2008-01-15 Regular Council Session Agenda

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Bill No. ____________ Ordinance No. __________ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF UNIVERSITY CITY, MISSOURI AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROVIDE FOR THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF NEWS BOXES. WHEREAS , the proliferation of numerous unregulated news and circular boxes of varying heights, sizes and cleanliness on the City’s sidewalks and within City’s rights- of-way has adversely affected, and will continue to adversely affect, the aesthetics of the City’s streetscapes, and can also compromise pedestrian traffic, interfere with sight-lines, and present safety risks for the traveling public; and WHEREAS , the licensing and regulations established herein will (i) benefit news box distributors by ensuring a process by which boxes can be accounted for, and maintained, and kept aesthetically pleasing for the distributors’ constituents, and (ii) impose corresponding additional duties on city staff, which will increase administrative and inspection costs, and for these reasons the City Council believes that it is appropriate to impose a fee on distributors to partially offset the costs to be incurred by the city; and WHEREAS , the City Council accordingly desires to license and regulate news boxes and to impose a license fee as provided herein so as to better serve the public health, safety, and welfare; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UNIVERSITY CITY, MISSOURI AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Title 5, Business Licenses and Regulations, of the University City Municipal Code is hereby amended by the enactment of a new Chapter 5.100, News Box Distributors, to read as follows: Title 5 Business Licenses and Regulations Chapter 5.100 News Box Distributors Section 5.100.010 Definitions For the purposes of this article, the following words or phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section: Director. The director of the City’s finance department or such other official chosen by the director to administer and enforce this chapter.