DANA POINT : Law Limiting News Racks OKd by City
A new city law aimed at limiting the number of news racks in public areas of the city was approved unanimously this week by the City Council.
The law, scheduled to be adopted Nov. 26 after a city news rack inventory has been completed, limits clusters of news racks to 15 feet in length, or about five racks. Only one cluster would be allowed on each side of the street in any block.
Daily and weekly newspapers of general circulation in the city would get first priority under the new law.
Mayor Mike Eggers said the ordinance is not meant to curb sales of adult publications or limit any freedom to publish. Instead, it is meant to regulate and maintain the racks, he said.
“This has nothing to do with obscenity,” Eggers said. “It is meant to eliminate the clutter and to ensure that the racks that are out there are maintained. A lot of them out there have been beat up. They’re not cleaned, they’re in disrepair and not taken care of.”
The new law, however, will require publications that depict nudity, sex or other “harmful matters” as defined in the state Penal Code to use blinders on the rack windows.
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