U. tows away newsstand

Officials and the newsstand's owner agreed to a settlement. Negotiations between University officials and the owner of a boarded-up newsstand at the corner of 34th and Walnut streets came to a close last week when the stand was towed at approximately 11:15 a.m. Friday. Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman explained that University administrators, city officials and the newsstand's owner, Jatendra Dalwadi, reached an agreement Thursday to remove the newsstand -- ending a three-month controversy. Associate General Counsel Roman Petyk described the agreement with Dalwadi as "consensual" and "amicable." "We have an arrangement with [Dalwadi] where he won't put up any more newsstands at 34th and Walnut [streets]," he explained. University officials towed another newsstand owned by Dalwadi from the southwest corner of 34th and Walnut streets in January, saying that city officials had granted Dalwadi's permit without notifying the University. They expressed concerns that the newsstand presented a safety hazard to students and pedestrians crossing to the west side of 34th Street, and complained that the stand was an aesthetic "eyesore." When University officials towed Dalwadi's other newsstand, Petyk said that they acted "within what we understood were our legal rights." In February, city officials -- responding to a University request -- revoked the newsstand's licenses after charging that Dalwadi had failed to receive an ordinance from city council to use electricity in the stand. Although officials were pleased by the outcome of last week's negotiations, they hope to move forward on a proposed ordinance designed to provide a more uniform method of regulating University City vending. "We're hoping that [this is] the first step in the process of exercising greater control of the streetscape," Petyk said. "We're determined to do things in a way that is non-confrontational. Scheman added that the current case-by-case method of approving vending licenses is inefficient. "It is important that the University have a relationship with the city and other vendors to allow us to have planning input and coordination about where such structures go," Scheman said. But controversy surrounds the question of whether the University or the city owns the sidewalk areas and has the authority to determine their use. University administrators and City Councilperson Jannie Blackwell have engaged in discussions for the past 18 months to finalize a vending ordinance. And Scheman said she expects the ordinance to be released this spring. "The University has accepted vastly too much in terms of not working to get current ordinances enforced," she said. The University's continued efforts to attract and expand retail in the University area contribute to efforts to manage vending in the area, according to Scheman. "We can't attract the kind of retail we need unless we get control of vending," she said. Because city officials do not enforce current vending ordinances, vendors continue to operate without regulation and often "feed" parking meters, taking up available parking places, Scheman added. City council officials and Dalwadi were unavailable for comment.