The City Council hereby finds that abandoned shopping carts
are unsightly, interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic, accumulate
over time on public and private property causing blight and similar
conditions resulting in reduction of property values, constitute a
public nuisance, and are detrimental to the public health, safety
and welfare. The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public
health, safety, and welfare by facilitating the removal of wrecked,
dismantled, and abandoned shopping carts and parts thereof from public
and private property, thereby alleviating the safety hazards, unsafe
conditions, and the impairment of property values resulting from the
abandonment of such carts. This chapter implements the provisions
of Chapter 19 of the California
Business and Professions Code (Shopping
and Laundry Carts; commencing with Section 22435).
(Prior code § 5-910)
For purposes of this chapter, the following words and terms
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed thereto:
"Abandoned shopping cart"
means any shopping cart which has been removed from the premises
of the owner of the shopping cart without the owner's written consent,
irrespective of whether the shopping cart is located on private or
public property; provided that shopping carts which are removed from
such premises for purposes of repair or maintenance and which are
in the possession or custody of the party to whom they have been released,
shall not be deemed abandoned; provided, further, that a shopping
cart located on private property owned or occupied by the person who
has been granted written permission by the owner of the shopping cart
to have possession thereof for a period not to exceed 72 consecutive
hours, and which shopping cart is not visible at street or ground
level from the public property adjacent to such private property,
shall not be deemed abandoned.
"Director"
means the Chief of Police, or designees, including, without
limitation, all City employees and any independent contractor authorized
or engaged by the City to retrieve shopping carts.
"Laundry cart"
means a basket which is mounted on wheels and used in a coin-operated
laundry or dry-cleaning retail establishment by a customer or an attendant
for the purpose of transporting fabrics and the supplies necessary
to process them.
"Owner"
means the person, firm, partnership, corporation, association,
or other entity who or which owns, or otherwise exercises possession
and control over, shopping carts for the use of the owner's customers
in connection with the management and operation of the owner's business
enterprise, including any officer, employee, or agent of said person,
firm, partnership, corporation, association, or entity.
"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 off-street area provided by or for an owner
for use by a customer for parking an automobile or other vehicle.
"Shopping cart"
means a basket which is mounted on wheels or a similar device
generally used in a retail establishment by a customer for the purpose
of transporting goods of any kind, including a laundry cart.
(Prior code § 5-911; Prior
code § 012-07 C.S. § 2)
Every owner shall affix to each shopping cart owned or provided
by the owner a sign that includes the following information:
A. Identification
of the owner of the shopping cart or the business establishment to
which it pertains, or both.
B. Notification
that the unauthorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises
of the business establishment, or the unauthorized possession of the
shopping cart, is a violation of law.
C. Notification
of the procedure for authorized removal of the shopping cart from
the premises.
D. A telephone
number or address for returning the shopping cart to its owner or
to the business establishment identified thereon. Although not required,
the City urges owners to place current telephone numbers on each sign
for effective implementation of this chapter.
(Prior code § 5-913)
Any owner who maintains or permits the use of shopping carts in violation of the provisions of Section
8.40.040 shall be guilty of an infraction.
(Prior code § 5-914)
Any person in possession of a shopping cart outside the premises
of a business establishment without the express prior written approval
of its owner, unless the person is in the process of immediately returning
the shopping cart to the owner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Written permission to remove a shopping cart shall be valid for a
period not to exceed 72 consecutive hours.
(Prior code § 5-915)
Any person who, having a shopping cart in his or her possession
or custody, leaves or permits to be left any shopping cart upon any
sidewalk, street, or other public place, or upon any private property,
such that it becomes an abandoned shopping cart, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor.
(Prior code § 5-916)
The Director may retrieve and impound any abandoned shopping
cart, or any shopping cart observed in a location outside the owner's
premises after the expiration of three days from having given actual
notice to the owner of the shopping cart that said cart has been so
observed and the owner has not retrieved the shopping cart within
three days from the date of such notice.
(Prior code § 5-919)
Pursuant to subdivision (g) of
Business and Professions Code,
Section 22435.7, the Director may sell or otherwise dispose of any
shopping cart which has been impounded by the Director and which has
not been reclaimed by its owner within 30 days of receipt of a notice
of a violation of this chapter.
(Prior code § 5-922)
Pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Business and Professions Code,
Section 22435.7, the Director or any City officer, employee, or agent
may immediately retrieve any shopping cart from public or private
property if its location impedes emergency services.
(Prior code § 5-923)
The provisions of this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any and all other procedures or remedies provided in ordinances of the City or by State law for the abatement of, or prosecutions for, nuisances, and proceedings for abatement pursuant to this chapter shall not prejudice nor affect any other action, whether civil, criminal, equitable or administrative, for the abatement or other remedy of such conditions. Without limitation upon the foregoing, violations of the provisions of this chapter shall be, and are, enforceable under the provisions of Chapter
1.20, Administrative Enforcement and Remedies, of this code. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to invalidate, supersede, or render ineffective any other provision of this code or any ordinance of this City. Neither the inclusion, nor the failure to include, under the terms of this chapter, any act or condition otherwise in violation of any provision of this code or other ordinance of this City, unlawful or constituting a nuisance, shall be deemed to render such act or condition lawful.
(Prior code § 5-924)