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This division only applies to newsracks located on the public right-of-way within the city of Dallas and provides administrative procedures for the grant of annual licenses regarding newsracks to be located on the public right-of-way. This division regulates the placement of newsracks on the public right-of-way within the city. This division also ensures that newsracks do not create a hazard to persons or property, do not interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic, and are kept neat, clean, and in good repair. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
In this division, unless the context requires a different definition:
(1) BLOCK means an area bounded by streets on all sides. If a street deadends, the terminus of the dead-end street will be treated as an intersecting street.
(2) BLOCKFACE means the linear distance of lots along one side of a street between the two nearest intersecting streets. If a street deadends, the terminus of the dead-end street will be treated as an intersecting street.
(3) CITY CONTRACTOR means a person who has a contract with the city for the installation, operation, maintenance, repair, removal, and replacement of multiple newsrack units in a multiple newsrack unit zone.
(4) CROSSWALK has the meaning given that term in Section 541.302 of the Texas Transportation Code, as amended.
(5) DIRECTOR means the director of public works, or a designee.
(6) FREESTANDING NEWSRACK means a newsrack that is not a multiple newsrack unit or a part of a multiple newsrack unit.
(7) LICENSE means permission granted under this division to a person to install, operate, or maintain a newsrack within the public right-of-way of the city for a specified period of time.
(8) LICENSEE means the publisher, and any other person operating and maintaining a newsrack on behalf of a publisher, who is issued a license under this division to install, operate, or maintain a newsrack within the public right-of-way of the city.
(9) MULTIPLE NEWSRACK UNIT means a single structure containing more than one newsrack that is installed by the city or a city contractor in a multiple newsrack unit zone.
(10) NEWSRACK means any self-service or coin-operated container, rack, or structure used or maintained for the display, distribution, or sale of newspapers, periodicals, or other publications.
(11) PERSON means an individual, assumed name entity, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, or other legal entity.
(12) PUBLISHER means any person who owns and/or distributes newspapers, periodicals, or other publications.
(13) SPLIT-DOOR NEWSRACK means a freestanding newsrack or a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit that has been split into two separate distribution areas. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201; 27697; 32002)
(a) A person commits an offense if:
(1) he installs, operates, or maintains a newsrack on any portion of a public right-of-way within the city that is open to vehicular traffic;
(2) without a license issued under this division, he installs, operates, or maintains a newsrack on a public right-of-way in the city that is not open to vehicular traffic;
(3) he installs, operates, or maintains on a public right-of-way a newsrack that does not display a valid decal issued under this division;
(4) he forges, alters, or counterfeits a newsrack decal required by this division or possesses a forged, altered, or counterfeited newsrack decal; or
(5) without the consent of the director, he defaces or removes a decal that is displayed on a newsrack as required by this division.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) of this section that the person was installing, operating, or maintaining the newsrack pursuant to a contract with the city for those services. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) A person who desires to install, operate, or maintain a newsrack on a public right-of-way that is not open to vehicular traffic shall submit an application for a newsrack license to the director on a form provided for that purpose. The applicant must be the person who will install, operate, or maintain the newsrack. The application must be verified and contain all of the following information:
(1) Name, address, telephone number, and signature of the applicant. If the applicant is a person other than the publisher, then the publisher must also sign the application, agreeing to be bound by the terms contained in the license.
(2) Name, address, and telephone number of the person the city may contact concerning installation, placement, operation, and maintenance of the applicant’s newsracks.
(3) Form of business of the applicant and, if the business is a corporation or association, a copy of the documents establishing the business.
(4) Number of newsracks the applicant wishes to install or operate in the city and a list indicating the proposed location (by blockface) of each newsrack, the name of the publication each newsrack will dispense, and whether the publication will be dispensed free or for a charge.
(5) Dimensional measurements of each style of any freestanding newsracks to be installed, with drawings or photographs.
(6) Proposed method of securing any freestanding newsracks.
(b) Following a review of the application, execution of the written agreement required under Section 43-126.19(b), payment of a nonrefundable $100 application processing fee, and payment of the annual fee for a newsrack license, the director shall, within 60 days following the date of receipt of an application for an initial license and within 30 days following the date of receipt of an application for a license renewal, issue a newsrack license to the applicant unless denial is required by Section 43-126.20.
(c) Upon issuance of a license for the installation, operation, and maintenance of newsracks and payment of the annual fee for the newsrack license, the director shall issue a decal for each newsrack permitted under the license, reflecting the license number and expiration date. A decal must be displayed on each permitted newsrack at all times, so that the decal is visible from the street.
(d) A decal issued to one person may not be transferred to another person. A decal issued for one newsrack may not be transferred to another newsrack without the approval of the director, except that a decal may be transferred to a replacement newsrack at the same location.
(e) If a decal is lost, stolen, or mutilated, the director may issue a duplicate decal, upon written request of the licensee, for a fee of $2.
(f) Before any newsrack not authorized under a newsrack license may be installed, operated, or maintained on the public right-of-way, the licensee must make a written request to the director for the additional newsrack, pay the required annual fee, and display a valid decal on the newsrack as required by this division.
(g) The director may (in accordance with procedures established by this division for the allocation of newsrack locations) approve changes to the location of a validly licensed newsrack, upon written request by a licensee, for no additional fee. An amendment that substantially changes the scope of a license (such as displaying, distributing, or selling in a newsrack a publication not specified in the license application for that newsrack) must be applied for in the same manner as the original license.
(h) A licensee shall notify the director within 10 days of any change in the address or telephone number of the publisher or of the person responsible for the installation, operation, or maintenance of the newsracks permitted under the license.
(i) A license issued to one person may not be transferred to another person. A newsrack location assigned to one person or publication may not be transferred to another person or publication without following the procedures established by this division for the allocation of newsrack locations. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) It is a condition of a license that the installation, operation, and maintenance of each newsrack be in accordance with this division.
(b) Prior to the issuance of a license, the licensee shall execute a written agreement providing all of the following:
(1) The licensee will defend, indemnify, and hold whole and harmless the city of Dallas and its officers, agents, representatives, or employees against any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, costs, or expenses (including attorney’s fees) for bodily injury, property damage, or other harm arising out of, or in any way related to, the licensee’s occupancy, maintenance, or use of the licensed area or the licensee’s placement, installation, operation, or maintenance of any newsrack. The indemnity must include claims for damages that any publicly or privately owned utility or communication company sustains arising from the licensee’s occupancy, maintenance, or use of the licensed area or the licensee’s placement, installation, operation, or maintenance of any newsrack.
(2) If the city of Dallas is ever made a defendant in any cause of action, directly or indirectly, based upon the licensee’s occupancy, maintenance, or use of the licensed area, or the licensee’s placement, installation, operation, or maintenance of any newsrack, the city shall have the right, at its option, to implead the licensee and its successors and assigns.
(3) The licensee will procure, prior to the issuance of a license, and keep in full force and effect at all times during the license term, commercial general liability insurance coverage (including, but not limited to, premises/operations, independent contractors, and contractual liability) protecting the city of Dallas against any and all claims for damages to persons or property as a result of, or arising out of, the licensee’s occupancy, maintenance, or use of the licensed area or the licensee’s placement, installation, operation, or maintenance of any newsrack, with minimum combined bodily injury (including death) and property damage limits of not less than $500,000 for each occurrence and $500,000 annual aggregate. The insurance policy must be written by an insurance company approved by the State of Texas and acceptable to the city and issued in a standard form approved by the Texas Department of Insurance. All provisions of the policy must be acceptable to the city and must name the city and its officers and employees as additional insureds and provide for 30 days written notice to the director of cancellation, non-renewal, or material change to the insurance policy.
(4) The license is subject to the rights of the city, public utilities, and franchisees in and to the public right-of-way and the rights of the city to make changes to the grade of any street, sidewalk, or parkway, and the licensee will never make a claim against the city for damages it might suffer by reason of the installation, construction, reconstruction, operation, or maintenance of any public improvement, utility, or communication facility on the licensed area.
(c) The annual license fee for a newsrack license is:
(1) $15 for each freestanding newsrack located within a public right-of-way of the city; and
(2) $60 for each newsrack space operated in a multiple newsrack unit, which amount includes $45 for rental of the newsrack space from the city or the city contractor.
(d) A licensee shall pay the annual license fee for a newsrack license to the director. The payment must be made on or before the issuance of a license. All sums due under this section must be deposited by the city controller and are subject to a $25 fee for each dishonored check. Except as specifically provided otherwise in this division, no license fees will be prorated upon termination of any license. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
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