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It sounds like an anti-free-speech law, not an anti-litter law.
It is also interesting that the person or business that is on the advertising is guilty of the crime. And of course each piece of paper handed out is counted as a separate violation, which means you could have some rather draconian punishments for handing out a few thousand ads. Scottsdale to beef up enforcement of litter ordinance by Edward Gately - Jan. 28, 2012 07:02 AM The Republic | azcentral.com Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane plans to crack down on venues that hire companies to distribute advertising cards and fliers in the downtown entertainment district. Neighborhood Services director Raun Keagy last week sent letters to more than 100 businesses warning them that the city will begin assessing fines if they hire others to distribute printed materials, including handbills, fliers and door hangers. On weekends, the entertainment district is flooded with advertising materials, much of which end up on the sidewalks and streets at the end of the night. The area includes a high concentration of bars and attracts thousands of patrons every weekend. According to city code, "No person shall post or affix any notice, poster, paper, sign, placard, handbill or advertisement, calculated to attract the attention of the public, to any streetlight, traffic signal, street sign, lamp post, public utility pole or shade tree, or (on) any public structure or building" without the consent of the owner or person in control, unless authorized or required by law. Lane is calling for an increased emphasis on city code enforcement. "It starts out as a penalty of $250, but we're serious about following through on this because it becomes a big part of the littering issue," Lane said. "It does have the ability to graduate up to higher fines depending on repeat offenders." The city will be citing those who distribute the materials or contract others to distribute them, Keagy said. So the business advertised on the materials will be in violation of city code and penalized. "Each notice, poster, paper, sign, placard, handbill or advertisement found will constitute a separate violation and will be subject to a separate fine, which may result in a maximum fine of $2,500 for each violation," Keagy said. At Lane's request, the City Council in December adopted an ordinance establishing a $75 fine for littering anywhere in Scottsdale and created a litter-free zone that doubles the fine in the entertainment district. The ordinance is now in effect, and those caught littering in and around the district will face a $300-plus fine. Keagy's letter asks businesses to educate their customers and staff of the new littering fines, and to discourage those who ask permission to place fliers on cars or hand them out in front of their businesses. "As you see sometimes (distributors) just dumping full piles of these materials, it became more and more obvious that this was a bigger part of the trash issue," Lane said. The city will give businesses a little time to read the letter and absorb the information, and then will begin pursuing those businesses listed on the materials as they are found in the district, he said. "Maybe they'll all take heed with the letter and stop automatically, and we won't have an enforcement issue," Lane said. "We'll have to see how it works, but frankly, we think we've got a good basis to enforce it if it continues to occur." The new ordinance and increased enforcement of the code are a "two-pronged approach" to solving the litter problem in the district, said J.P. Twist, Lane's chief of staff. "The litter ordinance gets people who actually litter, and what this will do is go to the companies that commission these types of things that we see such a high volume of and say, 'You're not allowed to do this.' " |