Newsracks and Donation Drop Boxes in San Diego

Different rules apply depending on the object and the ground it stands on, so start with two questions.

• A newsrack on a public sidewalk. A self-service box or dispenser for newspapers, magazines or other publications that stands in the public right-of-way. These are covered by the City's newsrack code and need a City permit. The code says it does not regulate racks on private property.
• A donation bin or drop box. An unattended container for donated clothing, shoes or other reusable items, usually in a store or gas station parking lot. These are covered by the City's land use rules for drop-off facilities and by state law on unattended collection boxes.
• Public or private ground? Sidewalks, streets and alleys are public right-of-way; a parking lot is usually private property. Dumped items on public ground go to the City's illegal dumping team; problems in a private lot start with the bin operator and the property owner.

Newsracks in the public right-of-way are governed by Chapter 6, Article 2, Division 10 of the Municipal Code. The City's newsrack permit page says any publisher, distributor or individual who wants to put a newsrack there needs a Newsrack Permit; the application is form DS-3000. The main rules:

Permit holders must also carry liability insurance and sign an agreement to cover the City for injury or damage caused by their racks (sections 62.1010 and 62.1011). A separate division, Division 9, bars publications with sexually explicit images or text from being displayed to public view in newsracks on the public right-of-way.

Section 62.1006 sets location rules for every newsrack in the public right-of-way. Among them, no rack may be placed:

• Where it narrows the walkway. Anywhere that leaves less than 4 feet of clear space for people walking, or where it unreasonably gets in the way of pedestrians, wheelchair users, vehicles, building entrances, or poles, signs, signals and mailboxes.
• Too close to crossings and driveways. Within 3 feet of a marked crosswalk, within 25 feet of an intersection (measured as the code's diagram shows), within 10 feet of a driveway or alley, within 3 feet of a fire hydrant, fire or police call box, fire lane or emergency facility, within 5 feet of a blue curb or 3 feet of a yellow or white curb, or within 3 feet of City-approved landscaping.
• In clusters or duplicates. A group of racks may stretch no more than 10 feet along the curb, with at least 4 feet of clear pavement between groups, and the same publication may not be in another rack within 150 feet on the same side of the same block. Curbside racks go 18 to 24 inches from the roadway edge and may not open toward the street; racks against a building sit parallel to the wall, no more than 6 inches from it.
• At bus and trolley stops. Section 62.1007 keeps racks out of the area from 30 feet before to 6 feet past a bus stop sign (100 feet before along Broadway between Harbor Drive and Park Boulevard), within 6 feet of a transit shelter, bench, kiosk, pole or sign, and within 10 feet of a trolley stop. Our bus stop guide covers other stop problems.
• In the Gaslamp Quarter, outside a corral. Section 62.1008 allows newsracks in the Gaslamp Quarter Planned District only inside designated corrals, with a permit specific to the district; a rack there without one may be removed without notice.

• Abandoned. Under section 62.1018, a rack counts as abandoned when it has been empty, or without a permitted publication, for 30 days in a row, or when the City removed it and no one claimed it within 30 days. The City may dispose of a rack and its contents once it has been considered abandoned for 60 days in a row.
• The usual steps. Section 62.1012 has the City notify the permit holder in writing and ask for a fix within five business days; if that does not happen, a Notice of Violation can follow with another five business days, and after that the City may use other remedies in the code, including removing the rack. Removal and storage costs can be charged to the permit holder (section 62.1015).
• Removal without notice. Section 62.1013 lets the City remove a rack right away if it threatens the safety of pedestrians, wheelchair users or traffic, has no permit, or its owner cannot readily be reached from the permit or the information on the rack.
• Small fixes and old bolt holes. Unless a permit holder opted out on its application, the City may fix minor problems on the spot that need no tools and no moving of the rack (section 62.1016). When a rack is taken away, section 62.1005 makes the permit holder remove leftover bolts and brackets and fill the holes level with the sidewalk. For a damaged or uneven sidewalk itself, see our sidewalk repair guide.

San Diego's Land Development Code treats bins, boxes and other containers for donating recyclable or reusable material as drop-off facilities, one of the recycling facility types in Municipal Code section 141.0620. They are allowed as a limited use only in the zones the City's use tables mark for them, under these conditions:

• set back at least 10 feet from any building and from the public right-of-way, without blocking pedestrian or vehicle access;
• no removing landscaping or parking that other uses on the site are required to have;
• containers for 24-hour donations at least 30 feet from residentially zoned property, unless donations go into an enclosed area;
• all collection containers on the site together hold no more than 192 cubic feet;
• sturdy containers kept in good condition, clearly marked with what may be dropped off and the operator's name and phone number;
• a posted notice that material may not be left outside the containers, and a site kept free of litter.

On a public sidewalk. A donation bin is not a newsrack, and the 10-foot setback above keeps drop-off facilities off the public right-of-way. Separately, section 54.0110 makes it unlawful to place or leave any object on a public street, alley or sidewalk unless the code allows it. Our public right-of-way guide covers objects left on sidewalks.

Enforcement status. As of November 4, 2026, Building & Land Use Enforcement's list of complaint types not currently enforced also includes recycling facilities, the code category that donation drop-off facilities fall under.

The state's law on unattended collection boxes, Welfare and Institutions Code sections 150 to 153, applies to unattended canisters, boxes and similar containers used to ask for and collect donated salvageable personal property.

• What must be on the front. Section 151 requires every collection box to show, conspicuously on the front, the name, address, phone number and (if it has one) website of its owner and operator, and a statement in type at least two inches tall saying whether it is owned and operated by a for-profit or a nonprofit organization. A commercial fundraiser counts as for-profit.
• Nonprofit or for-profit. A nonprofit's box must also describe the charitable cause the donations support. A for-profit's box must also say the donation is "not tax deductible." A commercial fundraiser may mention a charitable cause only on the sides of the box, in smaller print than its own name and address.
• Local power. Section 152 lets a city or county declare a box that breaks these rules a public nuisance and abate it, and section 153 says the law does not limit local rules on collecting and selling donated property, or the state Department of Justice's existing authority over charitable fundraising.

In practice, the required label is the fastest way to reach whoever can empty, repair or remove a bin.

• Dumped items on public ground. Furniture, mattresses, appliances or piles of bags left on a sidewalk, street or alley, including next to a newsrack or a bin, go to Get It Done Illegal Dumping. As of November 4, 2026, the form says it is for larger items or piles on public streets, alleys, sidewalks or other City property, not for small scattered litter, abandoned shopping carts or waste at a homeless encampment (which has its own Homeless Outreach/Encampment type). Our illegal dumping guide covers timeframes, fines and where to take bulky items legally.
• Overflowing bins in a private lot. Contact the operator using the name and phone number on the front of the bin, and let the business or property manager know. Under section 141.0620, the site must be kept free of litter and the bin must say that nothing may be left outside it. If a bin is full, take your donation to another bin or to a staffed donation center rather than leaving it on the ground.
• Graffiti and stickers. Newsrack permit holders must keep racks reasonably free of graffiti and stickers, and donation containers must be kept in good condition. Report graffiti with Get It Done Graffiti. The City's guide to Get It Done reports says graffiti may be handled by the City or by another responsible party, and that reports referred elsewhere show as "Referred" and get no further updates. Our graffiti guide explains the rest.

As of November 4, 2026, the City's guide to Get It Done reports and the Get It Done report menu have no report type for newsracks or donation bins. Use the closest fit:

• Graffiti for tags or stickers on a rack or bin;
• Illegal Dumping for items dumped on a public sidewalk, street or alley;
• Other for a broken, empty, abandoned or badly placed newsrack, or a bin on a public sidewalk. Get It Done says Other reports are not automatically processed and may take more time to review.

You can also file a Request for Investigation with Building & Land Use Enforcement online or at 619-236-5500; it does not accept anonymous requests. Keep the enforcement status above in mind. Before any of these, calling the number on the rack or bin is often the quickest route. Have this ready:

• Where. The nearest cross streets (for example "near Elm Street and 30th Street"), which side of the street, and whether it is on the sidewalk or in a parking lot.
• What. The publication or operator name and phone number shown on it, and what is wrong: broken, tipped over, empty, blocking the walkway, tagged, overflowing.
• How long. For an empty newsrack, when you first noticed it empty; the 30-day abandonment rule depends on it.
• Photos. One close up of the label and one taken from farther back, so crews can see the rack or bin in context.
• Urgent but not an emergency. The Get It Done form lists 619-527-7500 for other urgent issues and 619-531-2000 for police non-emergencies. Anything blocking traffic or hurting someone: 911.