[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Southampton 12-14-1979 as L.L. No. 4-1979. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Unless otherwise stated expressly, the following words and expressions as used in this chapter shall have the meanings as follows:
ABANDONMENT
Leaving a shopping cart unattended on any street, as herein defined, of the Village of Southampton.
SHOPPING CART
Any cart, basket, container or other device made of wire, metal or other material, mounted on wheels, manually operated and used generally for the conveyance of goods and property.
STREET
A street, avenue, road, alleyway, public passageway, lane, highway, concourse, driveway, culvert, crosswalk and sidewalk and every class of road, square and municipal parking field used by the general public.
No person who owns or makes available to the public in connection with the conduct of business and trade any shopping cart shall leave it or suffer or permit it to be left by himself, his agents or other persons to whom temporary possession has been permitted by the said owner, upon any street, sidewalk, municipal parking field or public place.
Every person who owns or makes available to the public in connection with the conduct of business and trade any shopping cart shall mark it or cause the same to be marked and identified conspicuously with the name and address of the owner. Such identification shall be in the form of metal tags securely fastened to the cart or a cutting or stamping on the frame of the cart or other means for permanently identifying the owner of the cart.
The Village of Southampton Highway Department is hereby authorized to seize and remove any abandoned shopping carts from any public place within the Village of Southampton without notice and shall take them to a facility within the village for redemption or disposition as herein provided.
Whenever the Highway Department shall take possession of any property left upon any street, sidewalk, municipal parking field or public place in violation of this chapter, where such property contains identification of ownership, a notice shall be sent by ordinary mail to such person purporting to be the owner, advising that such property is held by the Highway Department and advising the amount necessary to redeem and the place where same may be redeemed.
Such property may be redeemed by the owner thereof at any time prior to the sale, dismantling, destruction or disposal thereof, and the owner shall be entitled to receive such property upon tendering the sum of $25 to the Village of Southampton. No property shall be delivered to a person seeking to redeem the same unless proof establishing ownership is submitted to the satisfaction of the Highway Department. Any delivery to a person apparently entitled thereto shall be a good defense to the village against any other person claiming to be entitled thereto, but if the person to whom delivery is made is not in fact entitled thereto, the person to whom the same ought to have been delivered may recover the same from the person to whom the same shall have been delivered.
Where any such property remains in the custody of the Highway Department for a period of 15 days after removal and with respect to which no person has presented proof establishing such person's ownership, the Village Clerk shall give public notice in the official newspaper of the village, advising that at a specified place and time, not less than five days after such notice is published, such property will be sold at public auction. A general description in such notice of the property to be sold shall be sufficient. Said sales shall be conducted by a person designated by the Mayor.
In the event that the said property shall remain unsold at public auction, the said property may be reoffered for sale at a subsequent public auction held pursuant to this chapter or the Highway Department may dismantle, destroy or otherwise dispose of this property. Any such sale or other disposition of such property pursuant to this chapter shall be without any liability on the part of the village to the owner of such property or other person lawfully entitled thereto or having an interest therein.