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(a) Any newsrack that, in whole or part, rests on any public right-of-way within the city not open to vehicular traffic must:
(1) comply with all applicable city ordinances and state and federal laws; and
(2) not remain continuously empty of publications authorized under the newsrack license for more than 30 consecutive days.
(b) In addition to meeting the requirements of Subsection (a), any freestanding newsrack or multiple newsrack unit that, in whole or part, rests on any public right-of-way within the city not open to vehicular traffic must meet all of the following standards:
(1) Not display advertising, except that a logo or other information identifying the publication and coin operation information may appear on the newsrack. This information must be contained in an area not to exceed six inches high and 20 inches wide on the front, back, and/or sides of the newsrack.
(2) If the newsrack will be located within any special district with an overall design theme that specifies particular colors or materials, then the newsrack material and color must conform to the special district design requirements. If design standards for a special district require that particular materials or colors be used for newsracks, the director shall notify any licensee with a newsrack in that district of the requirements.
(3) Have a notice, not to exceed three inches high and five inches wide, in a readily visible place on the newsrack with the name of the distributor and a working telephone number of whom to call to report a malfunction or to obtain a refund if any coin return mechanism malfunctions. This separate notice is not required if the information required by this paragraph is included with the logo and information allowed under Paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(4) Be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair such that:
(A) the newsrack is reasonably free of dirt and grease;
(B) the newsrack is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling, and cracked paint in the visible painted areas;
(C) the newsrack is reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the visible unpainted metal areas;
(D) any clear plastic or glass parts through which the publications are viewed are unbroken and reasonably free of cracks, dents, blemishes, and discoloration;
(E) any paper or cardboard parts or inserts are reasonably free of tears, peeling, or fading; and
(F) no structural parts are broken or excessively misshapen.
(5) Be of sufficient weight, or be anchored in a manner approved by the director to a heavy metal plate of sufficient weight, to prevent tipping over of the newsrack. A freestanding newsrack may not be anchored to the ground, sidewalk, trees, posts, poles, or streetscape furniture. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) No freestanding newsrack or multiple newsrack unit may be located in a manner that:
(1) impairs or interferes with:
(A) pedestrian traffic;
(B) the ability to fully open a door to any building;
(C) the loading or unloading of passengers from a bus or light rail vehicle; or
(D) emergency access to a building or property by the police department, the fire department, or emergency medical services;
(2) reduces the clear, unimpeded sidewalk width to less than:
(A) nine feet for sidewalks 14 feet or wider; or
(B) three-fourths of the sidewalk width (but in no case less than three feet) for sidewalks less than 14 feet wide;
(3) obstructs the visibility of a fire hydrant, fire department inlet connection, fire protection system control valve, fire call box, police call box, traffic control signal box, or other emergency facility so that the emergency facility cannot be clearly seen from a public street or roadway open to motor vehicular traffic; or
(4) is determined by the director to endanger the safety of persons or property.
(b) On each blockface, freestanding newsracks must be placed together in groups, with not more than eight newsracks in each group. A distance of at least 50 feet must separate each group of freestanding newsracks located on the same blockface.
(c) No more than eight newsracks (whether freestanding newsracks or newsrack spaces in multiple newsrack units) on any block may dispense the same publication, and no more than two newsracks (whether freestanding newsracks or newsrack spaces in multiple newsrack units) on any blockface may dispense the same publication. The same publication may not be dispensed in more than one newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit or in an attached grouping of multiple newsrack units. Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the contrary, the same publication may be dispensed in a multiple newsrack unit in excess of the limits set forth in this subsection whenever the director:
(1) determines it is necessary to fill vacant newsrack spaces in a multiple newsrack unit;
(2) determines that there is a lack of demand for the vacant newsrack spaces by other publications; and
(3) conducts a lottery in accordance with Section 43-126.29(h)(2) to allocate the vacant newsrack spaces.
(d) A freestanding newsrack or a multiple newsrack unit may not be located within:
(1) any median or traffic island;
(2) a visibility triangle as defined in Section 51A-4.602(d)(2) of this code;
(3) the area contained within the projection of the width of a midblock crosswalk to the back of an adjacent sidewalk;
(4) the area contained within the projection of the width of a building’s doorway to the curb face or pavement edge of any public street or roadway open to motor vehicular traffic;
(5) two feet of a curb face or pavement edge of any public street or roadway open to motor vehicular traffic if the newsrack opens away from the curb face or pavement edge, except that if the curb face or pavement edge is adjacent to a designated no parking zone or area, then the newsrack may not be located within 1-1/2 feet of the curb face or pavement edge;
(6) three feet of:
(A) any mailbox, water feature, art, monument, planter, kiosk, trash receptacle, drinking fountain, streetscape bench, or parking meter;
(B) a fire hydrant, fire department inlet connection, fire protection system control valve, fire call box, police call box, traffic control signal box, or other emergency facility; or
(C) a bench, shelter, informational sign, or ticketing equipment of a light rail system;
(7) five feet of a curb face or pavement edge of any public street or roadway open to motor vehicular traffic if the newsrack opens towards the curb face or pavement edge;
(8) six feet of a bicycle rack;
(9) seven feet of a bus stop sign, bus stop bench, or bus stop shelter; or
(10) 15 feet of the centerline of rail of any light rail system track.
(e) A freestanding newsrack may not be located within a multiple newsrack unit zone or within 50 feet of a multiple newsrack unit zone. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
A licensee shall not knowingly display, distribute, or sell any harmful matter, as defined in Section 43.24(a)(2) of the Texas Penal Code, as amended, through any newsrack licensed under this division. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) Upon termination of a license, the licensee (or the director’s designee, who shall assess any costs to the licensee) shall remove a freestanding newsrack and restore the right-of-way to its original condition in a manner satisfactory to the director. A licensee shall remain liable for all license fees from the time a license is issued until such time as all freestanding newsracks are removed, the license area is restored to its original condition, and the license is properly terminated.
(b) Whenever a city contractor removes a multiple newsrack unit from the right-of-way for any reason, the city contractor shall restore the right-of- way to its original condition in a manner satisfactory to the director. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) If the director determines that a freestanding newsrack is not in compliance with the requirements of this division or that a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit is not being operated in compliance with the requirements of this division, the director shall send a “Notice of Intent to Remove” by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the licensee. The notice must state the violation or violations that constitute the basis for the proposed removal of the licensee’s freestanding newsrack or the proposed removal of publications from the licensee’s newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit, whichever is applicable, and suggest corrective action if applicable. The notice must specify the date, time, and place for a hearing to be held before removal.
(b) The hearing must be held not less than 10 days following service of notice. Prior to the hearing, the licensee may correct the violation or may file a written statement setting forth the reason or reasons why the newsrack or publications, whichever applies, should not be removed. At the hearing, the director or the director’s designee shall hear evidence and determine whether the licensee’s freestanding newsrack complies with this division or whether the licensee’s newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit is being operated in compliance with this division, whichever applies. If it is determined that a freestanding newsrack is not in compliance with this division, the newsrack must be removed by the licensee or otherwise brought into compliance. If it is determined that a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit is not being operated in compliance with this division, the licensee shall remove all publications from the newsrack space or otherwise bring the operation of the newsrack space into compliance. The decision of the director may be appealed to the city manager in accordance with Subsection (e) of this section. If, within 10 days after the date of the hearing or, if an appeal is filed, within 10 days after the date of the city manager renders a decision, the licensee has not removed the freestanding newsrack or the publications, whichever applies, or otherwise come into compliance with this division, the city may remove the newsrack or the publications and recover the costs of removal and storage from the licensee.
(c) The director may summarily remove or order any freestanding newsrack removed if it creates an imminent danger of personal injury or property damage. Promptly following the summary removal, the director shall notify the licensee by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the removal, the reason for the removal, and the right to appeal the action to the city manager in accordance with Subsection (e). The licensee may recover any newsracks summarily removed upon reimbursement to the city for the costs of removal and storage. Any coins or publications contained in the newsrack will be returned to the licensee when the newsrack is returned. The licensee may return the freestanding newsrack to its original location upon correction of the violation (unless the location constituted a violation).
(d) Any newsrack or publication not claimed within 10 days after removal by the city may be disposed of by the city as unclaimed property.
(e) If the director orders removal of a freestanding newsrack or a publication under Subsection (b) or summarily removes a freestanding newsrack under Subsection (c), this action is final unless, within 10 days after the receipt of notice of the director’s action, the affected licensee, publisher, or owner of the newsrack or publication, whichever applies, files with the city manager a written appeal. Within 15 days after the appeal is filed, the city manager or the city manager’s designee shall consider all the evidence in support of and against the action appealed and render a decision sustaining, modifying, or reversing all or part of the director’s action. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to an appeal hearing under this subsection, and the city manager or the city manager’s designee shall make a ruling on the basis of a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing. The decision of the city manager is final as to administrative remedies. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
(a) The city council may, by ordinance, establish zones within the city where the exclusive use of multiple newsrack units is required. A request for a multiple newsrack unit zone may be initiated by a city council member or by the signatures of at least 40 percent of the publishers lawfully operating freestanding newsracks in the proposed zone.
(b) Criteria that may be considered in establishing a multiple newsrack unit zone include, but are not limited to:
(1) whether there is extensive availability and use of public transportation services and facilities in the proposed zone;
(2) whether there is a large amount of pedestrian traffic in the proposed zone;
(3) whether there is a proliferation of freestanding newsracks in the proposed zone;
(4) whether limited space is available for freestanding newsracks in the proposed zone; and
(5) whether the proposed zone is located in a distinct area with an established urban or neighborhood character.
(c) The following areas have been established by the city council as multiple newsrack unit zones:
(1) Expanded Central Business District Zone, which is the area contained within the following boundaries:
Dallas North Tollway from Stemmons Freeway to Harry Hines Boulevard;
Harry Hines Boulevard from the Dallas North Tollway to Field Street;
Field Street from Harry Hines Boulevard to Woodall Rodgers Freeway;
Woodall Rodgers Freeway from Field Street to Central Expressway;
Central Expressway from Woodall Rodgers Freeway to Julius Schepps Freeway;
Julius Schepps Freeway from Central Expressway to Interstate 30;
Interstate 30 from Julius Schepps Freeway to Stemmons Freeway; and
Stemmons Freeway from Interstate 30 to the Dallas North Tollway.
(2) Reserved.
(d) Before multiple newsrack units are installed in the Expanded Central Business District Zone and before an ordinance is adopted establishing any additional multiple newsrack unit zone, the director shall prepare a plan that includes:
(1) the number and proposed locations of the multiple newsrack units to be installed in the zone;
(2) the design criteria for the multiple newsrack units to be installed in the zone; and
(3) the number and location of existing freestanding newsracks in the zone.
(e) After the plan is prepared, the director shall place on a city council agenda an item for council consideration of the installation of multiple newsrack units in the Expanded Central Business District Zone or the establishment of an additional proposed multiple newsrack unit zone, whichever applies. At least 10 days before the date of the council meeting at which the city council will consider the item, notice of the meeting must be sent by regular United States mail to:
(1) all publishers having current licenses with the city to operate newsracks in the public right- of-way; and
(2) all owners of property located within 200 feet of the Expanded Central Business District Zone or the proposed multiple newsrack unit zone, whichever applies, except that if more than 10 property owners are located within that distance, the director may, in lieu of mailing notices to the property owners, publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least 10 days before the date of the council meeting.
(f) The notice required in Subsection (e) must include the date, time, and location of the council meeting and a brief summary of the proposed plan for the multiple newsrack unit zone.
(g) After the installation of multiple newsrack units in the Expanded Central Business District Zone is approved by the city council or after a multiple newsrack unit zone is established by the city council, the city will install and maintain multiple newsrack units in the zone. A publisher shall only use a multiple newsrack unit provided by the city or a city contractor to dispense publications in a multiple newsrack unit zone, except that any freestanding newsrack lawfully operating on a blockface at the time the blockface is included in a multiple newsrack unit zone may continue to operate on the blockface until multiple newsrack units are actually installed on the blockface.
(h) The director shall allocate newsrack spaces in multiple newsrack units in accordance with the following procedures:
(1) Initial allocation.
(A) The director shall determine how many newsrack spaces are available in multiple newsrack units placed on a blockface in compliance with this section.
(B) The director shall determine how many freestanding newsracks are being lawfully operated on the blockface. A freestanding newsrack will be considered as being lawfully operated on a particular blockface if it is designated as being located on that blockface in the most recent list of newsrack locations provided to the director by a publisher holding a valid newsrack license issued by the city council or a valid temporary newsrack license issued by the director. The list must be received by the director before the date the city council adopts the particular multiple newsrack unit zone.
(C) If the number of lawfully-operated freestanding newsracks on the blockface exceeds the number of newsrack spaces available in multiple newsrack units on the blockface, the director shall conduct a lottery to determine the allocation of the newsrack spaces.
(D) The director shall place in a pool the names of all publications dispensed in the freestanding newsracks that are being lawfully operated on the blockface. If the same publication is being dispensed by more than one newsrack on the blockface, its name will be placed in the pool twice. The director shall draw from the pool a number of publication names equal to the number of newsrack spaces available in multiple newsrack units on that blockface. The director shall assign numbers to the names, beginning with the Number 1 for the first-drawn name and continuing in a sequential manner. The publications whose names are drawn will be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface as long as compliance with this division is maintained. The publishers of the publications allocated a newsrack space through the lottery process will select locations in the multiple newsrack units on the blockface in the order in which their publication names were drawn, with Number 1 having first choice. The director shall draw the remaining publication names from the pool and assign them a number, beginning with the number following the one assigned to the last publication allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface. These remaining publications will be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface (in the order drawn) only if any of the other publications originally allocated a newsrack space do not want the space or do not qualify for the space. The publisher of any publication that is not allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface shall remove the newsrack containing that publication within 10 days after the date the lottery is conducted.
(E) If the number of lawfully-operated freestanding newsracks on the blockface equals the number of newsrack spaces available in multiple newsrack units on the blockface, the publications dispensed in those lawfully-operated newsracks will each be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface as long as compliance with this division is maintained. The publishers of the publications allocated newsrack spaces under this paragraph shall select locations in the multiple newsrack units on the blockface in the order in which their completed license applications are received by the director in compliance with this division, with the first received having first choice.
(F) If the number of lawfully-operated freestanding newsracks on the blockface is less than the number of newsrack spaces available in multiple newsrack units on the blockface, the publications dispensed in those lawfully-operated newsracks will each be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface as long as compliance with this division is maintained. The publishers of the existing publications allocated newsrack spaces under this paragraph shall select locations in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface in the order in which their completed license applications are received by the director in compliance with this division, with the first received having first choice. The remaining newsrack spaces will be allocated through the lottery process described in Paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) Future allocation.
(A) Whenever one or more newsrack spaces become available in a multiple newsrack unit on a blockface, the director shall, by personal service or by regular United States mail, notify all publishers that a lottery will be held to allocate the available newsrack spaces. The notice must:
(i) identify the number and location (by blockface) of the available newsrack spaces;
(ii) state the date, time, and location of the lottery;
(iii) state the date and time by which the director must receive all requests to have publications entered in the lottery and the address at which the requests must be received; and
(iv) state any other information the director determines necessary to conduct the lottery.
(B) The director shall place in a pool the names of all publications for which requests to participate in the lottery were timely received. If the same publication was requested more than once, its name will be placed in the pool twice. The director shall draw from the pool a number of publication names equal to the number of newsrack spaces available in multiple newsrack units on that blockface. The director shall assign numbers to the names, beginning with the Number 1 for the first-drawn name and continuing in a sequential manner. The publications whose names are drawn will be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface as long as compliance with this division is maintained. The publishers of the publications allocated a newsrack space through the lottery process will select locations in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface in the order in which their publication names were drawn, with Number 1 having first choice. The director shall draw the remaining publication names from the pool and assign them a number, beginning with the number following the one assigned to the last publication allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface. These remaining publications will be allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on the blockface (in the order drawn) only if any of the other publications originally allocated a newsrack space do not want the space or do not qualify for the space.
(3) Random five-year lottery. Five years after the initial allocation of newsrack spaces in a multiple newsrack unit on a blockface and every five years thereafter, the director shall reallocate the newsrack spaces in accordance with the lottery procedures established in Paragraph (2) of this subsection. The publisher of any publication that is not allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit on a blockface shall remove any publications from any newsrack space on that blockface within 10 days after the date the lottery is conducted.
(i) A publisher allocated a newsrack space in a multiple newsrack unit in a zone shall install and maintain any coin-operated lock it requires to be on its assigned newsrack. The locking device must be approved by the director (or a city contractor, if applicable) and must not interfere with the use of the other newsracks in the multiple newsrack unit.
(j) The city may contract with another person for the installation, operation, maintenance, repair, removal, and replacement of multiple newsrack units in a multiple newsrack unit zone established under this section. (Ord. Nos. 26809; 27201)
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