(A) Public property.
(1) The Mayor shall have the authority to enter into contracts that grant to one or more persons, subject to the conditions set forth in the contract and this section, the privilege of installing and maintaining pay telephones in the public way. Any such contract must be approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney. In the administration of this section, the Mayor shall consult and cooperate with all appropriate city departments. The Mayor may at any time cause to be advertised a request for proposals relating to such contracts.
(2) Such contracts and the method of awarding such contracts shall, to the greatest extent possible, be designed to:
(a) Discourage illegal drug sales and other criminal activity that are sometimes associated with and facilitated by pay telephones in public ways;
(b) Reduce the disturbances that pay telephones may tend to promote in residential areas;
(c) Reduce visual clutter in the public way;
(d) Reduce the unnecessary obstruction of pedestrian and vehicular traffic;
(e) Ensure the availability of pay telephones where they are needed for lawful purposes;
(f) Provide adequate access to pay telephones by disabled persons; and
(g) Generate revenue for the city.
(3) Any contract entered into pursuant to this section shall provide that the privileges granted by the contract are subject to the City Council’s authority to order the removal of a pay telephone pursuant to division (A)(6) below. Any such contract shall also permit the City Council or the Mayor to require pay telephones in the public way to have special features designed to reduce criminal activity. In addition, the contract must provide that the Aldermen must be notified of the location of any pay telephone that is to be situated in the public way in his or her ward pursuant to this section. No person shall be awarded a contract under this section unless the person has a valid certificate of service authority to provide pay telephone service granted by the State Commerce Commission where required by law.
(4) No person may install a pay telephone in the public way on or after the effective date of this section unless installation is made pursuant to a contract entered into under this section. Beginning 10-1-1993, no pay telephone may remain in the public way other than pursuant to a contract entered into under this section. Any telephone installed or maintained in violation of this division (A)(4) shall be subject to immediate removal at the owner’s expense by the city.
(5) No later than 30 days after the effective date of this section, every person who owns or maintains a pay telephone in the public way must file with the Mayor a list of the locations of all such telephones owned or maintained by that person. Any pay telephone in the public way that does not appear on such a list shall be subject to immediate removal at the owner’s expense by the city beginning 31 days after the effective date of this section.
(6) The City Council may at any time after 10-1-1993, or at any time after the effective date of this section if pursuant to a contract under this section, by ordinance order the removal of a particular pay telephone that is in the public way. Such an ordinance must identify the location of the telephone to be removed. Any pay telephone that is not removed within 14 days after an ordinance ordering its removal is adopted shall be subject to immediate removal at the owner’s expense by the city.
(7) Any pay telephone removed by the city pursuant to this section may be reclaimed by its owner within 30 days after its removal. The owner must reimburse the city for its removal and storage costs before any such telephone may be reclaimed. Such costs shall also include the costs of removing any installation ancillary to the pay telephone, and the costs of restoring the public way to its original condition. Any telephone not so reclaimed may be disposed of as unclaimed property.
(8) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to fines pursuant to the city’s fee and fine schedule.
(9) As used in this division (A), PAY TELEPHONE means any self-service or coin- or credit card-operated telephone; and PUBLIC WAY means any sidewalk, parkway, road, street, highway, alley, lane, court, structure, place, trail and/or bridge under the control or responsibility of the city or constructed or erected for the use and/or benefit of the public.
(10) The Mayor, subject to the advice and consent of the City Council, shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations to implement this section.
(11) No provisions of this section or any contract issued pursuant to this section may be applied to any transaction in interstate commerce to the extent to which such business may not, under the constitution and statutes of the United States, be made the subject of regulation by the city.
(B) Private property.
(1) The installation or continued maintenance of an outdoor public telephone, including any telephone booth, on any property or attached to the outside of any building or structure shall be allowed provided a permit is issued by the City Clerk permitting the installation or continued maintenance of such outdoor public telephone.
(2) The City Clerk shall only issue a permit to install or continue maintenance of an outdoor public telephone upon the direction of the Judiciary Committee of the City Council made after it has conducted a hearing to determine whether such a permit should be issued.
(3) The Judiciary Committee of the City Council shall conduct a hearing to determine whether a permit allowing installation or continued maintenance of an outdoor public telephone shall be issued. This hearing will be conducted within 30 days of receipt of an application by the office of the City Clerk requesting a permit to install or continue maintenance of an outdoor public telephone. The City Clerk shall prepare an application form which shall include appropriate information identifying the applicant, the applicant’s business address, telephone number and the proposed or existing location of the public telephone. The City Clerk will give all filed applications to the Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee who shall then immediately notify the Aldermen of the ward where a permit is sought that an application has been made.
(4) The Judiciary Committee shall authorize issuance of the permit only after hearing and determining, by a majority vote, that:
(a) The placement and location of the public telephone will not be detrimental to the public welfare;
(b) The placement and location of the public telephone will not be injurious to other property or improvements in the neighborhood in which it is or will be located; and
(c) The public telephone is not or will not be located outside of or attached to the outside of any building or structure in such a manner as to impede or restrict the movement or access of the public on or about any public way.
(5) Should the Judiciary Committee fail to act on the application within 30 days of the date the application for permit is made in the office of the City Clerk, said permit shall be considered to be granted.
(6) (a) If the applicant desires to appeal a decision of the Judiciary Committee denying a permit to install or continue maintenance of an outdoor public telephone, the applicant may do so by filing a written notice of appeal with the office of the City Clerk within ten business days of the date of the decision of the Judiciary Committee. The appeal shall be to the entire City Council and shall be heard within 30 days after the date the notice of appeal is filed. The City Clerk shall prepare an appropriate notice of appeal form.
(b) The City Council may reverse or affirm the decision of the Judiciary Committee by a majority vote. The Mayor shall vote to break all ties.
(c) The decision of the City Council shall be final.
(7) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no outdoor public telephone may be installed on or after the effective date of this section unless a permit has been obtained for the telephone pursuant to this section.
(b) Any outdoor public telephone installed prior to the effective date of this section for which a permit has not been obtained must be removed no later than October 1, 1993, unless application for a permit and a permit allowing continued maintenance of the outdoor public telephone has been issued pursuant to the terms of this section.
(8) (a) Any permit issued pursuant to this section shall be subject to revocation if the Judiciary Committee makes a determination, after written notice and a hearing, that:
1. The public telephone is detrimental to the public welfare;
2. The placement and location of the public telephone is injurious to other property or improvements in the neighborhood in which it is located; or
3. The public telephone is located outside of or attached to a building or structure in such a manner as to impede or restrict the movement or access of the public on or about any public way.
(b) The notice will be sent to the existing permitted at the address shown in the permit application for the location in question. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of division (B)(3) above. A right of appeal shall exist and any appeal shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of division (B)(6) above.
(9) (a) Every application for a permit filed pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a fee of $50 for each property affected if the application is filed on or before 10-1-1993, and $100 for each property affected if the application is filed thereafter. No other fee shall apply to the filing of the application.
(b) The permitted shall pay an annual permit fee of $100 on or before October 1 of each and every year subsequent to the year in which an original permit is issued. The fee shall be paid in the office of the City Clerk.
(10) As used in this division (B) PUBLIC TELEPHONE means any self-service or coin or credit card operated telephone; and PUBLIC WAY means any sidewalk, parkway, road, street, highway, alley, lane, court, structure, place, trail and/or bridge under the ownership control or responsibility of the city or constructed or erected for the use and/or benefit of the public.
(11) (a) Any person who installs or continues maintenance of an outdoor public telephone in violation of the terms and provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50, and not more than $250, for each offense. Each day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. Failure to obtain an annual permit on or before October 1 of each year shall be considered a specific violation of this section.
(b) Enforcement proceedings to correct any such violation may be filed by the Building Department and processed by the Code Hearing Department of the city in accordance with the provisions of this code of ordinances.
(c) Any public telephone that is found by the Hearing Officer, after a hearing conducted pursuant to this code of ordinances, to have been installed or maintained without a permit in violation of this section shall be subject to immediate removal by the city at the owner’s expense.
(12) If any division of this section is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable in whole or in part, such determination shall have no effect on those divisions of this section that are unaffected by the courts decision. Enforcement of this section shall continue unless the effect of the decision renders the ordinance unenforceable.
(13) No provisions of this section or any permit issued pursuant to this section may be applied to any transaction in interstate commerce to the extent to which such business may not, under the constitution and statutes of the United States, be made the subject of regulation by the city.
(Prior Code, § 35.03) (Ord. 93-210, passed 3-9-1993; Ord. 93-211, passed 3-9-1993; Ord. 94-262, passed 2-22-1994; Ord. 2015-033, passed 11-10-2015)