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Painted the wrong shade, non-green newsracks pile up in Houston storage lot

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by Lee McGuire / 11 News

khou.com

Posted on November 11, 2009 at 5:54 PM

Updated Wednesday, Nov 11 at 6:29 PM

HOUSTON -- Old news is piling up in a Houston storage lot, and now a new ordinance will allow city employees to start clearing out the clutter.

Ever since the city began enforcing a “newsrack ordinance” in early 2008, inspectors have been tagging and collecting newsracks that are not in compliance with the rules: They must be metal, secured with a 95 pound concrete base, and painted only one color – forest green.
So far, inspectors have found 4,052 newsracks along city streets that are in violation of the rules, and hauled 968 of them to the city’s storage lot on Center St. near downtown.
When they passed the rules, City Council members expected that newspaper owners would want to get their newsracks back – but 281 of them remained unclaimed for months, cluttering the warehouse. It’s why the Council changed the rules yet again on Tuesday, giving inspectors the authority to discard the offending newsracks 30 days after bringing them to the storage lot. Council members declined to add a $75 violation fee and $5/day storage fee, which inspectors had originally suggested.
“The ordinance needs to be repealed,” said Sharon Lauder, who publishes the Houston Tribune. She has 65 blue plastic newsracks around town, and has filed a lawsuit to challenge the new rules. “The freedom to distribute is as important as the freedom to publish.”
Lauder has published editorials and cartoons blasting the ordinance, and estimates that purchasing new newsracks would easily break her budget. “I would have to go into debt to buy those metal boxes,” she said. “There’s not enough money.”
Toni Lawrence, who supported the ordinance in 2007 and voted for the changes this week, said she expects the city will eventually require newspaper owners to pay a fee if their newsracks are in violation. For now, she said, the city is working to set the appropriate penalty.

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Comments: Displaying 1 - 7 of 7

patrick53 said on November 12, 2009 at 11:34 AM

1usa1 , And your definition of litter is anything you don't like? 1st Amendment addresses the freedom of speech, freedom of the press. It does NOT mandate they be in English. Apparently, you don't like the idea of Rights for those that do not read English. The rule passed by the city council did not apply only to non English publications. Just ones that charge money. So, if a publication is free, its newsrack can be any color.

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1usa1 said on November 12, 2009 at 10:13 AM

Patrick. where the Constitutional right to litter bus stops with ugly foreign language dispensers? I must've missed that one.

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1usa1 said on November 12, 2009 at 10:11 AM

Great! Now they can get rid of all the Spanish language racks that are every color under the sun and looks God awful.

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patrick53 said on November 12, 2009 at 9:15 AM

I'm curious. How does a regulation mandating the owners of plastic newsracks to dispose of them to be replaced by green, metal ones be considered "green"? Throw away servicable products? Apparently 'green' to some is the color of the paint. This type of law has been found to be unconstitutional in some cities.....cost prohibitive measures applied toward distribution of publications violates the 1st Amendment Rights of free speech. I guess the Constitution and the Rights espoused by it are of no concern to the city council and some posters here.

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khoudude said on November 12, 2009 at 6:39 AM

the money spent on this stupid idea could be used feeding poor children!

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daisymay said on November 12, 2009 at 6:29 AM

It is trash. Ugly trash. Just pick them up and throw them away just like the trash-on-a-stick signs. Maybe they can put a bounty on them for some easy cash from citizens? lol.

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whazo said on November 11, 2009 at 7:11 PM

It is disappointing that KHOU never asked neighborhoods about the ordinance. We want Houston to be clean, green, and beautiful. Requirements for news racks are an important tool to accomplishing that goal. . The November issue of the Houston Tribune features a picture of a beautiful Craftsman style bungalow. Does Sharon Lauder want a garishly painted, cheaply made news rack in front of it? Because that's what will happen if she succeeds.

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