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660.02 SHOPPING CARTS.

(a) No person shall remove a shopping cart from the premises of any shop, store, grocery or supermarket in the City, regardless of any intention to convert such cart to his or her own use. However, “premises” shall be construed to include an adjacent public parking lot. A “shopping cart” shall be construed to mean any rolling or nonrolling basket or container, such as is used in shops, stores, groceries and supermarkets.

(b) No person shall use, possess, or abandon a shopping cart, that has been taken from a shop, store, grocery or supermarket, on a street, alley or other place in the City.

(c) A shopping cart found abandoned on a street, alley or public place in the City may be impounded by the Department of Public Works, which shall then notify the owner thereof. Such carts may be reclaimed by the owner upon payment of a fee as set forth in Chapter 210 of the Administration Code. Thirty days after notice to the owner, an unclaimed cart may be disposed of by the City. Carts that are unidentifiable as to ownership may be disposed of by the City thirty days after impounding.

(Ord. 33. Passed 12-3-68; Ord. 2004-01. Passed 2-17-04.)

About Shopping Cart Ordinances

Retailers can struggle to stop cart abandonment, often paying up to $15,000 a year on replacement carts and municipal fines and fees due imposed by communities. These cart regulations and laws are put in place to not only control the environmental impact of abandoned carts, but also to keep towns and cities clean.

Most shopping cart ordinances fall into three categories: The first category is regulations requiring retailers to have a plan to contain and collect errant shopping carts. Secondly, those that define the fines and penalties a city may impose on retailers for abandoned or errant shopping carts. Finally, the third category of rules generally requires retailers to have a system to contain shopping carts, preventing abandonment.