Publishers, community groups set to meet on news rack deal.

Dueling newspaper publishers and community organizations are expected to meet this week in an effort to find common ground on rules governing the placement of news racks in the city.

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge called for the meetings between the two sides, which differ on such issues as the number of racks that are appropriate for a single location and whether racks must conform to uniform color and size schemes.

In a victory for community and business groups, Ronald Deaton, the city's chief legislative analyst, released a report last month recommending stricter guidelines than those suggested earlier by the council's public works committee. Two years in the making, that proposal was hammered out in a series of meetings between the city and a coalition of publishers representing the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, La Opinion, LA Weekly and others.

But when some business improvement districts, neighborhood councils and others got wind of the plan, which would have grandfathered in many racks that were illegally placed and made other changes favorable to the publishers, they began a fierce lobbying campaign. In six months, dozens of groups have signed on to the effort, dubbed CLEAN (Coalition for L.A.'s Enforcement Applies to Newsracks).

"There has absolutely been a proliferation of news racks in the past year as companies anticipated the grandfather clause," said Kerry Morrison, executive director of the Hollywood Entertainment District BID. "It's been amazing to see the anger that is out there about news racks."

Morrison acknowledged most of the new racks have come from companies that are not part of the coalition, including publishers of adult-oriented newspapers, rental guides and job listings. Nevertheless, she said the earlier proposal amounted to a capitulation to the publishers by the city and was worse than the existing law.

With Deaton's report serving as the blueprint for a new ordinance, pressure is on the publishers to compromise with the city and the community groups or risk having a tougher proposal presented to the Public Works Committee in January.

The CLEAN coalition supports the new report but would like to see additional restrictions such as caps on the number of news racks allowed per city block.

LaBonge said many on the council want to get an ordinance passed early in the year, in part to end an 18-month non-enforcement period that has existed as the city studies the issue.

"We are going to put six people in a room on each side and go through this thing point-by-point," he said.

Tougher guidelines

Under Deaton's proposal, only four news racks of a uniform color and design would be permitted in a single sidewalk location. The current law allows for three racks and states that their design must be uniform, but those rules have been thinly enforced at best.

In addition, the Deaton proposal ties annual rack registration fees to enforcement and administrative costs, potentially raising the cost from the $10 per rack in the first year and $6 per rack in subsequent years recommended in the Public Works Commission proposal.

Lynne Ozawa, with the chief legislative analyst's office, said some calculations put the annual registration fee as high as $48 per rack, although La Bonge said it is unlikely the amount would be that high.

For companies like the Daily News, which have thousands of racks, those costs are a big concern. "We've been working with the city for two years and there is a sense that we have had the rug pulled out from under us," said Norrell Nelson, circulation distribution manager for the Daily News. "Hopefully cooler heads will prevail."

In the past, publishers have fought off regulation by making Constitutional arguments regarding the protection of both commercial and non-commercial speech.

Officials of the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly did not return calls seeking comment.

Lorena Parker, executive director of the Studio City Improvement Association BID, a CLEAN member, said her group has counted more than 160 news racks in a block-and-a-half stretch of Ventura Boulevard near Laurel Canyon Boulevard. "It's an eyesore," she said. "We are not against the publications, but we pay for several different kinds of maintenance and we want our area to look nice."