Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) News dispensers may
be placed adjacent to the wall of a building but shall not be separated from such
wall by more than six inches. Unless otherwise prohibited in this section, news
dispensers may be placed within one and one-half feet of a gutterline or within one
foot thereof in areas where the distance from the gutterline to the far edge of the
sidewalk is less than six and one-half feet wide.
(b) Placement of news dispensers within the State
highway right-of-way is prohibited in the following locations:
1. Within the traveled way, shoulders,
acceleration or deceleration lanes of any State highway;
2. Within medians, jug handles, channelizing
islands and along ramps;
3. Within three
feet of any marked crosswalk;
4. Within
the curved portion of a curb return (from point of tangency to point of tangency),
as illustrated in the diagram below, except that news dispensers may be placed
adjacent to the wall of a building as set forth in (a) above notwithstanding this
paragraph;
Data in
image
5. Within five
feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box, or other emergency
facility;
6. Within three feet of any
driveway;
7. Within 10 feet to the rear
of any sign or other demarcation marking the beginning of a designated bus stop as
illustrated in the diagram below;
Data in
image
8. Within three
feet of any bus bench, except where such bench is within a bus shelter, in which
event this restriction shall not apply provided that the news dispenser is not
placed within such bus shelter;
9.
Within the public sidewalk curb ramp designed to accommodate persons with
disabilities;
10. Where the placement of
the news dispenser would reduce the width of the sidewalk to less than three feet;
and
11. Where the speed limit is 45 mph
or above, placement of news dispensers is prohibited within the clear zone, subject
to the following exceptions:
i. News dispensers
shall be permitted within the clear zone in close proximity to fixed objects which
might operate to impede the safe recovery of errant vehicles to the traveled way, or
bus shelters, but shall be no closer to the traveled way than said fixed object or
bus shelter. For the limited purpose of this exception, clusters or rows of a
maximum of three news dispensers positioned adjacent to one another are permissible,
provided that at least one of the aforesaid news dispensers in each row or cluster
be at least partially within five feet of the aforesaid object. As to bus shelters
only, there shall be no restrictions placed upon the number of news dispensers
permitted within close proximity thereto, provided they be positioned adjacent to
one another and provided that at least one of the aforesaid news dispensers be
within five feet of the bus shelter.
ii.
Even where there are no fixed objects which might operate to impede the safe
recovery of errant vehicles, news dispensers shall be permitted within the clear
zone where there are sidewalks or walkways, but shall be placed on the far side
thereof.
iii. News dispensers shall be
permitted within the clear zone on the near side of a sidewalk or walkway, or in the
grassy area, as close to the sidewalk or walkway as practicable, but only where it
is not practicable to be on the far side of the sidewalk or walkway or in close
proximity to a fixed object.
iv. News
dispensers shall be permitted in areas within the clear zone where there are no
fixed objects which might operate to impede the safe recovery of an errant vehicle
to the traveled way, sidewalks or walkways but only in areas where pedestrians
gather for other purposes. These areas include bus stops and park and ride
facilities. Placement of a news dispenser pursuant to this exception shall be at
least seven and one half feet away from the gutterline where practicable and shall
be placed to service only the area where pedestrians gather.
v. Circumstances referred to in (b)11iii and iv
above which will render placement of news dispensers not "practicable" include, for
example, where news dispensers would encroach upon private property, block display
windows, or where there are unacceptable ground conditions, such as a ditch, which
prevent the placement of or access to a news dispenser.
(c) Any news dispenser which in whole
or in part rests upon, in, or over the State highway right-of-way shall comply with
the following standards:
1. Unless otherwise agreed
to by the Department, news dispensers shall not exceed five feet in height, 36
inches in width, or 30 inches in depth;
2. News dispensers may be chained or otherwise
attached to one another; however, no more than three news dispensers may be joined
together in this manner, and a space of no less than 18 inches shall separate each
group of three news dispensers so attached.
3. No news dispenser shall be used for advertising
signs or publicity purposes other than that dealing with the display, sale, or
purchase of a newspaper or periodical sold therein.
4. Every news dispenser placed on the State
highway right-of-way shall have affixed thereto in a place where such information
may be easily seen, the name, address, and telephone number of the owner and person
(if different from the owner) responsible for maintaining the news
dispenser.
5. Any news dispenser
maintained on any State right-of-way which creates an imminent, unreasonable hazard
to pedestrians or traffic or interferes with the response to an emergency situation
by a public officer, fire fighter, ambulance corps or medic, may be summarily
relocated to the nearest location not presenting said hazard. Any such relocation
shall be reported as soon as reasonably possible to the owner of the news dispenser
who shall relocate the news dispenser to any location which is in compliance with
the terms of this chapter.
6. Unless
otherwise approved by the Department, no news dispenser shall be chained, bolted or
otherwise attached to any public fixture located within the State highway
right-of-way, including, but not limited to, official signs, sign supports, guide
rails, traffic signal supports, highway lighting supports, controller boxes, fire
hydrants or bus shelters.
7. News
dispensers shall be securely placed so as to reasonably prevent personal injury or
property damage due to tilting, tipping or overturning.
8. Every news dispenser shall be maintained so
that:
i. It is reasonably free of dirt and
grease;
ii. It is reasonably free of
chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint;
iii. It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion;
and
iv. The structural parts thereof are
intact.