USE OF SIDEWALKS FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES; PERMIT REQUIRED; INSURANCE.
Raleigh City Code § 12-1022
in effectSec. 12-1022. - USE OF SIDEWALKS FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES; PERMIT REQUIRED; INSURANCE.
(a) No use of the surface of public sidewalks or public right-of-way for private purposes shall be permitted or continued unless the person, partnership, firm, or corporation desiring to use or continue the use of a sidewalk or public right-of-way shall procure a permit from the Director of Transportation of the City, after the approval of such use by the City Council. Such permit shall be issued only upon condition that the user of the sidewalk or public right-of-way for private purpose shall first assume in writing, responsibility for any injury or death of persons or damage sustained as a result of such use. Notwithstanding the above or the provisions of Section 12-1001 of this Code, uses of City-maintained right-of-way for private purposes associated with the installation or maintenance of telecommunications, video programming, electricity, or similarly situated utility infrastructure may be permitted by the Director of Transportation and shall not require approval of the City Council. The Director of Transportation may approve encroachments for telecommunications, video programming, electricity, or similarly situated utility encroachments for specific locations or through a master agreement applicable to all City-maintained rights-of-way. Permission for the use of public rights-of-way for any use permitted herein shall not relieve the applicant from compliance with any other requirement of the Code.
Upon construction of the encroachment the user shall submit to the City as built drawings showing the precise location of the encroachment, and in the case of encroachments for transmission devices the drawing shall also show the location of other utilities in the public right-of-way or sidewalk. As-built plans shall not be required for underground lawn irrigation systems when used specifically for single-family or duplex dwelling units. Permission for the use of the public rights-of-way or sidewalks shall not relieve the petitioner from compliance with any other requirement of this Code. Permission for the use of the sidewalk or public rights-of-way for any use permitted herein shall be subject to revocation by the Council at will. Newsracks and public utility companies authorized to use the streets under the franchise from the City shall be exempt from the provisions of this section. Handicapped ramps installed to serve government buildings built prior to March 20, 1979, shall be exempt from the provisions of this section, provided such ramps shall not extend or occupy more than three-fifths the width of the sidewalk and shall not extend closer than three (3) feet to the curb.
Any person, partnership, firm, corporation or any other entity who shall use a sidewalk or public right-of-way without first obtaining the approval of the City Council shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction be punished as in such cases provided by statute. In addition to this criminal remedy and any other authorized remedy, any person, partnership, firm, corporation or any other entity who excavates or excavated in a sidewalk or public right-of-way without first obtaining the approval of the City Council shall be subject in the sole discretion of the Council to a civil penalty of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00) plus ten dollars ($10.00) for each continuous day of use. No penalty shall be assessed until the alleged violator has been notified of the violation. The Council shall determine the amount of the civil penalty to be assessed and shall make a written demand for payment upon the person, partnership, firm, corporation or entity responsible for the violation and shall set forth in detail the violation for which the penalty has been invoked. If payment is not received or equitable settlement reached within thirty (30) days after demand for payment is made, the matter shall be referred to the City Attorney for institution of a civil action in the name of the City in the appropriate division of the General Court of Justice of Wake County for recovery of the penalty.
(b) Newsracks shall not be allowed on the public right-of-way unless the conditions contained in this subsection are met. A newsrack is defined as any self-service container, storage unit or other dispenser installed, used, or maintained for the distribution of newspapers or news periodicals. After the effective date of this ordinance [September 18, 1984] no newsrack shall be placed at the sidewalk until it has received a permit granted by the Inspections Department. There shall be no charge made for the permit and it shall be issued if the issuing officer finds that the newsrack and location meet the following conditions:
(1) No individual newsrack shall exceed fifty (50) inches in height, twenty-four (24) inches in width and twenty-four (24) inches in thickness. This includes all signs and any other permanent attachments necessary for the operation of the newsrack.
(2) Newsracks may be placed no closer than five (5) feet from the edge of the street curb and shall be placed parallel to and no more than six (6) inches from the sidewalk edge farthest away from the street curb, or the wall of a building which is adjacent to the sidewalk edge.
(3) No newsrack shall be affixed or attached to any fixture or other property owned or maintained by the City of Raleigh. All newsracks shall be enclosed so as to prevent the unintended escape therefrom of the printed material being dispensed from the rack. If a vendor cannot provide an enclosed rack, it may use an open rack if that rack has a latch or other device to prevent the contents of the rack from being removed by the wind or other accidental means. Any newsracks not meeting these standards shall be removed from the public right-of-way no later than July 15, 1995.
(4) No newsracks shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
a. Within fifteen (15) feet of any fire hydrant, standpipe or siamese connector.
b. Within five (5) feet of any emergency call box or other emergency telecommunications equipment or any other emergency facility.
c. Within five (5) feet of any driveway or cross-walk.
d. Within five (5) feet of any public transit benches or other public benches and trash containers.
e. Within five (5) feet of any area within the public right-of-way improved with lawn, flowers, shrubs, or trees.
f. At any location where the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than five (5) feet.
g. Within a ten-foot radius of the points of intersection of the right-of-way of two (2) intersecting streets.
h. Within five (5) feet of any underground utility access points, ventilation areas or meters.
i. Within five (5) feet of any handicapped ramps or other facilities provided for handicapped persons.
j. Within five (5) feet of any building access, exits or any emergency access or exit ways.
(5) No newsrack shall be used for advertising signs or publicity purposes other than an identification sign dealing with the display, sale or purchase of the newspaper or news periodical sold therein. Within ninety (90) days after this section becomes effective, every person or other entity which places or maintains a newsrack on the streets of the City of Raleigh shall have the vendor's name, address and telephone number affixed thereto in a place where such information may be easily seen. A uniform sticker shall be supplied by the Inspections Department for this purpose. Any newsrack installed, used or maintained in violation of the provisions of this section shall be tagged with a "notice of violation" stating the violation, date of tagging, notice of intention to remove the newsrack if the violation is not corrected within ten (10) days or procedure for obtaining a hearing before the Inspections Department is made giving the owner of the newsrack opportunity to be heard regarding the violation. The Inspections Department or its designate may, as an alternative to tagging said newsrack, move, align, or otherwise reposition such rack or racks in order to restore them to a legal condition. Any newsrack which has been tagged and remains in violation of the provisions stated on the tag past the ten-day correction period, and for which no hearing has been requested, shall be removed by the Inspections Department or its designate and stored in a secure location. The Inspections Department or its designate shall notify the owner thereof by mailing a "notice of removal" to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall state the date the newsrack was removed, the reasons therefor, the procedure for obtaining a post-removal hearing before the Inspections Department, if desired. Any such newsrack removed and stored pursuant to these provisions shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within forty-five (45) days after such removal and upon the payment of reasonable charges of removal and storage. Upon failure of the owner to claim such newsrack and pay the reasonable charges within forty-five (45) days after the mailing of written notice of removal, such newsrack shall be deemed to be unclaimed property in possession of the Police Department and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions outlined in the Code of the City of Raleigh. Any newsrack in violation of the provisions of this section, which violation creates an immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare of the public, which violation cannot be corrected by moving or otherwise repositioning the newsrack, may be summarily removed and stored in a secure location so as to eliminate the danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public. The Inspections Department or its designate shall notify the owner as outlined in this section. Every person or other entity which places or maintains a newsrack on a public sidewalk or right-of-way in the City of Raleigh shall file a written statement with the Inspections Department satisfactory to the City Attorney whereby he or it agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City, its officers, councilmen and employees, from any loss or liability or damage, including expenses and costs, for bodily or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any person as a result of the installation, use, or maintenance of a newsrack within the City of Raleigh.
(Code 1959, §19-5.1; Ord. No. 1977-472, 3-15-77; Ord. No. 1979-46, 3-20-79; Ord. No. 1984-415, §§1—3, 9-18-84; Ord. No. 1985-639A, §§7—9, 9-17-85; Ord. No. 1987-36, §1, 9-1-87; Ord. No. 1994-521, §1, 12-13-94; Ord. No. 1998-454, §19, 11-4-98; Ord. No. 1999-482, §2, 1-5-99; Ord. No. 2006-83, §2, 9-5-06; Ord. No. 2009-641, §§2, 3, 9-1-09; Ord. No. 2020-76, §1, 4-7-20)
Source: City of Raleigh, North Carolina, City Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nc/raleigh/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=DIVIICOGEOR_PT12LIRE_CH1STPUWA_ARTBSTUSCL_S12-1022USSIPRPUPEREINFetched: 11/1/2026