S.F. proposes fines for unwanted newspapers

SF PROPOSES FINES FOR UNWANTED NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle 3/19, AUTHOR: Wyatt Buchanan]
Unwanted newspapers that pile up on San Francisco sidewalks and turn to mush in the rain could become less common under a law proposed Tuesday. The measure, introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, would hit publishers with stiff penalties for delivering the free publications. It is intended to cut trash on city streets and satisfy frustrated residents who want the deliveries to stop, Mirkarimi said. Many residents complain that the newspapers pile up when they are away from home, scatter when it is windy and turn to mush in the rain, Mirkarimi said. Cleaning up the newspapers - if they are on the sidewalk in front of a residence and not in the street - is the responsibility of the property owner, according to the city's Department of Public Works. Under the proposed law, newspapers that deliver unsolicited copies would have to publish a phone number or e-mail address residents could use to place their residence on a do-not-deliver list. If newspapers keep coming, the publisher would face a $100 fine per residence on the first violation, $200 for the second and $500 for any thereafter. Also, in some circumstances, people living at the residences where the unwanted newspapers are delivered could collect three times the amount of the fine from those who violate the law.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/19/BALNVM76A.DTL