Tom LaBonge Wants to Save Neighborhood Newsstands

Councilman Tom LaBonge announced a move this week to help newsstands across the city stay open.

"Newsstands are an important element in the street life of a neighborhood, bringing people together to explore the news of the world,'' LaBonge said Wednesday. "But these institution are an endangered species in the information age and we need to update the way we regulate them.''

Existing municipal codes prevent newsstands from selling anything but
newspapers, periodicals and magazines. Their customer bases are eroding, and many have taken to illegally selling candy, chips, lottery tickets and cigarettes, according to LaBonge.

He introduced a motion that would direct the city attorney to draft an
amendment to a city ordinance to allow certain newsstands to sell other items, except for tobacco products.

Encino Patch editor Lauren Rosenblum and paid a visit to her local newsstand and was told sales have dropped by 50 percent over the last four years.

A revised ordinance would apply to newsstands that are parallel and
adjacent to buildings and located within part of the public right-of-way.

"Newsstands are an iconic and historic part of American life -- like Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post,'' LaBonge said. "They create a village-like, pedestrian friendly atmosphere in a neighborhood."

-- The City News Service