As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
BUILDING
Any building in the Township of Bristol used by a merchant
for the sale of merchandise to the general public.
MERCHANT
Any individual, partnership and/or corporation which owns
and operates by himself, herself, itself or by employees and/or agents
a business enterprise from a building located in the Township of Bristol
and which enterprise at said location caters to and is patronized
by the general public.
PREMISES
Any building in the Township of Bristol used by a merchant
for the sale of merchandise to the general public, including any off-street
parking area abutting the outside of said building.
SHOPPING CART
A wheeled container operable and propelled by one person,
designed to carry and/or transport items of purchase offered for sale
and/or sold by a merchant to patrons and/or business invitees of said
merchant and intended by said merchant to facilitate and/or induce
such purchases.
All merchants who make shopping carts available
to their patrons shall firmly affix to, and at all times maintain
in legible condition on, each of such carts a metal, plastic or similarly
suitable identification disk and/or plate which shall identify the
respective merchant by the name of the merchant and the address of
the building in the Township of Bristol where each such shopping cart
is regularly housed and/or stored for the purpose aforesaid, it being
further required that if for any reason any such identification on
any shopping cart is hereafter removed, missing and/or illegibly defaced,
the respective merchant shall remove such shopping cart from availability
for use by patrons of such merchant until the same has been properly
identified in accordance with the provisions hereunder.
Any shopping cart of any merchant in the Township
of Bristol which is found on any public street, highway and/or ground
and/or on any private property, other than in a building thereon and/or
the premises of the merchant whose shopping cart it is identified
to be, shall be deemed to be abandoned by such merchant and/or any
other person responsible for such abandonment.
The abandonment by any person and/or persons,
including but not limited to any merchant, of a shopping cart is prohibited,
and each shopping cart abandoned shall thereby constitute a single
and separate violation hereunder.
The violation by any person and/or merchant
of any provision of this chapter shall make such person and/or merchant
subject to prosecution before any District Justice of Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, whose jurisdiction includes the Township of Bristol.
Such prosecution shall be instituted only and solely on complaint
of an official of said Township and/or his or her subordinates; and
upon conviction therefor, the person and/or merchant so convicted
shall pay a fine of $10 to and for the use of the Township of Bristol
and pay the costs of such prosecution, or in default of such payment,
suffer imprisonment for not more than three days; provided, however,
that any person and/or merchant notified by the Township in writing
of any shopping cart in its custody by reason of any abandonment thereof
may avoid prosecution therefor by voluntarily paying over to the Township
of Bristol within five days from the date of said notice the sum of
$10 for each such shopping cart abandoned and shall thereby redeem
and forthwith remove from the custody of the Township the respective
shopping cart or shopping carts at no cost to the Township. Each day
after five days from the date of said written notice that a shopping
cart is not redeemed and removed shall be deemed a separate violation
of this chapter, which violation shall result in an additional fine
of $10 per day.
The Police Department and Public Works Department
of Bristol Township, and every employee thereof, are hereby empowered
and directed to confiscate any shopping cart found abandoned anywhere
within Bristol Township but off the premises of the owner thereof
and to deliver same to the Township Building into storage, pending
notification to the merchant-owner thereof.