Plaintiff Recycle for Change uses unattended donation and collection boxes in Oakland, California to collect donations of used textiles. Oakland passed an ordinance requiring such boxes to be permitted, which in turn requires payment of a permitting fee of $535. The ordinance additionally imposed dispersal requirements between such boxes, as well as the location and physical characteristics of such boxes. The federal district court found that the ordinance did not constitute a total ban on the boxes and, because it only regulated the physical characteristics of donation boxes, did not constitute a content based regulation. Because the plaintiff was unlikely to succeed on the merits, the court denied the motion for preliminary injunction.
Recycle for Change v. City of Oakland, No. 15-CV-05093-WHO, slip op., 2016 WL 344751 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 28, 2016)