There’s a magician prowling the streets of the Village, because who else could turn a newspaper box into a park bench? The same person also has a nifty vanishing trick, because a number of newsracks along Wall and Prospect streets and Fay Avenue have completely disappeared.
Early birds on their morning stroll to grab a cup of coffee at The Living Room and pick up a paper now are staring at an empty spot ” save four sawed-off bolts ” where the racks used to be.
According to San Diego Municipal Code 62.1001, the “council finds the uncontrolled proliferation and placement of news racks in the public right-of-way constitutes a threat to public health, safety, and vehicular traffic…obstructing views of traffic signs…[and] news racks that unreasonably interfere with these activities constitute a public nuisance.” According to www.firstamendmentcenter.org, many cities have tried to regulate news racks in this way “” and have lost.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has twice decided cases involving news racks. In its 1988 decision, City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., the high court invalidated a city ordinance that gave the mayor unbridled discretion to determine whether publishers could place news racks in various locations,” the Web site said.
In the 1993 decision, City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc., the city allowed traditional newspapers to remain in newsracks but revoked permits of papers “devoted to advertising,” justifying itself by reasoning “safety and aesthetics,” firstamendmentcenter.org said. The Supreme Court stated in its ruling that the city could not discriminate between newsracks and that it did not have the power to limit the number of newsracks.
“As long as this avenue of communication remains open, these devices continue to play a significant role in the dissemination of protected speech,” the court wrote.
San Diego’s municipal code lays out different dimensions each newsrack must have, along with other conditions for newsracks. In addition, there are standards for “proper removal of news racks.” According to Steve Cousins, San Diego City Code Enforcement, the city is not currently removing newsracks nor enforcing the code. At $100 per rack, whoever is taking racks is stealing, he said.
The San Diego City Council heard this issue months ago, said Keely Sweeney of City Council President Scott Peters’ office.
“The procedure’s spelled out in the ordinance,” Sweeney said. “It’s hard to enforce, but you write a letter and there’s an opportunity for the publisher to fix the problem.”
Some believe the lack of a solution and attitudes of complacency regarding free speech may have forced some merchants to take action on their own. One local worker who daily drives a pickup truck around the Village, watering hanging plants, said a local merchant “insinuated” that since he was always out there, he could make the newsracks disappear, he said.
Unfortunately, with many missing racks but no letters written to city officials, local publishers weren’t warned of any newsrack violations. However, in many cases new benches have replaced the newsracks.
Esther Viti, of Promote La Jolla’s Beautification Committee, said that many racks were replaced with benches in the village, but that she found the racks missing before placing the benches there. Viti said she didn’t move the newsracks.
Viti said she’s been on a task force to create a uniform news rack throughout the Village. The single rack would include many news outlets and Viti hopes to start it soon.
Julie Hoisington, co-publisher of the San Diego Community News Group, which includes La Jolla Village News, said the company complies with all codes, and pays “required fees for every rack on city property in the county of San Diego.”
Hoisington is also a La Jolla resident.
“As residents and publishers, we don’t like to see the hodge-podge of racks in a variety of styles and colors lined up like a circus parade,” she said. “We have no problem participating with the uniform rack’s implementation to help beautify the community, as long as the process is done legally through the San Diego City Code Enforcement Department.”
In this regard, La Jolla Village News and La Jolla Light agree ” both publications have had their racks come up missing and representatives of both said they are scratching their heads.
“It is not legal or correct for a group of citizens to take it upon themselves to remove private property that has been approved by the city,” Hoisington said.