CHAPTER 11: SHOPPING AND LAUNDRY CART CONTAINMENT, RETRIEVAL AND ABATEMENT
Purpose
a) The purposes of this ordinance are to require business owners that provide shopping carts and/or laundry carts to their customers to maintain such carts on their business premises, to require business owners to prevent persons from removing such carts from their business premises, to make it unlawful for any person to remove such carts from any business premises, to make it unlawful for any person to abandon such carts onto any public or private property, and to reduce the City’s and/or business owners’ costs of retrieving such carts from public and private property.
Section 5013: Unauthorized Removal or Possession
a) It shall be unlawful for any person to perform any of the following acts with respect to a shopping or laundry cart, when such cart has a sign permanently affixed in conformity with this Chapter:
1) To remove a shopping or laundry cart from the business premises of a retail establishment with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the shopping or laundry cart owner of possession of the cart;
2) To be in possession of any shopping or laundry cart that has been removed from the business premises of a retail establishment with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the shopping or laundry cart owner of possession of the cart; 3. To be in possession of any shopping or laundry cart with serial numbers or identification signage removed, obliterated, defaced, or altered, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the shopping or laundry cart owner of possession of the cart.
Section 5014: Cart Containment and Retrieval Plan
a) No shopping or laundry cart owner shall commence, conduct or continue business operations without having implemented a City-approved cart containment and retrieval plan to prevent the unauthorized removal of such carts from store premises, and, if removed, to retrieve such carts within twenty four (24) hours of the removal, or notice of removal. B. A proposed cart containment and retrieval plan shall be submitted to the Director in writing, on a city-approved form, and shall include, at a minimum, the following information: Owner/Business Information, Cart Inventory, Cart Identification Signage, Business Premises Signage, Mandatory Cart Retrieval, Containment Methods, Community Outreach, and Employee Training.
Section 5018: Cart Retrieval/Retrieval Service
a) It shall be the responsibility of a shopping or laundry cart owner to secure and continuously maintain a service to retrieve shopping or laundry carts which have been removed from their store premises within twenty four (24) hours of the removal, or notice of removal. Service shall only be established with a person or business entity engaged in the business of shopping or laundry cart retrieval who possesses a valid Temple City business license and any other requisite approval, license, or permit. B. No person or business entity shall engage in the business of cart retrieval without a valid Temple City business license.
Section 5019: Cart Containment
a) It shall be the responsibility of a shopping or laundry cart owner to effectively contain or control all carts within the boundaries of the store premises. An owner shall install and/or implement each method of containment described in the City-approved cart containment and retrieval plan. Methods of containment may include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Electronic or other disabling devices installed on the shopping or laundry carts that prevent their removal from the business premises; 2. Bollards or other structures installed or erected on the perimeter of the business premises that restrict shopping or laundry carts to these premises. Such structures shall not interfere with fire lanes, handicap access, or conflict with federal, state and local laws, including municipal building and zoning codes; 3. Use of courtesy clerks to accompany customers to their vehicles and return shopping or laundry carts to the store; 4. Security deposit for patron’s use of a shopping or laundry cart.
Section 5020: Abandoned Shopping Carts- Abatement, Removal and Storage
a) The City may impound a shopping or laundry cart that has a permanently affixed sign, in conformity with this Chapter, provided both of the following conditions have been met: 1. The shopping or laundry cart is located outside the business premises, as defined in this chapter; 2. The shopping or laundry cart is not retrieved within three (3) business days from the date the shopping or laundry cart owner receives actual notice from the City of such cart’s discovery and location. The City may fine a shopping or laundry cart owner fifty dollars ($50) for each occurrence in excess of three during a six-month period for failure to retrieve shopping or laundry carts in accordance with this Chapter.
Section 5021: Penalty
a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the municipal code to the contrary, any person who violates any provision of this chapter, and any cart owner who violates or fails to comply with or continuously maintain any provision of the owner’s City-approved cart containment and retrieval plan, is guilty of a misdemeanor offense punishable in accordance with Chapter 2 of Title 1 of this Code.
