Media reps attack city's attempt to limit news racks
Council agrees to leave limit of 16 per block in place
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

The vote on an ordinance amending the regulation of news racks in the public right of way has been delayed until the next meeting of the City Council after it was met with opposition Monday.

Several media representatives attended this week's meeting to express concerns about the proposed amendment- which, among other things, would decrease the total allowable number of racks on any given city block from 16 to 10.

Sandra Harwood, a Simi resident and representative from daily newspaper USA Today, said she agreed with all the proposed changes in the ordinance except for the reduction in the total number of racks allowed.

"We believe the ordinance has . . . many good compromises," Harwood said. "But we disagree on the limitations of the total number. When the appearance standards are limited, a reduction in the allowable number of racks will not be necessary."

Before the meeting, council members met in closed session with the city attorney to discuss a sixpage letter sent to the city by an attorney with the Los Angeles Times.

According to the agenda of the special meeting, the letter lays out legal arguments as to why the restrictions would "infringe publishers' constitutional rights."

The letter also discusses a lawsuit against the city of Paso Robles over their restrictions on the number of news racks and how it resulted in the city's having to reimburse the publishers more than $90,000 in attorneys' fees.

Last September, members of the City Council discussed making changes to the ordinance in order to better regulate the color, style, dimension and location of news racks located on Simi's sidewalks in an attempt, they said, to reduce clutter and improve aesthetics of news rack groupings.

Some of the changes to the ordinance include limiting rack colors to neutral hues of blue, olive green, white and dark brown. The amendment also requires that racks be bolted to the ground to avoid toppling during high winds and must be mounted on uniformsize pedestals and bases, officials said.

According to a city staff report, advertising of any type, except for that with information found within the specific publication, would not be allowed on the outside of the racks. Rack boxes would also have to fit within specific dimensions to ensure a more uniform appearance.

Councilmember Michelle Foster said that she agreed with the media representatives and that she was comfortable allowing a total number of 16 racks- separated into two groups of eight- to stay in place.

"When we were looking at the pictures (of the racks throughout the city), the difference between five and eight is really not that much visually different as long as they're all uniform," Foster said. "I'm okay with keeping the number of eight."

Councilmember Barbra Williamson agreed with Foster, but asked that no news agency be allowed to have more than one rack in a given rack group.

"That way, everybody's going to get in, instead of having two or three and not having room for the other publications," she said.

Following an hourlong discussion about the ordinance, the council members unanimously agreed to keep the current allowable number at 16 racks per block- with no more than eight within a space of 200 feet in either direction.

They directed city staff to bring the ordinance back on April 14 with proper wording on the specific spacing of the racks, the method of selection in the event that more racks are requested than are available and the details of enforcement for those agencies not in compliance.