within five feet of any fire or police call box or other emergency facility;
(d) 
Within five feet of any driveway, public or private;
(e) 
Within three feet ahead or 15 feet to the rear of any designated bus stop, taxi stand or place marked for handicapped parking;
(f) 
Within three feet of any bus bench or shelter;
(g) 
At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than four feet;
(h) 
Within three feet of any display window of any building abutting the sidewalk or other public place in such a manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of such window for display purposes.
(4) 
No newsrack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than that which is essential to identify, on no more than two sides of the newsrack, the newspaper, periodical or other printed matter offered for sale therein. No letter thereon shall exceed two square inches in size. Advertising signs, promotional decorations, banners and moving signs shall not be permitted on the newsrack, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(5) 
Each newsrack shall be maintained in a clean and neat condition and in good repair at all times, and it shall be one color that does not unnecessarily contrast with the immediate surroundings, except that the lettering permitted in Subsection C(4) and (6) of this section may contrast with such one color. Neither such one color nor any of the permitted lettering shall employ reflectorized paint, day-glo, fluorescent or scotchlite reflective materials or materials of like nature.
(6) 
Every person who places or maintains a newsrack on the streets of the Town of Lynnfield shall have his name, address and telephone number affixed thereto in a place where such information may easily be seen.
The provisions of this bylaw shall apply to existing newsracks within the Town of Lynnfield, except that the distributors thereof shall have 30 days within which to comply with said provisions or within such additional time as may be allowed in the discretion of the Board of Selectmen.
A. 
If any distributor violates any provisions of this article, it shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to determine whether or not such a violation has occurred and thereafter to notify the distributor to correct the violation within five days thereafter. Such notification and direction shall be in writing; it shall specify the nature of the violation and whether or not it warrants removal of the newsrack if not corrected within five days, and it shall direct correction; it shall be served upon the distributor in the same manner as a summons; or it shall be telephoned to the distributor at the telephone number designated by the distributor as provided in § 175-4C(6) above and confirmed in a written notice, mailed by certified mail with return receipt requested to the address designated by the distributor as provided in § 175-4C(6) above. During such five-day period, the distributor shall have a right to a hearing before the Chief of Police or his duly designated representative to determine whether or not such violation warrants removal prior to final determination. At such hearing, the distributor shall have the right to examine the evidence upon which the Chief of Police acted, to cross-examine any witnesses who may have appeared before him and to offer any evidence which may tend to show that the subject newsrack does not violate any provisions of this bylaw and that the claimed violation is not of a nature which warrants removal prior to final determination. The hearing officer shall promptly review such evidence, notify the distributor of his decision with respect thereto, and, if necessary, afford the distributor a reasonable opportunity to comply with such determination.
B. 
If said violation is not corrected within such five-day period or such further reasonable period as may be contained in a superseding notice by the Chief of Police, the Department of Public Works shall be directed by the Chief of Police to remove such newsrack and place it in storage in a secure place. The cost of removal and storage shall be billed to the Distributor, and in the event of nonpayment, a civil suit for money damages may be brought by the Town Counsel in the name of the Town.
C. 
If such newsrack is not claimed within 30 days, it shall be treated as abandoned property and disposed of as provided by law.
D. 
Any distributor who, having been notified and directed as provided herein to correct a violation of the provisions of this bylaw, fails to correct such violation as provided in such notice shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to punishment as provided in Chapter 58, Penalties and Enforcement, of the bylaws of the Town of Lynnfield.
E. 
Any distributor or other person aggrieved by a finding, determination, notice, or action taken under the provisions of this section may appeal to the Board of Selectmen. An appeal shall be made in writing, and it must be filed within five days after the receipt of written notice of any protested decision or action with the office of the Board of Selectmen by a letter of appeal briefly stating therein the basis for such appeal. A hearing thereon shall be scheduled to be held on a date no more than 15 days after receipt of such letter. The appellant shall be given at least five days' notice of the time and place of hearing. The Board of Selectmen shall give the appellant or any other interested person a reasonable opportunity to be heard in order to show cause why the determination or action appealed from should not be upheld. The Board of Selectmen shall make a final determination at the conclusion of the hearing or as soon thereafter as is practicable. In the event that a distributor is successful in reversing a determination that the claimed violation was of a nature which warranted removal pending a final determination, no fee shall be imposed for the removal and storage of the newsrack which was the subject of the appeal, and failure to comply with such determination shall not serve as a basis for prosecution under Subsection D of this section.
F. 
Nothing contained in this bylaw shall be interpreted to limit or impair the exercise by the Town of Lynnfield of its police power in the event of an emergency to remove any newsrack which presents a clear and present danger of imminent personal injury or property damage to users of the public streets of this Town.
In the event that any provisions of this Chapter 175 of the Town's bylaws shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of any other provision thereof.
All bylaws or regulations in apparent conflict with this Chapter 175 of the Town's bylaws shall be construed in a manner which renders the same compatible, but if such construction is impossible, the portions of said conflicting bylaws or regulations are hereby repealed.