ORDINANCE NUMBER: 2010-03
Section 5.236: Shopping Carts
a) Cart Removal Warnings, Cart Identification, and Reporting Abandoned Carts. A person that supplies shopping carts for public use at the person’s business shall:
1) Post signs in sufficient number to give notice to members of the public entering onto or leaving the business premises that unauthorized appropriation of a shopping cart is a crime under ORS 164.015, and provide a toll-free or local telephone number that members of the public may use to report abandoned shopping carts; and
2) Identify the person’s business on each shopping cart and post a sign on the shopping cart that:
I) Notifies any member of the public using the shopping cart that unauthorized appropriation of a shopping cart is a crime under ORS 164.015; and
II) Provides a toll-free or local telephone number for use in reporting an abandoned shopping cart; and
3) Establish, maintain and make available to the public, at the person’s own expense, a toll-free or local telephone line for the purpose of reporting abandoned shopping carts. If the person who provides the carts has a contractor who receives the calls concerning abandoned shopping carts, that contractor shall forward each report the contractor receives concerning an abandoned shopping cart to the owner of the shopping cart and to the City’s Code Enforcement Office within one (1) business day after the contractor receives the report.
b) Retrieval of abandoned shopping carts.
1) Owner may agree with other persons to share and to pay expenses related to the toll-free or local telephone line described above. The agreement shall provide that any person designated to operate the toll-free or local telephone line and receive reports concerning abandoned shopping carts must forward the reports in accordance with subsection (2)(c) above.
2) Owner shall retrieve a shopping cart within 72 hours after receiving notification that the shopping cart has been abandoned.
3) If the City identifies, salvages or reclaims an abandoned shopping cart, it shall use the toll-free or local telephone line described in Section 5.236(2)(b)(2) to report the existence and location of an abandoned shopping cart to the owner of the shopping cart, if the owner is identifiable.
c) Custody, Enforcement, and Disposal of Abandoned Shopping Carts.
1) The City may take custody of an abandoned shopping cart and impose a penalty of $50.00 on the owner of the shopping cart if the owner does not retrieve the shopping cart within 72 hours after the City makes a report under subsection (c) of this Section or after the owner receives a report under subsection 5.236(2)(c) above.
2) The City may release a shopping cart held in the City’s custody to the owner upon payment of the $50.00 penalty.
3) The City may take title to a shopping cart in the City’s custody and dispose of the shopping cart as the City deems appropriate, if the owner does not claim the shopping cart within 30 days.
4) The Enforcement Officer may issue citations for the commission of a violation of this Code Section. A violation proceeding under this Code Section shall be processed in accordance with ORS Chapter 153.
d) Rulemaking Authority. The City Manager or designee is authorized to promulgate any rules necessary for the implementation of this Section.
e) Severability. If any portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance shall remain in force and effect.
