8.08.040 Signage of shopping carts, containment and retrieval plans.
A. Every shopping cart owned or provided by any owner must have a sign permanently affixed to the shopping cart that contains all of the following information:
1. Identity of owner, business establishment, or both.
2. Notification to the public that the removal of the shopping cart from the premises is a violation of state law, and notification to the public of the procedure to be utilized for authorized removal of the cart from the premises.
3. The address or phone number of the owner of the business establishment for shopping cart return.
B. Any shopping cart found abandoned on public property that does not have the identification and information required by subsection (A) of this section, or does not have other ownership information or identification that is sufficient, in the city’s determination, to allow the city to mail to the owner an invoice/notice of impoundment by certified mail, return receipt requested, may be removed from such public property and disposed of by the city in accordance with state law for disposition of abandoned property. The determination of whether there is sufficient information of ownership, where the identification requirements of subsection (A) of this section are not met, shall be in the sole discretion of the director.
C. Shopping Cart Containment and Retrieval Plans.
1. All new commercial businesses established after the adoption of this chapter that provide shopping carts will be required to provide a shopping cart containment and retrieval plan to the city.
2. If an owner who provides shopping carts to customers for use on the premises of any retail establishment is notified by the city of a lost, stolen, or abandoned shopping cart pursuant to this chapter more than three (3) times in any three (3) month period, the director may require the owner to develop, implement and comply with the provisions of a city-approved written shopping cart containment and retrieval plan providing for the containment of shopping carts on the premises of the retail establishment (shopping cart containment plan) and for the retrieval of lost, stolen, or abandoned shopping carts which have been removed from the premises of the retail establishment (shopping cart retrieval plan).
3. Proposed shopping cart containment and retrieval plans must be filed with the director within thirty (30) days of notice from the director that such a plan is required, or as specified by the director. The plans must include sections detailing the store’s strategy for preventing shopping carts from leaving the business site and parking lot (shopping cart containment), and defining the methods that will be implemented to retrieve shopping carts abandoned off site (shopping cart retrieval), as described in subsections (B) and (C) of this section.
D. Shopping Cart Containment Plan Requirements. Shopping cart containment plans shall detail the business’s approach to retain carts on the property occupied by the business. At a minimum, each shopping cart containment plan must demonstrate how the following requirements of subsections (D)(1) and (2) of this section will be met:
1. Employee Training. The owner of the retail establishment shall ensure employees are aware of the requirements of this chapter and the provisions of state law prohibiting the unauthorized removal of shopping carts from the premises of the retail establishment.
2. Measures to Contain Shopping Carts On Site. The owner of the retail establishment must utilize measures to contain shopping carts on business premises. These measures may include, but are not limited to:
a. Installing disabling devices on all carts;
b. Posting store personnel to deter and stop customers who attempt to remove carts from business premises;
c. Installing bollards and chains around business premises entrances/exits to prevent cart removal;
d. Requiring security deposits for use of all carts; or
e. Providing carts for rental or sale that can be temporarily or permanently used for the purpose of transporting purchases.
3. The appropriateness of proposed measures to contain shopping carts on business premises will be dependent on the size, nature, and layout of the business premises, as well as the strength of the accompanying cart retrieval program.
4. Be signed by the owner.
E. Shopping Cart Retrieval Plans Requirements. Shopping cart retrieval plans shall detail the business’s approach for retrieving shopping carts removed from the property occupied by the business. At a minimum, each shopping cart retrieval plan must demonstrate how the following requirements of subsections (E)(1) through (3) of this section will be met:
1. Retrieval Personnel. The owner shall provide personnel for the purposes of the retrieval of lost, stolen or abandoned shopping carts. Such personnel may be either employees of the business or one (1) or more independent contractors hired by the owner to provide shopping cart retrieval services, or a combination of both. The shopping cart retrieval plan shall either:
a. Identify the number of employees who will be assigned such cart retrieval duties, the number of total hours per week that each assigned employee will perform such services; or
b. Include a copy of each contract with a cart retrieval service (other than confidential financial information that may be redacted from the contract).
2. Prompt Retrieval of Carts. The owner shall:
a. Provide retrieval personnel in sufficient numbers to assure that all public streets within a minimum one (1) mile radius of the premises of the retail establishment are patrolled not less often than every twenty-four (24) hours.
b. Immediately retrieve and remove each lost, stolen or abandoned shopping cart owned or provided by the retail establishment which is found as a result of such patrols from any public or private property upon which the cart is found.
3. Patrol Area and Resources. The shopping cart retrieval plan shall:
a. Identify the streets, parks, bus stops, and other places that will be routinely patrolled as required by this subsection as well as the manner, frequency, and times of such patrols.
b. Include information such as the number of trucks, hours of operation and retrieval personnel, as reasonably required by the city to assure that the owner is devoting sufficient resources to cart retrieval operation to comply with the approved shopping cart containment plan.
c. Provide a current telephone and an electronic mail address (email) to report the location of the abandoned cart. (It shall be the owner’s responsibility to notify the director if the abandoned cart reporting telephone number or abandoned cart reporting electronic mail address is changed.)
d. Be signed by owner.
F. Plan Submittal and City Review.
1. Plan Review and Decision. Upon the filing of any proposed plans pursuant to this chapter, and receipt of the required processing fee as established by the director, the director shall review said proposed plans to ensure they meet the requirements of this section and contain sufficient measures to achieve the goals of this chapter and shall: (a) approve, (b) approve with conditions, or (c) deny the shopping cart containment or retrieval plan. If the proposed plan is denied, the notice of decision given to the owner shall state the grounds upon which the proposed plan was denied and a deadline to submit a new plan for review. An owner who fails to timely file a proposed plan or to abide by the terms of an approved plan is in violation of this chapter and shall be subject to civil penalties in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each day during which the violation continues.
2. Amendments by Owner. The owner of any retail establishment which has an approved shopping cart containment or retrieval plan conforming to the requirements of this chapter may, at any time, submit a proposed amendment to the approved plan, which shall be processed, and a decision issued within fourteen (14) calendar days following the receipt thereof by the director.
3. Implementation of Plan. The proposed measures shall be implemented no later than thirty (30) days after city approval is given, unless otherwise stated in the decision approving the plan. Unless otherwise agreed, any modifications to the plan imposed by the city shall be implemented within thirty (30) days after the city notifies the owner of the needed modifications.
G. Businesses with twenty (20) or fewer shopping carts are exempt from the requirements of creating a shopping cart retrieval and containment plan.
H. Failure to adhere to an approved shopping cart plan will result in fines and penalties.
1. A first violation will result in a warning.
2. Every violation thereafter will be two hundred dollars ($200.00) per violation.
a. If the city picks up carts belonging to a store that is required to have a shopping cart plan, additional fees of fifty dollars ($50.00) a cart will apply.