§ 21.56.230. Purpose and criteria.

The purpose of this article is to promote the public health, safety and welfare, and safeguard the historical and cultural heritage of Annapolis through the regulation of placement, type, appearance, servicing, and insuring of newsracks on public rights-of-way in the Historic District so as to:

A.

Provide for pedestrian and driving safety and convenience.

B.

Restrict unreasonable interference with the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic including ingress into or egress from any residence or place of business, or from the street to the sidewalk by persons exiting or entering parked or standing vehicles.

C.

Provide for public and property safety during severe weather conditions.

D.

Provide reasonable access for the use and maintenance of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes and access to locations used for public transportation purposes.

E.

Preserve and enhance a district which reflects the City's archaeological, architectural, cultural, and social history.

E.

Relocate and/or replace newsracks which result in a visual blight and/or excessive space allocation on the public rights-of-way or which unreasonably detract from the aesthetics of store window displays, adjacent landscaping and other improvements, as well as to have abandoned newsracks removed.

F.

Maintain and protect the values of surrounding properties.

G.

Reduce unnecessary exposure of the public to personal injury or property damage.

H.

Treat all newsracks equally regardless of their size, content, circulation, or frequency of publication.

I.

Maintain and preserve freedom of the press.

J.

Cooperate to the maximum extent possible with newspaper distributors.

(Ord. No. O-20-09, § I, 11-23-2009)