Law lets homeowners end deliveries of unwanted materials

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 12:10 p.m.

With the threat of a lawsuit looming, the Las Vegas City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday that prohibits the distribution of unsolicited publications to homes after the homeowner has requested it to stop.

American Civil Liberties Union's Gary Peck urged the council to postpone its decision to allow the city and his organization to meet, but the council said a delay would only waste taxpayers' money.

"There is a greater danger of wasting taxpayers' money if the ordinance is passed and the constitutionality of it is challenged in court," Peck shot back.

The ordinance requires homeowners to send a certified letter asking for the discontinuance of newspaper publications and either a certified letter or a hand-delivered notice to distributors of other materials such as advertisements.

If the publication continues to be delivered, the distributor can cited by either city code enforcers or Metro Police.

Councilman Michael Mack recommended the measure, saying homeowners should have a say about whether they want to receive junk mail on their doorsteps.

He said his constituents have complained that when residents don't pick up the materials, they litter the neighborhoods. And, Mack and Metro police said, publications that sit for days can tip off potential burglars.

"Items laying in driveways or hanging on doors is an advertisement for burglars that someone is gone for a weekend or a week," Metro Lt. Stan Olsen said.

But the ACLU argued that while that might be the case, the ordinance is too broad.

Miffed that the council refused to delay the ordinance, Peck said he is concerned because the measure will also cover political fliers or religious pamphlets protected by the First Amendment.

"It's an unbelievably silly law as written," Peck said.

Steve Coffeen, circulation director for the Las Vegas Sun and the Review-Journal, met with city officials to ensure the ordinance would not affect those publications.

Coffeen was particularly concerned about the View, a weekly tabloid newspaper that is inserted into suscribers' daily paper and left on the doorsteps of nonsuscribers.

Coffeen said during the View's eight years, about 3,500 residents have requested that it no longer be delivered to their homes. He said the newspaper does its best to comply, and he supported the city ordinance in the end.