Chapter 5.45
DELIVERY OF UNSOLICITED OR UNSUBSCRIBED LITERATURE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

Sections:

5.45.010    Purpose.

5.45.020    Definitions.

5.45.030    Unlawful distribution of unsubscribed or unsolicited literature – Nuisance.

5.45.040    City to maintain notice of consent registry.

5.45.050    Methods of distribution.

5.45.060    Exemptions.

5.45.070    Presumptions, removal and costs required.

5.45.080    Penalties.

5.45.090    Severance.

5.45.010 Purpose.

The purpose of this chapter is to acknowledge and achieve the following:

(1) The distribution of unsolicited and unsubscribed commercial advertising material and other unwanted literature or materials upon residential properties creates unsightly and unhealthy widespread litter in the City. Also, such materials become a nuisance when blown around neighborhoods by wind, wet and destroyed by the elements, or run over by vehicles.

(2) The distribution of unsolicited and unsubscribed commercial advertising material and other unwanted literature or materials upon residential properties creates a security concern for residents when such materials accumulate in the City. Such accumulations can send signals to nefarious persons that residents are not home, thereby increasing the risk of burglary of homes and robbery of residents.

(3) Unsolicited and unsubscribed commercial advertising material, literature, or other written materials also enter into and clog City storm drains and drainage facilities, which can contribute to and cause street flooding when such material is allowed to accumulate, scatter and degrade from the weather conditions. Such materials also cause damage to property when allowed to enter into private and public creeks and waterways, sloughs, watershed lands, and other protected areas.

(4) Certain exemptions are included for legally required processes and notices, and other distributors whose deliveries are infrequent or do not significantly contribute to the litter and security issues identified by the City council and public. Moreover, such exempt distributors’ deliveries are less bulky and less likely to clog or impede the City’s storm water collection system. In addition, to address the security, nuisance and litter issues, all distributors must secure their literature in such a way that they do not scatter or decompose due to weather conditions and are out of clear view from public rights-of-way.

(5) Access to the refusal of consent registry set forth in this chapter will be available on the City’s website and at City Hall.

(6) This narrowly tailored regulation, which requires that those who desire to deliver literature comply with reasonable, clear, open and accessible information regarding residents’ refusal of consent to receive such materials, reduces or prohibits the unwanted, unsolicited and unsubscribed literature from being delivered to residences in the City, and reasonably requires that all such deliveries comply with this chapter.

(7) A content-neutral annual exclusion does not unreasonably lead to additional litter or security issues, and provides additional opportunities for delivery of literature for those who do not have access to the refusal of consent registry or other methods of notice, provided they comply with this chapter. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.020 Definitions.

(1) “Literature” means single- or multi-page bounded or unbounded printed or reproduced written materials of any kind, including but not limited to pamphlets, telephone directories, books, magazines, newspapers, handbills, circulars, announcements, or any other paper literature on any medium or material.

(2) “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, league, fraternal organization, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate or any other group acting as a unit.

(3) “Unsolicited” means a recipient has not requested, given permission, or has refused to receive literature as defined by this section.

(4) “Unsubscribed” means a recipient does not have a paying subscription or other agreement to receive literature as defined by this section.

(5) “Notice of consent” means a declaration or affidavit entered and maintained on the City’s website and signed under penalty of perjury by the owner, manager, or occupant of a residence or building, stating that such owner, manager, or occupant consents to the distribution of unsubscribed and unsolicited literature. “Notice of consent registry” shall mean the list of owners, occupiers, or managers who have filed a notice of consent on the City’s website. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.030 Unlawful distribution of unsubscribed or unsolicited literature – Nuisance.

(1) It is unlawful and a declared nuisance for any person to distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter, cast, peddle, pass out, give away, or circulate any literature for which no charge is made to the recipient thereof, or any substance, at any place on the grounds, yards, lawns, driveways, steps, porches, or in front of, or upon the front entry door, or doorknob, of any single-family residence, single-family residential building, or any residential building having more than one dwelling unit, or in any entry or hallway or on any stairs, or at or upon the front entry door, or doorknob, of any dwelling unit in any such multiple-unit residential building, in the City, at any time unless a notice of consent pursuant to SMC 5.45.040 has been entered on the City’s website.

(2) This section shall not affect violations for littering asserted or charged under other chapters of the municipal code, or state or federal law. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.040 City to maintain notice of consent registry.

(1) The notice of consent affidavit or declaration defined in SMC 5.45.020(5) may be filed on the City’s website without charge at any time; the notice of consent may be later revoked by the owner, occupier, or manager who filed the original notice of consent by filing a revocation on the City’s website. Upon filing, the notice of consent affidavit or declaration shall be open to inspection by the public, and the addresses of those who have filed notices of consent shall be posted on the City website and shall be available at all times. The notice of consent affidavit or declaration filed on the City’s website shall become effective 60 days after such filing, so as to provide reasonable opportunity for distributors to respond to additions and deletions to the notice of consent registry on the City website.

(2) Any notice of consent affidavit or declaration filed with the signature of an owner, manager or occupant of, and any such revocation pertaining to, a dwelling unit in a multiple-unit residential building shall apply only to the dwelling unit owned or occupied by such person or to which such revocation pertains.

(3) No such notice of consent shall be effective after the person who signed it has ceased to be an owner, manager or occupant of the premises described in such notice of consent. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.050 Methods of distribution.

Any literature exempted from this chapter shall only be distributed if:

(1) Placed in the hand of the intended recipient;

(2) Bound, folded, boxed or weighted in such a manner that the material cannot be blown away, scattered, or otherwise fragmented by weather conditions and/or normal pedestrian or vehicular traffic; or

(3) Deposited on the premises for which it is intended by being tied to, affixed, or slipped over a doorknob or other protrusion, or placed through a slot or opening in a front entry door or within a receptacle for such items located upon the property, or placed on the front porch next to the front entry door; provided, however, the item being distributed first shall have been rolled up and secured with a rubber band or in some other manner so as to prevent the materials from being blown away, scattered, or otherwise fragmented by weather conditions and/or normal pedestrian or vehicular traffic. As used in this section, “receptacle” means a container made of a stiff material containing the words “For Papers,” or similar words. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.060 Exemptions.

The foregoing provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the following:

(1) Mail deliveries by the United States Postal Service;

(2) Deliveries by private postal or package delivery services;

(3) Literature delivered by federal, state or local governmental agencies;

(4) Notice of any lien, foreclosure, or sale of the real property on which such notice is placed;

(5) Legally authorized notice or process;

(6) Literature delivered no more frequently than one time per calendar year by any person;

(7) Literature delivered by a person on behalf of a nonprofit organization, a registered campaign committee, a federal, state or local candidate or a state or local initiative or referendum, provided said delivery complies with the provisions of SMC 5.45.050; and

(8) The distribution or delivery of any subscription literature to any person pursuant to that person’s request or consent, or to any hotel, inn, motel or other such public accommodations, provided said delivery complies with the provisions of SMC 5.45.050. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.070 Presumptions, removal and costs required.

(1) Literature distributed in violation of this chapter is subject to summary removal by the owner, manager or occupant of the property upon which the literature is placed or affixed, or by the City manager or his or her designee. The costs of removal may be assessed in accordance with law or as provided in the municipal code against the person responsible for the violation. It shall be a rebuttable presumption that any person whose information is displayed on literature is the party responsible for the distribution.

(2) Distribution of literature requested by the owner or occupant of a property and undertaken in the ordinary course of business, including but not limited to deliveries of utility notices, telephone directory deliveries, regular newspaper deliveries, work order notices and service inquiries, is presumed to be requested or invited for the purpose of this section, but must comply with the requirements of SMC 5.45.050. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.080 Penalties.

Each distribution of unsubscribed or unsolicited literature in violation of SMC 5.45.030 shall constitute a separate offense and shall be assessed a $100.00 civil penalty for the first offense, $250.00 for the second offense, and $500.00 for the third offense in a one-year period. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))

5.45.090 Severance.

If any section, subsection, clause or phrase or portion of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of all other provisions of this chapter. (Ord. O2020-511 § 1 (Exh. A))