It shall be unlawful for any person to provide carts for patrons' use on store or business premises unless the cart has permanently affixed to it a sign, metallic tag or other means for clearly identifying the owner of the cart and the specific store location at which said cart is regularly used and regularly kept.
A. 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any owner to suffer, permit or allow any person to take any cart from the owner's premises or parking area and thereafter abandon, discard, leave, place or suffer or permit any cart to be left or placed in any public or private place.
B. 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to suffer, permit, cause, allow or take any cart from the owner's premises or parking area and thereafter abandon, discard, leave, place or suffer, permit or allow any cart to be left or placed in or on any public or private place or business not authorized by the cart's rightful legal owner.
All employees of the Town of Smithtown are hereby authorized to seize and remove or cause to be removed any abandoned or discarded shopping cart from any public place within the Town of Smithtown without notice and shall take or cause the same to be taken to a facility within the Town for redemption or disposition as hereinafter provided.
A. 
Whenever an employee of the Town of Smithtown removes or causes to be removed any shopping cart having identification of ownership or right of possession, notice of the removal shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, advising of the removal, the facility to which it was removed and the amount necessary to redeem the article.
B. 
Any shopping cart removed from public places within the Town of Smithtown may be redeemed by the owner thereof any time prior to disposal by the Town by tendering to the Town of Smithtown, during regular business hours at a location to be designated by the Town Board, the sum of $30 for each cart.
C. 
The Town of Smithtown shall require satisfactory proof of ownership or lawful right to possession of the property sought prior to release. Any return of property by the Town of Smithtown to a person claiming the same pursuant to this chapter shall be an absolute defense to the Town against any other person claiming the same. The Town of Smithtown shall have the right to require that an affidavit attesting to ownership be submitted prior to releasing said property.