By: E&P Staff Following a vote by Fort Lauderdale city commissioners to place tougher restrictions on newspaper racks, the city's colorful, mismatched racks will soon be replaced with black ones bolted to the ground.
Newspapers will be required to pay an $125 permit per rack, and will limit their size, height, and placement. The rows of racks are capped at 15 feet, and they must be placed at least five feet from the curb in high-traffic pedestrian areas.
The new ordinance will cost newspapers thousands of dollars, according to a report today in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In addition to the permits, newspapers must pay to remove and replace their racks, as well as more than triple their insurance from $300,000 to $1 million per occurrence to compensate in case of injury or property damage.
While the city expects to receive 250 permit applications, newspapers are thinking twice about investing in the racks on public property. The Miami Herald is looking into putting racks on private property, Esther Ortiz, single copy director, told the Sun-Sentinel.
The high cost of compliance will hurt the smaller publications most, and some might not be able to pay. El Heraldo de Broward, a bilingual free daily, can?t afford to abide by the new ordinance. Several dozen racks offering the paper will be removed.
"It's crazy," Elaine Vasquez, owner and editor of El Heraldo, told the Sun-Sentinel. "They're making it harder for ethnic communities to get information. At this point we have to take our message to the Web site."
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