[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Maywood 11-21-1972;[1] amended in its entirety 10-9-2008 by Ord. No. 23-08.
Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 169.
[1]
Editor's Note: The provisions of this chapter
are derived from Ch. 16, Art. 6, of the former Revised Ordinances,
adopted 11-21-1972 as Ord. No. 659.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The placing of an unattended shopping cart outside the premises
or parking area of a retail mercantile establishment or within the
public streets or ways.
A parking lot or other property provided by a retailer for
the use of a customer for parking an automobile or other vehicle.
The parking area of a retail mercantile establishment located in a
multistore complex or shopping center shall include the entire parking
area used by the complex or center.
Roadways, sidewalks, driveways, alleys, lanes, culverts or
crosswalks, municipal parks, public parking lots, or other public
places used by the general public.
A push cart of the type or types which are commonly provided
by grocery stores, drugstores or other retail mercantile establishments
for the use of the public in transporting commodities in stores and
markets and their parking areas.
It is hereby determined and declared that the
obstruction of public streets and ways by abandoned shopping carts
creates a dangerous and hazardous condition to the public, and, to
better promote the general health, safety and welfare of the Borough,
it is hereby deemed advisable to regulate the use, removal and disposal
of said shopping carts within the Borough.
Any shopping cart made available for use by
a grocery store, drug store or other retail mercantile establishment
within the Borough shall have securely attached thereto a plastic
or metal identification tag measuring not less than 3 1/2 inches
by five inches in size identifying the owner or retailer of the cart
and listing a valid telephone number or address through which the
owner or retailer can be contacted.
No person or his agent or employee shall abandon
and suffer or permit to be left any shopping cart, either owned by
him or in his possession, custody or control, upon any public street
or way within the Borough.
Any abandoned shopping cart left upon any public
street or way shall be removed by the Public Works Department of the
Borough and stored at the public garage.
A.
If the shopping cart has the identification required pursuant to § 273-3 above, the Public Works Department shall notify the owner or retailer within 24 hours of impounding the shopping cart and include information on how the cart can be retrieved. The Public Works Department shall release the cart to the owner, retailer or authorized agent without charge or fine whatsoever if the owner, retailer or authorized agent retrieves the cart within five business days of notice.
B.
If the shopping cart does not have the identification required under § 273-3 above, or if the owner, retailer or authorized agent of said shopping cart fails to retrieve said shopping cart within five business days of the notice of impoundment, the Borough may dispose of such shopping carts as set forth in § 273-6 below. Prior to disposal, the owner, retailer or authorized agent of said shopping cart may redeem said shopping cart upon payment to the Borough of a fee, not to exceed $50 per occurrence during a twenty-four-hour period, as set forth in Chapter 169, Fees, to cover the cost of recovery and administration of this chapter.
A.
In the event that any shopping cart is not retrieved
within the period of time fixed or is unidentified, the Borough, upon
adoption of a resolution by the Mayor and Council, shall conduct a
public sale of said shopping carts by posting a notice of such sale
on the bulletin board at Borough Hall and by placing a legal advertisement
in the official newspaper of the Borough, fixing a place, date, time
and terms of public sale to the highest bidder. A specific term of
said public sale shall be that no cart shall be sold for less than
$10.
B.
In the event that any shopping carts shall be in a
damaged condition or unsold at public sale, the Public Works Department
may destroy and dispose of said shopping carts.
Upon the redemption or sale of said shopping
carts, the proceeds of all redemptions and sales shall be paid over
to the Borough Treasurer. In addition, the Public Works Department
shall make quarterly reports to the Mayor and Council with regard
to the impoundment, redemption, sale or other disposition of such
shopping carts.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days, or both. Each violation shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense. However, an owner retrieving or redeeming a cart pursuant to § 273-5 of this chapter shall not be subject to said fine.
