The city council finds and determines:
A. K Street from 7th Street to 13th Street has nearly thirty (30) publications that are housed in roughly sixty (60) racks of varying shapes, sizes, colors and materials.
B. Newsracks can hamper public safety and welfare by cluttering the sidewalks and obstructing the flow of pedestrian traffic. Newsracks affixed to city-owned fences, light poles, and signal poles impede maintenance to such structures. Newsracks that are not securely affixed can obstruct both pedestrian and vehicular flows when blown over or knocked down and put pedestrians, wheelchair users and drivers in danger.
C. The proliferation of newsracks contributes to the visual blight and impedes current efforts to revitalize K Street.
D. The ability of publishers of periodicals to distribute their publications is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
E. The publishers' constitutional right to distribute their publications must be balanced against the city's desire to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, as well as the city's efforts to eliminate blight and enhance the aesthetics of the K Street Mall. (Ord. 2009-027 § 1)