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<br />Council OKs
<br />regulation
<br />of pay phones
<br />Ordinance allows removal
<br />of phones in `problem' areas
<br />By Anthony Lonelree
<br />Staff Writer
<br />Less than a year after the Minneapo-
<br />lis City Council tightened an onii-
<br />nance regulating pay phones, St. Paul
<br />has enacted a similar measure in
<br />hopes of deterring street crime.
<br />A council committee also approved a
<br />proposal Wednesday restricting the
<br />location of new gun shops in St. Paul.
<br />The phone ordinance, approved
<br />unanimously, allows city licensing of-
<br />ficials to designate a pay phone as a
<br />"problem," and if necessary, order
<br />that it be removed.
<br />Council Member Jerry Blakey sought
<br />fife measure after a lengthy campaign
<br />Last year to remove a phone at Selby
<br />Av. and Fisk St. He said that gunfire
<br />there twice resulted in shots entering
<br />a nearby group (tome.
<br />No one was hurt, but Blakey said
<br />that flee incidents showed that drug
<br />dealers and prostitutes who conduct
<br />business on pay phones and on street
<br />corners not only disrupt the quality
<br />of life in neighborhoods, but threaten
<br />public safety, as well.
<br />"Tlte city should leave fife power to
<br />get rid of a public nuisance," he said.
<br />"If people are breaking the law with a
<br />tool [a phone], we should try to get
<br />rid of that tool."
<br />!n October, Blakey announced an as-
<br />sault on St. Paul quality-of- ife
<br />crimes.
<br />leis proposals included the fay
<br />phone ordinance and legislation Itat
<br />would force business owners to dis-
<br />perse loiterers or face action age inst
<br />their licenses.
<br />Council continued on pa a 8B
<br />.~~~~~~ouncil/ Star
<br />. ,, 3-,,,tR - e owners
<br />~i"".'-
<br />:~,,:~an take remedial
<br />:..:~_..
<br />i , .to revent h
<br />,..~~ p ,pone
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<br />~ontinued from page IB ,
<br />' ~..,a
<br />The. anti-loitering ordinance has yet
<br />Q~`b,--,e presented to the council.
<br />'~~' pay phone measure gives busi-
<br />t1PSS' owners the right to a hearing
<br />~ ~~ before licensing o8icials declare their
<br />~ •; ;~-ph'~ties to be a problem. In most
<br />:,: ~ ., ases, owners can take remedial
<br />~ s, such as blocking incoming calls ,
<br />w ~~~19,arring phone use during certain
<br />;~'3 htwrs, to prevent a removal order. •~
<br />,:urn ._'•,,.,; •
<br />i ~, r I~s`l~ fall, the city of Chicago banned• .
<br />payrphones outside businesses after
<br />. .d"titjl~ealers began taking them over.;
<br />1 :; ' .:; ,Chleagd~-Id. Ed SmjtK; $;Vyest Side ,`
<br />~ ':'.. resenl~tive;.said then that_the."at-.~
<br />:~ ~ > ride oq. the streets, has. been; `I . do
<br />", tt.~Hat I want, when I want:' "
<br />IV~[ripeapolis started to 'regulate pay
<br />• ` !,phones in 1992, said Laura Boyd, a
<br />~`` 4city..lrcense inspector, Last summer,
<br />~ ' ~ ~ d.Nliitneapolis council -members con-
<br />' _`' ~ _ sidered requiring licenses. for all out-
<br />' •>. dbor pay phoned,,but backed_offthat
<br />~; pl~gr Instead, Boyd said, they fine-
<br />`;,tuped the 1992 ordinance to ensure
<br />that the city could regulate pay
<br />~~ phones that encroached on sidewalks
<br />ahd"other public property. 1n Janu-
<br />- -ar~yt he Minneapolis licensing office
<br />'~'r~ ~•
<br />~;^ .,, ~
<br />steps
<br />removal
<br />received complaints about phones in
<br />five locations, which is more calls
<br />than expected .during the winter,
<br />Boyd said. She added that many
<br />cases are handled informally, without
<br />hearings, and that some businesses
<br />have removed phones voluntarily.
<br />The St. Paul gun shop ordinance,
<br />proposed by Council Member Bobbi
<br />Megard, was approved. Wednesday
<br />by the Ci't~+ Operations Committee.
<br />Megard card she expects to receive
<br />the five .votes necessary to pass the
<br />zoning change... ~ , , •
<br />The.~~~ordnance would 'restrict new
<br />gun shops .to light industrial areas.
<br />The shops would have.to be at least
<br />1,000 feet from residential property
<br />and any protected-use property, such
<br />as a church, library, school, park,
<br />recreation center orday-care center.
<br />The restrictions, opposed by Mayor
<br />Norm Coleman, would apply to gun
<br />shops that devote a majority of their .`
<br />space to firearms and ammunition. It
<br />is not intended to affect sporting
<br />goods stores or hardware stores. "
<br />Staff writer Mary Lynn Smith con-
<br />tributed to this report.
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