(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)