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Home My WebLink About1996-05-21 OrdinancePrepared by: 5156 :owler, Director of Parking & Transit, 410 E. Washington St., iowa City, I.~//52240; 319-356- ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FINANCES, I, AND FEES CHAPTER OFTHE iDE BY AMENDING TITLE 3, CHAPTER 6, ENTITLED "PUBLIC TRA "TO INCREASE THE FARES in the past, the has ,nted the operation of portation wit ;deral operating and WHEREAS federal :has now reduced the available to the City of requiring a fare increase. NOW THEREFORE )RDAINED BY THE CITY C( :]TY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA: SECTION I. Sectlot Title 3. Chapter 4, Subsection 6, "Pu of the City Code should and amended by repealing Secl 3-4-6, ansportation", "General ;," specifically entitled "St~ fare ublic" and "Monthly p general nacting in lieu there a new Subsection to be codified,t~ read as follows: Desc )tion of fee, Amount of fe ch; bond, linc or chc, rg¢, pc or penalty 'n Shop coupons $0.35 ]eneral Fares and Rates Standard Fare, 0.75 General Public School Field Trip 0.40 Monthly Pass 25.00 Special Fares Elderly Persons 0.25 nonpeak hours Ordinance No. Page 2 Low-income Elderly Handicapped Free non hours Free Strip Tickets (10 6.51 )er strip rides) Charges for Use of Facilities and/or Per- sonnel Use of City transit 930.00 per vehicle hour 15.00 Use of vehicle an per hour SECTIO~ parts sions insit 45.00, plus fuel ~erator, tax surcharge ad dication shall Jinance as a whole or part thereof not adjudged Jtional. ~ECTION IV. EFFECTIVE nance shall be in effect July 1, final passage, approval and provided by law. Passed and approved this ,19 MAYOR ATTEST: CITY CLERK 'EALER. All ordinances and in conflict with the provi- ce are hereby repealed. ~N III. ~BILITY. If any section, ion or part of ~e Ordinance shall be ~nconstitutional, such the validity of the section, provision Approved ~? , rney s Office This Ordi- after its as __ ~k~ay of Prepared by: ,Joe Fowler. Director of Parking & Transit, 410 E. Washington St.. Iowa City, IA 52240; 319-356- 5156 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FINANCES, TAXATION, AND FEES CHAPTER OFTHE CITY CODE BY AMENDING TITLE 3, CHAPTER 4, SUBSECTION 6, ENTITLED "PUBLIC TRANS- PORTATION," TO INCREASE THE FARES FOR JBLIC TRANSPORTATION. the increase. -~EREAS, in the past, the City of Iowa City ~pplemented the operation of public trans- m with federal operating assistance; and the federal government has no,w he operating assistance available to ~ Iowa City, thereby requiring ~ fare CITY IOWA: SECTION I. Subsection 6, City Code should repealing Section "General Fares entitled "Monthly pass, lieu codified to :{EFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE , OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, 3-4-6, 3, Chapter 4, of the amended by .6, "Transportation", more specifically general public" and and enacting in 3-4-6 to be Amount of Code of fee, charge. Dter. arti- bond, fine or c~,or sec- fine or penalty tioh~ Standard $0.75 refeh~ fare, general public ~X, Monthly $25.00 ~ pass, gener- ~ al public '~ SECTION II. REPEALER. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with the provi- sions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. SECTION Ill. SEVERABILITY. If any section, provision or part of the Ordinance shall be Ordinance No. Page 2 adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such adjudication shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole or any section, provision or part thereof not adjudged invalid or unconsti- tutional. SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordi- nance shall be in effect after its final passage, approval and publication, as provided by law. Passed and approved this __ day of ,19 Office City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM May 16, 1996 To: Stephen Atkins, City Manager From: Joe Fowler, Director Parking & Transit Reference: Department Fees Attached are all fees currently being charged by the Parking and Transit divisions. Parking fees are divided into two major areas, ramps and metered. Both areas are divided into CBD and peripheral areas. Pricing is based on the perceived relationship to the core of the CBD. The majority of transit fares fall into two categories, single trip and monthly. In addition, approximately 200 low-income elderly and handicapped free passes are issued yearly. 880 free rides are distributed monthly by JCCOG Human Services. Fares that are charged by Johnson County SEATS have not been established by ordinance. Council has previously set these rates by policy. These fares are currently: single ride $1.00, monthly pass $36.00, free to low income. Transit is currently in the preliminary stages of discussions with the University of Iowa for a student semester pass. If this program is implemented it will also be offered to Kirkwood Community College. 3-4-6: PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Description of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fins or Penalty General Fares and Rates Standard faro, general public $ 0.50 School field trip $ 0.40 Saturday fare, general public 0.50 Monthly pass, general public 18.00 Amount of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fins or Penalty Special Fares Elderly persons Low-income elderly Handicapped 0.25 nonpeak hours Free nonpeak hours Free nonpeak hours Charges for Use of Facilities and/or Personnel Use of City transit vehicle, per vehicle, per hour $ 30.00 Use of City transit operator, per hour 15.00 Use of City transit vehicle and operator, per hour 45.00, plus fuel tax surcharge (1978 Code §32.1-70) City Code Chapter, Article or Section Reference 3-4-7 3-4-7 3-4-7: PARKING VIOLATIONS: Description of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fine or Penalty Fee for Contractor Reservation of $ 5.00 Space, Per Day Show-Up Fee Charged by Tow Truck 20.00 Operator Parking Meter Fees: Central business district on- 0.50 street meter, per hour Central business district lot 0.50 meter, per hour Peripheral on-street meter (out- 0.30 side central business district), per hour Peripheral lot meter (outside 0.30 central business district), per hour Meter hood/contractor, per day 5.00 Fees for Parking in City Parking Lots: City parking lots adjacent to central business district and central business: Monthly all-day permits, per $ 45.00 year Monthly all-day permits (an- 513.00 nual advance payment), per year Monthly off-hours permits 34.00 (after 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, all day Satur- day and Sunday), per month Amount of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fine or Penalty City Code Chapter, Article or Section Reference 9-4-8B 9-4-8B 9-5-1 9-5-4 Ioo]a 296 3-4-7 3-4-7 Description of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fine or Penalty All other City lots/ramps: Monthly all-day permits, $ 35.00 per month Monthly all-day permits, $399.00 (annual advance pay- ment), per year City employee lot permits, per $17.50 month Parking ramps: Hourly parker (Ramp A), $ 0.50 per hour Hourly parker (Ramp B), $ 0.45 per hour Hourly parker (Chauncey $ 0.30 Swan), per hour Monthly all-day permits $ 55.00 (Ramp A), per day Monthly all-day permits $627.00 (annual advance payment - Ramp A), per year Monthly all-day permits $513.00 (annual advance payment - Ramp B), per year Amount of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fine or Penalty City Code Chapter, Article or Section Reference Ramp A is the Capitol Street Parking Ramp, while Ramp B is the Dubuque Street 9-5o3,9-5-6 Parking Ramp. Reissue of Ramp A and $ 25.00 Ramp B monthly permit exit card, each reissue Reissue of all other per- $ 2.00 mits, each reissue Penalties for Parking Violations: Overtime parking $ 3.00 Iowa City 3-4-7 3-4-8 Description of Fee, Charge, Bond, Fine or Penalty Expired meter Prohibited zone Illegal parking - handicapped parking space One hour restricted zone, Civic Center lot All other illegal parking viola- tions Increases: 10 days after issue, over- time and expired meter ticket fees shall increase to 30 days a~erissue, all illegal parking fees, ex- cept handicapped, shall increase to Amount of Fee, Charge, aond, Fine or Penalty $ 3,oo $ 5.00 $ 50.00 or as stated in the Code of Iowa, as amended $ 3,00 $ 5.00 $ 5.00 $10.00 Clty Code Chapter, Artlcle or Seotlon Reference (1978 Code §32.1-63; 1994 Code) Prepared by: Eleanor Dilkes, Assistant City Attorney, 410 E. Washington St., Iowa City, IA 52240; 319-356-5030 ORDINANCENO. ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14, CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE O, ENTITLED "SIGN REGULA- TIONS," TO DELETE SPECIFIC REGULATION OF "POLITICAL SIGNS", AND TO AMEND REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL TEMPO- RARY SIGNS, INCLUDING POLITICAL SIGNS. WHEREAS, Section 14-60 of the City Code sets forth sign regulations that are intended to enhance and protect the physical appearance and safety of the community, promote traffic safety, provide all sign users a reasonable opportunity to display signs without interfer- ence from other signage. and to provide fair and equitable treatment for all sign users; and WHEREAS, Section 14-60-4(A)(8}, which now regulates temporary signs, imposes time and space limitations only on political signs; and WHEREAS, such time limitations based solely on content, have been legally called into ques- tion, and should therefore be amended. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA: SECTION I. AMENDMENT. Title 14, Chapter 6, Article O, entitled "Sign Regulations," of the City Code be hereby amended by: a. Amendi~g "temporary sig~*' i~ Section 14- 60-2, "Definitions," by deleting said section and substituting the following: Temporary sign: A s~gn constructed of cloth, canvas, cardboard, wallboard or other light temporary materials, w.th or without a structural frame, intended for a temporary period of display, such as yard sale signs, posters, and political signs. b. Deleting Section 14-60-4(A)(8) and adding a new Section 14-60-4(A)(8) to read as follows: Temporary signs: Temporary signs may be displayed in residential zones, but shall not be illuminated, shall not exceed twelve (12) square feet in area, and shall not be Ordinance No. Page 2 displayed for a period exceeding sixty (60) days. In other zones, temporary signs shall conform to the applicable regulations for permitted signs in the zone. c. Repealing the definition of "construction sign" in Section 14-60-2, "Definitions," and adding a new definition of "construction sign" to read as follows: CONSTRUCTION SIGN: A sign identifying the architects, engineers, contractors and other individuals involved in the construc- tion of a building and/or announcing the future use of the building. (1978 Code §36- 61) d. Repealing the definition of "real estate sign" in Section 14-60-2, "Dehn~tions," and add- ing a new definition of "real estate sign" to read as follows: REAL ESTATE SIGN: A sign which advertis- es the sale, rental or lease of the premises or part of the premises on which the sign is located, including open house directional signs. SECTION II. REPEALER. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with the provi- sions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. SECTION III. SEVERABILITY. If any section, provision or part of the Ordinance shall be adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such adjudication shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole or any section, provision or part thereof not adjudged invalid or unconsti- tutional. SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordi- nance shall be in effect after ~ts final passage, approval and publication, as provided by law. Passed and approved this __ day of ,19 MAYOR ATTEST: CITY CLERK City Attorney's Office Ordinance No. Page __ It was moved by and seconded by Ordinance as read be adopted, and upon roll call there were: AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: Baker Kubby Lehman Norton Novick Thomberry . .. Vanderhoef that the First Consideration 5/7/96 Vote for passage:AYES: Kubby, Lehman, Norton Novick, Thornberry, Vanderhoef, Baker. NAYS: None. ABSENT: None. Second Consideration Vote for passage: Date published City of iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: May 16, 1996 To: The Honorable Mayor Naomi J. Novick and Members of the City Council From: Linda Newman Woito, City Attorney ~ Re: Request for Indefinite Deferral on Political Sign Ordinance Amendment You will recall thore was some confusion concerning the need to amend the "political sign" ordinance now, in light of the upcoming political elections. Having reviewed some of your questions with Planning Director Karin Franklin, Housing & Inspection Services Director Doug Boothrey and Assistant City Attorney Eleanor DJlkes, we recommend the following: Since there have been few, if any, complaints concerning "littering" caused by political signs left up too long, there is no need for a hurried amendment to the political sign ordinance. Based on the lack of need to rush into this matter, staff recommends that the City Council make a motion to defer indefinitely further vote on the political sign ordinance amendment until the Planning & Zoning Commission has had time to review the proposed ordinance. This postponement means that my letter to City Council candidates dated September 29, 1995 addressing the unconstitutionality of our current political sign ordinance stands, as previously written, see attached. Please call if you have questions. I will also be available at the City Council's work session and formal meetings on May 20-21, 1996, for further questions. Attachment cc: City Manager City Clerk Asst. City Manager Karin Franklin, PCD Director Doug Boothroy, H&IS Director Eleanor Dilkes, Asst. City Attorney Inw~s~nofckmmo September 29, 1995 Dane Oneida 232 Elizabeth Street Iowa City, IA 52245 CITY OF I0 WA CITY Re: Changed rules regarding political signs; durational limitations and ban on illumination are unconstitutional and will not be enforced during this election campaign Dear Mr. Oneida: As you can see from the enclosed legal memorandum to me from my First Assistant City Attorney Anne Burnside, a recent court decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has found a sign ordinance, almost identical to Iowa City's political sign ordinance, to be unconstitutional in two respects which affect our ordinance: The durational or time limitations imposed by the Iowa City City Code are not enforceable because unconstitutional. This means that the "no earlier than thirty days prior to the election" and "no later than seven days after the election date" for posting of political signs are now legslly unenforceable. The ban on "no political illuminated signs" is also unenforceable, as decided by the Whirton case discussed in Anne's memorandum. I am enclosing a page from the political candidate handbook for CiW Council elections, whereby I have struck out the unconstitutional portions of the guidelines, see enclosed. As a practical matter, the durational regulations will have little effect on posting of political signs - except that signs may be installed immediately rather than October 6, 1995, As for when signs should be taken down, we will require removal within a reasonable time after the election. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please call if you have questions at 356-5030. In the meantime, City staff will be proposing a revised political sign ordinance - but this will take a while to accomplish, and should not concern you at this time. Cordially yours, Woito City Attorney CC: City Council City Clerk City Manager Assistant City .Manager Tom Slockett, County Auditor/Elections Commissioner City Attorney Opinion File Enc. 410 EAST WASHINGTON STREET · IOWA CITY, IOWA ~2240-1{2§ · {3191 356-$000 · FAX (319) 3S6-S009 City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: To: From: Re: September 24, 1995 Linda Woito, City Attorney Anne Burnside, First Assistant City Attorney City Code Regulation of Political Signs after Whitton v. Gladstone, Missouri 54 F.3d 1400 (8th Cir. 1995) In May of this year, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Whirton v. Gladstone, and in so doing, held that city's political sign ordinance to violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The city ordinance was so similar to Iowa City's political sign ordinance that I conclude Iowa City's ordinance would also fail to survive a First Amendment analysis. Discussion: Political Signs and New Case Law: The ordinances at issue are these: Gladstone Section 25-45 ' Restr'ction of political signs within zones. A ..... No political signs located in an area zoned for residential use shall be placed or erected more than thirty (30) days prior to the election to which such sign pertains and such sign shall be removed within seven (7) days after such election. B ..... No political signs located in an area zoned for industrial or commercial use shall be placed or erected more than thirty (30) days prior to the election to which such sign pertains and such sign shall be removed within seven (7) days after such election." Iowa City Section 14-60-4(A)(8)(a) Political Signs: Political signs shall be subject to the following requirements: (1) In residential zones, non-illuminated political signs may be displayed on each premises. A political sign may not exceed twelve (1 2) square feet in area. Such Jigns shall not be installed prior to thirty (30) days before the election for the candidate or issue indicated on the sign. All such signs shall be removed no later'than seven (7) days after the election date. (2) In other zones, political signs shall conform to the applicable regulations for permitted signs in the zone. Gladstone contended that the ordinances were reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, and that the ordinances were not content-based. The Court denied both arguments. The ordinances are content-based for two reasons: first, the restriction only applies to a sign bearing a political message. For instance, the restriction would not apply to other temporary signs such as real estate signs. [Gladstone's real estate sign ordinance, like Iowa City's, permitted greater latitude in erecting and maintaining real estate signs than political signs.] In a footnote, the Court gave an interesting example of the deficiency of Gladstone's ordinance. "...a sign stating 'Go Royals' would not be subject to the durational limitations while a sign constructed with the same materials and on precisely the same spot stating 'Go Ashcroft' would be. Counsel for Gladstone also conceded that a sign urging the impeachment of the President of the United States would not fall within the definition of a political sign (and thus not subject to the durational limitations) while a sign urging the reelection of the President would be. In fact, in these areas, a permanent ground sign with no message could be erected and would not be subjected to the durational limitations while the same sign advocating a political candidate would be." Whitton at 1404 fn. 8. For these reasons, the Court found Gladstone's ordinance treated some commercial speech more favorably than political speech, and found the ordinances were irapermissibly content-based. Under well-established principles, once a statute is found to be content based, it is subject to strict scrutiny. Gladstone had strenuously argued that the regulations were content-neutral time, place and manner restrictions, and had made the expected health, safety and aesthetics arguments. The Court did not deny these are "laudable" bases for regulation. Nonetheless, the Court found strict scrutiny to be the proper test because the ordinances were not content-neutral. "'For the State to enforce a content-based exclusion it must show that its regulation is necessary to serve a compelling state interest and that it is narrowly drawn to achieve that end.'" Whitton at 1408 citing Perry Ed. Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n, 460 U.S. 37 at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955 (1983). A municipality's asserted interests in traffic safety and aesthetics, while significant, have never been held to be compelling. The Court also found the durational restrictions were not narrowly- tailored to achieve their aims. The Court held the city had failed to present evidence to support the necessity of their restrictions. The Court did note that an ordinance which required "any political sign be posted for a maximum period of 90 days before it is removed or replaced" would be constitutional. "Nothing in the ordinance prohibits the defendants from erecting a different temporary sign one day after dismantling their first temporary sign." Whirton at 1409, fn. 13. I attach a copy of the Whitton decision, for your information. I have Shepardized the case and do not find any indication that an appeal to the United States Supreme Court is pending. Assuming that to be the case, Whitton would be controlling law in our jurisdiction on the specific issue of municipal ordinances which set durational limits for temporary political signs. Discussion: State Law & Political Signs One other matter I should mention involves an opinion written in 1993 regarding the placement of political signs in Iowa City. In Section II of that opinion, this Office discusses Sections 306C.20, and 306C.22, Iowa Code, which contains time limitations on political signs. Political signs may not be posted more than 45 days prior to an election. State law also limits municipal power to adopt political sign ordinances: "A municipal corporation shall adopt no ordinance which prohibits the placement of political signs on private property as permitted by this section .... "Based on my review of state law governing political signs, it is clear to me that your 1993 opinion preceded Whitton and thus was not discussed two years ago. In light of Whittor~, I believe Iowa Code Section 306C.20 is no longer good law. Discussion: Other City Sign Ordinances Having said that, I need to clarify what Whitton does not do, in my opinion. Whitton deals specifically with political speech and political signs. Before the Court commenced its analysis of the Gladstone ordinance, it noted that "'the First Amendment has its fullest and most urgent application to speech uttered during a campaign for political office'" and "'political speech occupies the core of the protection afforded by the First Amendment'". Whitton citing Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 196-197, 112 S.Ct. 1846, 1850 (1992); Mcintyre v. Ohio Elections Comm., 115 S.Ct. 1511, 1516-1518 (1984). Thus, the Whitton case is narrowly applied to questions involving political sign regulation by government ordinance, and does not affect or undermine the remainder of Iowa City's sign ordinances. For example, my legal opinion written June 1, 1995 regarding the constitutionality of off- premises signs is still the correct analysis and remains still in effect as good law. This is because there is a legally critical difference between the matter examined in the June 1, 1 995 opinion and the present opinion because political signs are deemed by the Eighth Circuit Court as content-based regulation. In contrast, Iowa City's off- premises sign ordinance is content-neutral, and therefore subject to a lower level of scrutiny. I attach a copy of the earlier opinion for your convenience. If you have questions or require additional research on the topic, please let me know. c:\wp51 \politsig 3 REVISED BY CITY ATTORNEY 9/29/95 POLITICAL SIGN REGULATIONS In order to ensure that political campaign signs meet certain reasonable standards, the City of Iowa City has adopted a Sign Ordinance which provides guidelines for the making and posting of political signs. These guidelines specify that political signs having to do with any candidate/issue or political statement~ and expressions shall be permitted subject to the following provisions and any other applicable provisions of the Sign Ordinance: In residential zones: A political sign shall not exceed twelve square feet in area. In all other zones: All political signs must conform to regulations applicable in those zones. Additionally, no political sign shall be placed or affixed to a true, fence, or utility pole and shall not be posted on any public property or in a public right-of-way (the area between the sidewalk and curb is public property). Also, district candidate signs are not limited to the District, but may be placed in any area of the City. If you have any questions regarding these regulations, you may call the Department of Housing and Inspection Services' at 356-5120. 4