Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Brockton as follows:
1. Chapter 14. Offenses – Miscellaneous. is hereby amended by adding the following:
ARTICLE III. Abandoned Shopping Carts.
Sec. 14-40. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. The Council of the City of Brockton finds that abandoned shopping carts in the city create potential hazard to the health and safety of the public, and interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic and create a public nuisance. The accumulation of abandoned carts, sometimes wrecked and/or dismantled on public and private property tends to create conditions that reduce property values, and promote blight and deterioration and result in a public nuisance. This article is intended to insure that measures are taken by the owners of shopping earls to prevent the removal of the shopping carts from the owner’s premises, to make removal of the cart a violation of this Code, and to facilitate the retrieval of abandoned shopping carts.
Sec. 14-42. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION AND ABANDONMENT OF CARTS
Chapter 266 Section 30 states that “any person who intentionally removes a shopping cart from the premises of a store or other retail mercantile establishment, without the consent of the merchant given all the time of such removal, with the intention of permanently depriving the merchant of the possession, use or benefit of such cart; and where the retail value of the goods obtained is less than one hundred dollars, shall be punished for a first offense by a fine not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, for a second offense by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars and for a third or subsequent offense by a fine of no more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment in a jail for not more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This section shall not apply to carts removed as authorized by the owner, including for the purposes of maintenance, repair or disposal.
Sec. 14-43. CART OWNER REQUIREMENTS.
All owners of carts shall comply with the requirements of this section.
(a) Cart Identification Required. Every owner of shopping carts, as defined by this article, shall mark or cause the·cart to be marked and identified conspicuously with: the name, address, and telephone number of the owner; and a notice that provides that the removal of the cart from the premises of the owner is a violation of state law. Every owner of more than twenty-five (25) shopping carts shall also mark or cause the cart to be conspicuously marked to provide a name and toll free telephone number of a party that is responsible for retrieval of the cart.
(b) Daily Cart Retrieval. All owners, regardless of the number of carts owned, shall ensure that all carts are secured from public access after close of business hours.
(c) Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan. Every owner who provides more than twenty-five (25) carts to their customers shall develop, implement and comply with the terms and conditions of an Abandoned Cart Prevent ion Plan to prevent the unauthorized removal by any person of any carts from the owner’s premises and, if removed, to retrieve the cart within forty-eight (48) hours of the removal or notice of the removal. The Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan shall include the following elements:
(I) Name of Business/Owner. The name of the owner and the business name, the physical address where the business is conducted, name, address and phone number(s) of the on site and off-site owner if different.
(2) Inventory of Carts. A complete list of all carts maintained on the owner’s premises.
(3) Mandatory Cart Retrieval. A plan for retrieval of abandoned carts, including the requirements of sub-section (b), and plans for recovery of all abandoned carts within forty-eight (48) hours. This plan must include either a plan for the owner or the owner’s employees to retrieve the carts or for the owner to have entered into a contract for earl retrieval services. The.plan for retrieval shall include providing the City’s DPW Commissioner or his/her designee, the name and toll free phone number of the party who will be responsible for the retrieval of the carts which the city may publish. Whoever is identified by the owner as the dai1y responsible for retrieval of the carts shall be made available for cart retrieval six (6) days a week, eight (8) hours a day or during the owner’s business hours, whichever is shorter.
(d) Administration of the Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan. The Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan shall be administered under the provisions of this subsection.
(1) The owner submits the Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan to the City’s DPW Commissioner or his/her designee.
(2) The DPW Commissioner or his/her designee mus\ approve or deny the Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan within forty-five (45) days of its submission. The plan may be denied on the grounds that it fails to include the elements required under this section or the plan is inadequate or insufficient to fulfill those required elements. If the plan is denied, the Commissioner shall do so in writing and provide an explanation for the basis of his or her decision. ‘The owner has seven (7) business days, subject to an extension approved by the Commissioner or his/her designee, to submit a new plan.
(3) Once a plan is approved, the owner has thirty (30) days to begin implementation . If, at any time after the plan has been approved, the Commissioner or his/her designee determines that the plan is inadequate to fulfill the required elements of this section, the Commissioner or his/her designee may, in writing, require the owner to modify or submit a new plan. Such a modification May include, but is not limited to, requiring the owner to identify a new person to retrieve abandoned carts or changing the physical loss prevention measure. If the Commissioner or his/her designee requires the owner to modify or submit a new plan, the owner shall be given a reasonable time to comply.
(e) Violations. Violation of any provision of this section, including failure to conduct the required daily sweep, is a violation of this ru1icle and the city may pursue any available remedy, including the issuance of a citation under Chapter S.S.
Sec. 14-44. CITY RETRIEVAL OF CARTS.
The city may retrieve an abandoned cart from public properly (or private property with the consent of the property owner) in the following circumstances:
(a) Where the location of the shopping cart will impede emergency services.
(b) When the abandoned cart docs not identify the owner of the cart as required.
(c) When the city has contacted either the owner, the owner’s agent, or the entity contracted with by the owner under the Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan and actually notified them of the abandoned cart and the cart has not been retrieved within forty-eight (48) hours, a cart will be stored by the City and may be disposed of in accordance
Sec. 14-45. IMPOUNDMENT, RETRIEVAL, PENALTIES.
(a) If the city retrieves .a cart, the city shall hold the cart at a location that is reasonably convenient to the owner of the shopping cart and open for at least six (6) hours on business days.
(b) Where the city has not already provided notice to the owner that an abandoned cart needs to be retrieved, the city shall notify the owner that the city has impounded their cart and provide information as to the carts location, how the cart may be retrieved, that failure to retrieve the cart may result in the cart’s sale or destruction, that the owner will be responsible for the city’s costs, and that the city may fine owners after the city has picked up the owner’s carts more than three times. In the case of a cart that docs not provide adequate identification or markings to determine its owner the city shall only be required to notify the cart owner if the city obtains actual knowledge of the owner’s identity.
(c) If a cart is not retrieved by its owner within three (J) business days after the owner has received notice of the cart being impounded, or if the cart’s owner cannot be determined, within three (3) business days after the cart has been impounded, the cart may be sold or destroyed by the city or its agents and/or contractors.
(d) The DPW Commissioner or his/her designee may issue an administrative citation of fifty dollars ($50) against any cart owner for any day, after the first three days, in which the city picks up a cart.
(e) No cart shall be released to its owner under the procedures in this section unless the owner pays a fee for the city’s actual costs to retrieve and store the cart.
Sec. 14-46. IMMEDIATE RETRIEVAL BY CITY OF IDENTIFIED CARTS
Notwithstanding any other section of this article, the city may immediately retrieve a cart that does have the appropriate markings and identification provided the city actually notifies the owner within twenty-four (24) hours that the city has impounded the cart and provides information to the owner where and how the cart may be retrieved. The city may not collect a fee or impose a fine, nor count a retrieval for purposes of a fine if the cart retrieved by the city under this section, is collected by the owner within three (3) business days of the actual notice to the owner by the city. If the earl is not retrieved within three (3) business days by its owner, the city may collect its actual costs and impose a fine and dispose of the cart.
Sec. 14-47. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
If any provision, paragraph, word or section of this article is invalidated by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions, paragraphs, words, and sections shall not be affected and shall continue in foll force and effect.
Sec. 14-48. CUMULATIVE REMEDY.
Nothing herein is intended to limit the city from pursuing any other remedy available at law or in equity against any person or entity maintaining, committing, or causing a public nuisance or any other violation of the Code or State or Federal law.
