Chapter 6.24 ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS
6.24.050 Shopping cart identification signs.
The owner of a business providing twenty-five (25) or more shopping carts at any single location within the City shall have a sign permanently affixed to each cart. A business owner providing fewer than twenty-five (25) shopping carts may affix a sign to each cart. The sign shall include all of the following information:
(a) The identity of the owner or business, or both;
(b) A valid telephone number and address for returning the shopping cart;
(c) Notice to the public that the unauthorized removal of the cart from the premises of the business establishment, or the unauthorized possession of the shopping cart, is a violation of state laws and a violation of City ordinance;
(d) Notification of the procedure for authorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises.
(Ord. 1093 § 1 (part), 2006)
6.24.060 Unauthorized removal or possession of a shopping cart.
It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following:
(a) To remove a shopping cart from the premises or parking area of a business establishment with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner of its possession;
(b) To leave or abandon a shopping cart at a location other than the premises or parking area of the retail establishment, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the cart;
(c) To alter, convert, or tamper with a shopping cart, or to remove any part or portion thereof or to remove, obliterate or alter serial numbers on a cart, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the cart;
(d) To be in possession of any shopping cart while that cart is not located on the premises or parking lot of a business establishment, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the cart.
(Ord. 1093 § 1 (part), 2006)
6.24.080 Notification for retrieval of impounded abandoned carts.
Pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 22435.7, unless the City uses the procedures set forth in section 6.24.100 of this chapter, the City shall notify the owner as identified on the signage information permanently affixed to the cart of any abandoned carts owned or used by the business establishment that have been located within the City within twenty-four (24) hours of impoundment. The owner shall have three (3) business days from the date the notification is given to retrieve carts from the City. The notice will inform the owner of the location where the shopping cart may be claimed. This section is not applicable to carts impounded after the three (3) day notice referenced in section 6.24.100 of this chapter is provided to the owner.
(Ord. 1093 § 1 (part), 2006)
6.24.110 Administrative costs and fines.
(a) Pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 22435.7, any owner that fails to retrieve its impounded or non-impounded abandoned cart(s) within three (3) business days after receiving notice from the City shall pay the City’s administrative and labor costs, as set by Council resolution, for retrieving the cart(s) and providing the notification to the owner.
(b) The abandonment of any such shopping cart so retrieved within the three (3) day period shall not be deemed an occurrence for purposes of prosecution or imposition of administrative costs and fines which otherwise would be applicable.
(c) Any owner who fails to retrieve abandoned carts in accordance with this chapter in excess of three (3) times during a specified six (6) month period shall be subject to a Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollar fine for each occurrence.
(d) An occurrence includes all carts owned by the owner that are either: (1) impounded by the City in a one-day period under section 6.24.080 of this chapter, or (2) all carts that the owner does not timely retrieve after receiving the notice described in section 6.24.100 of this chapter in a one-day period.
(Ord. 1093 § 1 (part), 2006)
