As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ABANDONED CART
Unattended shopping carts that are removed from the store premises.
MERCHANT
Any owner or operator of any store or other retail mercantile establishment,
or any agent, servant, employee, lessee, consignee, officer, director, franchisee,
or independent contractor of such owner or proprietor.
PERSON
Any natural person, copartnership, association, firm, or corporation.
Whenever used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, the term person
as applied to a copartnership or association shall mean the partnership or
members thereof and as applied to a corporation shall be the officers thereof.
PREMISES OF A STORE OR RETAIL MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENT
The retail mercantile establishment, including buildings and sidewalks,
any common use areas in shopping centers, and all parking areas set aside
by a merchant for the parking of vehicles for the convenience of the patrons
of such retail mercantile establishment.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any street, highway, sidewalk, cartway or alleyway or public property
in the Borough of East Stroudsburg.
SHOPPING CART
Those pushcarts of the type or types which are commonly provided
by grocery stores, markets and other types of stores for the use of the public
in transporting commodities in stores, markets and other types of stores and
incidentally from the store to a place outside the store.
Every merchant who provides shopping carts to its customers shall clearly
indicate on a conspicuous place of the shopping cart the name of the merchant's
store or business in the form of a tag, sign, or plate. The merchant shall
be responsible for the shopping carts that it provides to its customers and
shall take appropriate measures to make sure that the shopping carts are returned
to the store premises.
Any person who makes any use of any shopping cart, belonging to or furnished
by the merchant, for assembling or moving of groceries, foodstuffs and allied
products there purchased shall, after such use, promptly return the shopping
cart to the property from whence taken.
Any other use made of said shopping carts, including the abandonment
of the same upon any public place as herein defined shall be deemed a public
nuisance. Any shopping cart which is found by any police officer or any employee
of the Borough upon any public place shall be deemed to be abandoned by the
owner or lessee thereof.
Any abandoned shopping cart shall be removed and stored by the Borough
and, if properly tagged as herein provided, the Borough Manager or his designee
shall notify the merchant by mail or by telephonic communication that the
Borough has picked up and stored such shopping cart. The owner may recover
said shopping cart from the Borough upon payment of a sum, as set from time
to time by resolution of the Borough Council, as a removal and storage charge.
If any shopping cart is not reclaimed and paid for by the merchant within
15 days after notification by the Borough, the Borough may dispose of said
shopping cart without further notice to the merchant.
Any merchant who shall fail to properly tag or identify shopping carts or shall permit the removal of any shopping cart as set forth in §
130-2 hereof, and any person who shall remove any shopping cart from the premises of any merchant in violation of §
130-3 hereof and any person who shall abandon any shopping cart upon any public place in violation of §
130-4 hereof shall be subject to prosecution before any District Justice of the Borough and, upon conviction of any violation of any section of this chapter, shall pay a fine of not more than $600, plus the cost of prosecution, and in default of payment of such fines and costs shall be subject to imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Each shopping cart which shall have been found to have been in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation of the provisions of this chapter.