NIMFY ('Not in My Front Yard'), says city

The Associated Press

11.16.98

Printer-friendly page

LOS ANGELES — Homes and businesses in affluent San Marino have put the brakes on distribution of free newspapers, advertisements and other written materials.

An ordinance given initial approval by the San Marino City Council on a 5-0 vote last Thursday would prohibit distribution of materials to residents who inform the city they do not want them. The council will take a final vote next month.

Advocates see the law as a means to maintain safety and keep things tidy in the quiet San Gabriel Valley suburb 10 miles east of Los Angeles.

Opponents say such ordinances could chill free speech. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against a similar ordinance approved in neighboring Pasadena.

"It really affects the ability of not terribly well-financed groups to get their message out," said Peter Eliasberg, a First Amendment attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "There's a particular concern when you go after political groups."

Under the law, anyone distributing materials — from free newspapers to advertising leaflets — must pay the city a fee to obtain a list of residents who don't want the materials.

The new law will likely take effect in January, said City Manager Deborah Bell.

Best known as the location of the Huntington Library, 3.75-square-mile San Marino has about 13,500 residents. The last census put the median income at $100,000.

Some residents have complained that brochures and advertisements are a nuisance, cause litter and can even endanger their homes when papers pile up in their absence.

"It signals to burglars, 'I'm not at home,"' Ms. Bell said Friday. "The city's overall top priority is maintaining the character of their community, with neat landscaping and nicely

maintained homes. Everybody has pride of ownership, and they resent it when someone comes along and places litter on their driveway or lawn or doorstep."

San Marino's ordinance is similar to one passed in June in Pasadena, which prompted lawsuits from the ACLU and the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group claiming it violates the constitutional guarantee to free speech.

Ron B. Wood, publisher of the SGVNG, said the San Marino ordinance is less restrictive than Pasadena's and his company does not intend to sue.

"We don't think it's overly prohibitive in any way," Wood said. "Obviously, we don't think they should have any ordinance at all. But we're reasonable people and we'll try to work out our differences in a reasonable way."