CHAPTER 169: GARBAGE, RUBBISH AND REFUSE
Section 169-37: Shopping Carts.
All supermarkets, retail and discount stores and any other businesses which provide shopping carts for the use and convenience of their customers shall comply with the following requirements in order to prevent the disposal of the carts as waste or litter interfering with the use of public and private property, including bodies of water.
a) Every shopping cart owned or used within the City of Chicopee shall have a permanently affixed and clearly visible cart identification sign. Every cart owner shall continuously maintain or cause to be maintained the cart identification sign so that the owner’s name is accurate and clearly legible.
b) Shopping carts so identified shall be used only on the business premises. Signs informing the public of this requirement shall be prominently located at the entrance and exit of the store or business.
c) All stores and businesses providing such carts for the convenience of their customers shall be responsible for installing, operating and maintaining a cart retrieval program which shall include, at a minimum, a contract or agreement with a cart retrieval service that is sufficient to respond to complaints from the public or the City of Chicopee regarding abandoned shopping carts in a manner that results in the retrieval of the carts on an ongoing basis.
d) All stores and businesses providing shopping carts to its customers shall lock or otherwise secure all shopping carts during hours when the business or store is closed.
e) No person shall be authorized or deemed authorized to remove a shopping cart from the business premises unless they are in possession of written permission from the cart owner.
f) Any shopping cart found on public property or private property other than that of the business utilizing the same shall be removed from said property by the owners of said shopping cart. Failure of the owner to remove the shopping cart shall be a violation of this section and shall result in the City of Chicopee or its designee retrieving said cart(s).
g) In the event that the City of Chicopee retrieves a shopping cart, the City shall hold the cart at a location that is reasonably convenient to the owner of the shopping cart and open for business at least six hours on business days.
1) When the City has retrieved a shopping cart, the City shall so notify the owner that the City has impounded its shopping cart. This notice shall include the following:
I) Information as to the cart’s location.
II) How the shopping cart may be retrieved.
III) That failure to retrieve the shopping cart within 15 days from the date of the letter may result in the cart’s sale or destruction.
IV) That the owner will be responsible for the City’s costs of retrieval, totaling $25 per cart.
V) That a fine totaling $75 per cart shall be imposed.
2) In the case of a cart that does 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.
3) The Superintendent of Public Works or his or her designee shall issue a seventy-five-dollar fine upon an owner for any cart in violation of any section of this chapter.
4) No cart shall be released to its owner under the procedures in this section unless the owner pays a fee for the City’s cost of retrieval and storage, in addition to the seventy-five-dollar fine, for a total of $100 per cart.
