Chapter 5.65
SHOPPING CART MANAGEMENT, REMOVAL, IMPOUND, RETRIEVAL AND DISPOSAL
Sections:
5.65.010 Findings, purpose and applicability.
5.65.030 Required signs on carts.
5.65.040 Removal or possession of abandoned shopping carts prohibited.
5.65.050 Authority to impound.
5.65.080 Authority to dispose.
5.65.090 Reclamation by storeowners.
5.65.100 Administrative fines.
5.65.120 Shopping cart removal prevention plan.
5.65.130 Timelines and approval process for shopping cart removal prevention plan.
5.65.140 Annual plan evaluation report.
5.65.170 Consortium development.
5.65.180 Standards for consortium retrieval services.
5.65.190 Records required of retrieval service.
5.65.200 Signs required of retrieval service.
5.65.210 Business license required.
5.65.220 Penalty – Enforcement.
5.65.010 Findings, purpose and applicability.
Abandoned shopping carts create potential hazards to the health and safety of the public and interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic within the city. Wrecked, dismantled and abandoned shopping carts on public or private property can create conditions that reduce property values, and promote blight and deterioration in the city. For these reasons, the city finds and determines that abandoned shopping carts constitute a public nuisance.
In order to avoid the creation of such a nuisance, this chapter makes the removal of shopping carts from the premises of a business establishment a violation of this code. In addition, this chapter ensures that storeowners will take action to reduce the removal of shopping carts from a business establishment’s premises and will require the storeowners to aggressively retrieve those shopping carts removed from the business establishment’s premises in violation of this chapter. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.01).
5.65.020 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the terms listed in this section shall have the meanings specified.
“Abandoned shopping cart” means any shopping cart that has been removed without written permission of the storeowner from the premises of the business establishment and has been left unattended on either private or public property. Written permission to remove a shopping cart from a storeowner’s premises shall be valid for a period not to exceed seventy-two hours.
“Business establishment” means the premises upon which a storeowner provides shopping carts to customers for the transport of goods to their vehicles.
“Consortium” means a group of two or more storeowners who consort to hire a single shopping cart retrieval business to retrieve their shopping carts found off their premises in the city of Millbrae.
“Occurrence” means the impound, notice of impound and storage of a shopping cart for more than three days by the city.
“Premises” means the entire area owned and utilized by the business establishment that provides shopping carts for use by customers, including any parking lot or other property provided by the owner for customer parking, excluding the public right-of-way and adjacent property owned by others over which the storeowner has no right of entry.
“Shopping cart” means a basket mounted on wheels which is provided by a business establishment for use by a customer for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind from the business establishment to the customer’s vehicle or other means of transportation on the business establishment’s premises.
“Shopping cart retrieval service” means a business that searches for, retrieves and restores abandoned shopping carts to the possession of the rightful storeowner for compensation or in expectation of compensation.
“Storeowner” means any person or entity who, in connection with the conduct of a business, owns, possesses or makes shopping carts available to customers for use on the premises of the storeowner’s business establishment. For purposes of this chapter, storeowner shall also include the storeowner’s on-site manager or designated agent who provides shopping carts for use by customers of the business establishment. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.02).
5.65.030 Required signs on carts.
Every shopping cart owned or provided for the use of customers by any business establishment in the city must have a sign permanently affixed to it that contains the following information:
A. The name of the owner of the shopping cart or the name of the business establishment where the shopping cart is in lawful use, or both;
B. Notification to the public of the procedure to be used for authorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises;
C. Notification to the public that the unauthorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises or the unauthorized possession of the shopping cart off premises is a violation of state and city laws;
D. A telephone number to contact to report the location of an abandoned shopping cart; and
E. An address where the shopping cart can be returned to the business establishment. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.03).
5.65.040 Removal or possession of abandoned shopping carts prohibited.
A. It is unlawful to either temporarily or permanently remove a shopping cart from the premises of a business establishment without the express prior written approval of the storeowner.
B. It is unlawful to be in possession of a shopping cart that has been removed from the premises of a business establishment unless it is in the process of being immediately returned to the business establishment.
C. It is unlawful to leave or abandon a shopping cart at a location other than the premises of the business establishment with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the storeowner of possession of the shopping cart. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.04).
5.65.050 Authority to impound.
Pursuant to California Business and Professions Code Section 22435.7, the city may impound any abandoned shopping cart when the shopping cart has a sign affixed as required by MMC 5.65.030. The city may retrieve and immediately dispose of any abandoned shopping carts that lack the signs required by MMC 5.65.030. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.05).
5.65.060 Notice of retrieval.
The city shall provide the storeowner notice of retrieval within twenty-four hours following the impoundment. The notice will inform the owner as to the location where the shopping cart may be claimed. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.06).
5.65.070 Authority to store.
The impounded shopping cart may be stored by the city at a location that is both reasonably convenient to the storeowner of the shopping cart and is open for business at least six hours of each day, Monday through Friday. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.07).
5.65.080 Authority to dispose.
Any shopping cart not reclaimed from the city within thirty days of receipt of a notice of retrieval by the storeowner may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the city. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.08).
5.65.090 Reclamation by storeowners.
Any shopping cart reclaimed by the storeowner within three business days following the date of actual notice of impound shall be released and surrendered to the storeowner at no charge whatsoever, including the waiver of any impound and storage fees or fines that would otherwise be applicable pursuant to MMC 5.65.100 and 5.65.110. Any shopping cart reclaimed within the three business day period shall not be deemed an occurrence for the purposes of MMC 5.65.100. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.09).
5.65.100 Administrative fines.
The city may impose an administrative penalty on the storeowner in an amount not to exceed fifty dollars for each occurrence in excess of three during a specified six-month period for failure to retrieve shopping carts in accordance with MMC 5.65.090. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.10).
5.65.110 Recovery of costs.
The city is authorized to recover from storeowners all actual costs incurred for impounding a shopping cart if the cart is not retrieved pursuant to MMC 5.65.090. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.11).
5.65.120 Shopping cart removal prevention plan.
Every storeowner providing shopping carts to its customers shall develop and implement a specific written plan to prevent customers from removing shopping carts from the premises. The plan must include the following elements:
A. Notice to Customers. Written notification shall be provided to customers that removal of shopping carts from the premises is prohibited and a violation of state law and the Millbrae Municipal Code. This notice may be provided in the form of flyers, warnings on shopping bags and shopping carts, or any other form of written notification that will effectively notify customers of the law.
B. Signs. Signs shall be placed in appropriate places near door exits and near parking lot exits warning customers that shopping cart removal is prohibited and constitutes a violation of state law and the Millbrae Municipal Code.
C. Physical Measures. Specific physical measures shall be implemented by storeowners to prevent shopping cart removal from the premises. Examples of physical measures that may be implemented are: installing disabling devices on all shopping carts; posting of a security guard to prevent customers from removing shopping carts from the premises; security deposits required for use of all shopping carts; the rental or sale of shopping carts that can be temporarily or permanently used for transport of purchases, or any combination of the above as necessary to effectively prevent shopping cart removal from the premises. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.12).
5.65.130 Timelines and approval process for shopping cart removal prevention plan.
Every business establishment shall submit a proposed plan for preventing shopping cart removal for approval to the community development department within sixty days after adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter and by July 1st of each year thereafter. Any business establishment which opens after the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter will submit a shopping cart removal prevention plan to the community development department for approval within sixty days of the approval date on their city business license application. Any storeowner who fails to submit a shopping cart removal prevention plan in accordance with this section shall be subject to a fifteen hundred dollar civil penalty.
A storeowner has thirty days from the date of city approval of the plan to implement its shopping cart removal prevention plan. If the proposed plan is the same as the previous years, prevention measures shall continue to be implemented unless the city indicates the plan needs to be modified. Unless otherwise agreed, modifications to a plan required by the city shall be implemented by the storeowner within thirty days of notification. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.13).
5.65.140 Annual plan evaluation report.
A. A storeowner must submit an annual plan evaluation report to the community development department of the city. The report shall include, but is not limited to, an assessment of the effectiveness of the measures used to prevent the removal of shopping carts from the premises; an inventory of shopping carts owned or used by the business establishment and the number of shopping carts replaced by the establishment due to repair, loss, theft or abandonment. Any storeowner who fails to submit an annual plan evaluation report in accordance with this section by July 1st of each year shall be subject to a fifteen hundred dollar civil penalty. If a prevention plan was in place the previous year, the annual plan evaluation report shall identify the measures used and assess the effectiveness of the measures used in the prior year.
B. If a storeowner has been fined by the city for more than three occurrences in any six-month period pursuant to MMC 5.65.100, the city may determine that the storeowner’s shopping cart removal prevention plan is inadequate and require that additional removal prevention measures be added to the plan and implemented by the storeowner in the next plan period. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.14).
5.65.150 Penalties for failing to submit a shopping cart removal prevention plan – Failure to implement prevention measures.
In addition to the civil penalties set forth in this chapter, any storeowner who fails to submit a plan, implement the proposed plan, implement any required modifications to the plan as required by the city or submit annual plan evaluations within the time frames specified in this chapter shall be required to place disabling devices on all shopping carts owned, leased or used by the business establishment to prevent removal of shopping carts from the premises. Any such storeowner who fails to place a disabling device on all shopping carts shall be subject to a one thousand dollar civil penalty, plus an additional penalty of fifty dollars for each day of noncompliance. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.15).
5.65.160 Exemption.
Any storeowner who participates in the development and ongoing implementation of a shopping cart retrieval consortium with other storeowners in the city in accordance with this chapter shall be exempt from the provisions of MMC 5.65.120 through 5.65.150, inclusive. It is the desire of the city that all storeowners in the city who provide shopping carts for the use of their customers agree to form a single retrieval consortium. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.16).
5.65.170 Consortium development.
Two or more storeowners may form a shopping cart retrieval consortium by continuously contracting with a single shopping cart retrieval service to retrieve and return the abandoned shopping carts of the consortium members found off the premises of the storeowners’ business establishments. Storeowners who form a consortium shall submit a fully executed copy of the contract for retrieval services to the community development department of the city for review. The contract shall be deemed adequate if no comment is made by the city within thirty days. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.17).
5.65.180 Standards for consortium retrieval services.
Storeowners who form a retrieval consortium shall enter into a contract for services with the shopping cart retrieval service which provides that:
A. The shopping cart retrieval service shall provide daily retrieval service throughout the city.
B. The storeowners and retrieval service shall periodically consult with the city to determine the traditional locations where abandoned shopping carts are found off premises, and shall survey those sites on a daily basis and retrieve all shopping carts found.
C. The contract shall provide financial incentives to the retrieval service to properly survey the entire city on a daily basis to aggressively retrieve abandoned shopping carts.
D. The consortium shall ensure that the city has on file at all times a copy of the current, effective retrieval contract. In the event that a consortium allows the contract for retrieval services to lapse, and effective retrieval services are no longer provided, then the storeowners shall no longer be exempt from and will be required to comply with the provisions of MMC 5.65.120 through 5.65.150, inclusive, within sixty days.
E. If the city determines that the efforts of the consortium to retrieve abandoned shopping carts is not effective, then the consortium members will review the contract for services for performance of the retrieval service with the city and undertake measures to improve the retrieval process. If, within sixty days, the retrieval process cannot be measurably improved, then the city may require the storeowners to comply with MMC 5.65.120 through 5.65.150, inclusive, of this chapter. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.18).
5.65.190 Records required of retrieval service.
Any person who engages in the business of shopping cart retrieval shall retain records showing written authorization from the storeowners to retrieve abandoned shopping carts and to be in possession of the shopping carts retrieved. A copy of the records showing written authorization shall be maintained in each vehicle used for abandoned shopping cart retrieval. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.19).
5.65.200 Signs required of retrieval service.
Each vehicle employed for the retrieval of abandoned shopping carts shall display a sign that clearly identifies the business name of the retrieval service. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.20).
5.65.210 Business license required.
Any person engaging in abandoned shopping cart retrieval shall first obtain a business license from the city. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.21).
5.65.220 Penalty – Enforcement.
The penalties for violations of any provisions of this chapter are set forth in Chapter 1.05 MMC. (Ord. 653, § 1; 1976 Code § 5-13.22).