SEC. 5-910. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE:
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 part 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 part
implements the provisions of Chapter 19 of the California Business and Professions
Code (Shopping and Laundry Carts; commencing with § 22435). (Part XXIV
added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-911. DEFINITIONS:
For purposes of this part, the following words and terms shall have the meanings
respectively ascribed thereto:
ABANDONED SHOPPING CART: 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 seventy-two (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: The Director of Housing and Redevelopment, or his or her designees,
including, without limitation, all City employees and any independent contractor
authorized or engaged by the City to retrieve shopping carts.
LAUNDRY CART: 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: 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: 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: 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.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-912. ENFORCEMENT:
A. This part shall be administered and enforced by the Director. The Director
is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate and implement rules, regulations
and procedures necessary or appropriate for enforcement of this part.
B. The Director is hereby authorized to enter into, on or upon any, public
property to examine a shopping cart or parts thereof, or to obtain information
as to the identity of the owner of any shopping cart, or to retrieve shopping
carts in accordance with the provisions of this part. As used herein, "public
property" includes the outdoor common area of any building, business premises,
apartment building or complex, or other premises or portion thereof which is
adjacent to public property, open to the public, and which contains a shopping
cart or shopping carts visible at street or ground level from the adjacent
public property. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed a limitation
upon the Director to enter private property pursuant to permission from the
owner or occupant thereof or pursuant to a duly issued inspection warrant or
other court order.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-913. REQUIRED SIGNS ON SHOPPING CARTS:
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 Ordinance.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-914. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO AFFIX REQUIRED SIGNS:
Any Owner who maintains or permits the use of shopping carts in violation of
the provisions of Section 5-913 shall be guilty of an infraction.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-915. PROHIBITING REMOVAL OR POSSESSION OF SHOPPING CARTS:
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 seventy-two (72)
consecutive hours.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-916. ABANDONMENT PROHIBITED:
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.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-917. MANDATORY PLAN:
A. Every owner shall prepare, implement, and submit by March 1, 2002, a specific
written Plan to prevent their respective customers from removing shopping
carts from each owner's premises and to retrieve shopping carts that have
been removed therefrom. Said Plan may include the following elements and
shall be subject to the hereinafter specified approval:
1. Notice to Customers: Written notice may be provided to customers that removal
of shopping carts from the premises is prohibited and a violation of law. The
notice may be provided in the form of flyers, warnings on shopping bags, or
any other form of written notification that will provide effective notice to
customers of the prohibition.
2. Signs: Signs may be placed in appropriate places near customer exits and
near parking area exits to inform customers that shopping cart removal is prohibited
and constitutes a violation of law.
3. Preventive Measures: Specific physical measures may be implemented to prevent
the removal of shopping carts from the owner's premises. These measures may
include, but are not limited to, devices on shopping carts that automatically
disable them if they are removed from the premises, employment of personnel
to advise and deter customers from removing shopping carts, installation of
obstacles to prevent the removal of shopping carts, collection of security
deposits for use of shopping carts, provision for rental or sale of shopping
carts to customers and similar or like measures.
4. Retrieval Measures: Specific measures may be implemented to retrieve shopping
carts that are removed from the owner's premises. Such measures may include,
but are not limited to, employment of personnel or contractors to retrieve
shopping carts.
B. Every Plan submitted shall be subject to the Director’s reasonable
approval. In the event there becomes a problem with the owner’s Plan,
the Director shall notify the owner to submit a revised Plan to the Director
within thirty (30) days. The Director may also require an Evaluation Report
detailing the measures used during the prior year to prevent removal of shopping
carts from the owner’s premises and measures used to retrieve the shopping
carts. The Report may also include an inventory of shopping carts owned or
used by the owner, the number of shopping carts which were retrieved after
removal from the owner’s premises during the previous twelve (12) months,
and the number of shopping carts which were replaced due to loss, theft or
abandonment during the previous twelve (12) months.
C. Whenever an owner makes revisions to a Plan, the revised Plan shall be submitted
to the Director for approval.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-918. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PREPARE AND IMPLEMENT WRITTEN
PLAN:
A. Any owner who fails to submit to the Director for approval the plan required
under Section 5-917 within sixty (60) days of the effective date of the ordinance
enacting this part, or within sixty (60) days of the commencement of the owner's
business, whichever is later, or who fails to implement the measures established
in an approved plan, shall be guilty of an infraction.
B. In addition to the penalties hereinabove provided, and as an administrative
remedy upon a finding of violation, the Director is hereby authorized to require
installation of disabling devices on all shopping carts which prevent their
removal from an owner's premises with respect to any owner who violates the
provisions of subsection A of this section.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-919. IMPOUNDMENT – THREE (3)-DAY NOTICE:
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 (3) 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 (3) days from the date of such notice.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-920. IMMEDIATE IMPOUNDMENT:
A. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 5-919, and as an alternative thereto,
the Director may retrieve and impound any abandoned shopping cart without
providing the three (3)-day notice specified in Section 5-919, provided the
Director shall give actual notice to the owner of the impounded shopping
cart within twenty-four (24) hours following the impound, which notice shall
inform the owner of the location where the shopping cart may be claimed.
Any shopping cart reclaimed by the owner within three (3) business days following
the date of such notice shall be released and surrendered to the owner at
no charge, including waiver of any impound and storage fees or fines which
otherwise would be applicable. The abandonment of any such shopping cart
so retrieved within the three (3)-day period shall not be deemed an occurrence
for purposes of prosecution or imposition of administrative costs and fines
under this part.
B. The owner of any shopping cart not reclaimed within three (3) business days
following the date of actual notice as provided hereinabove shall be subject
to prosecution or the imposition of any administrative costs, fees, fines,
interest and other penalties applicable under this part commencing on the fourth
business day following the date of notice.
C. Any shopping cart not reclaimed by the owner within thirty (30) days of
the date of receipt of actual notice as provided hereinabove may be sold or
disposed of pursuant to Section 5-922.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-921. RETRIEVAL BY THE CITY:
A. Pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (f) of Business and Professions
Code, section 22435.7, any owner who fails to retrieve the owner's shopping
carts within three (3) days from the date that notice pursuant to Section
5-919 has been given, shall be guilty of a violation of said subdivision
(f) and of this Section 5-921 and shall be punishable by an administrative
fine of Fifty Dollars ($50) for each occurrence in excess of three (3) during
the six (6)-month periods ending on June 30 and December 31 of each calendar
year.
B. Pursuant to subdivision (i) of Business and Professions Code, section 22435.7,
any owner who fails to reclaim the owner's shopping carts which have been impounded
by the City pursuant to Section 5-920, within three (3) business days from
the date of actual notice of impoundment provided pursuant to Section 5-920,
shall be guilty of a violation of said subdivision (i) of Business and Professions
Code section 22435.7 and of this Section 5-921, and shall be punishable by
an administrative fine of Fifty Dollars ($50) for each occurrence in excess
of three (3) during the six (6)-month periods ending on June 30 and December
31 of each calendar year.
C. For purposes of this section, an occurrence includes the retrieval of all
shopping carts of an owner in a one (1)-day period.
D. In addition to the fines imposed pursuant to subsection A or B hereof, the
owner shall be required to pay the City's actual costs for retrieving and storing
the owner's shopping carts except when reclaimed by the owner within three
(3) business days pursuant to Section 5-920(A).
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-922. DISPOSAL OF ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS:
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 thirty (30) days of receipt of a notice of a violation of this part.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-923. EMERGENCY SERVICES:
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.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
SEC. 5-924. CUMULATIVE EFFECT:
The provisions of this part 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 part 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 part shall be, and are, enforceable
under the provisions of Part VII (Administrative Enforcement and Remedies)
of Chapter 1 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 part, 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.
(Part XXIV added by Ordinance 031-01 C.S. – Effective January 3, 2002)
Stockton, CA 
