Duarte Municipal Code Ch. 9.70 Abatement of Shopping Carts and Laundry Carts

The unauthorized, use, accumulation, and storage of abandoned shopping carts or laundry carts, or parts thereof, on public and private property is found to create a condition tending to reduce property values, to promote blight and deterioration, to constitute an unattractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to be aesthetically detrimental to the community, and to be injurious to the health, safety, and general welfare. The purpose of this chapter is to prevent the unauthorized use, accumulation, and storage of abandoned shopping carts and laundry carts, or parts thereof, on public and private property, by restricting the removal of carts from parking facilities, requiring identification on carts, and abating abandoned carts in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

The city council finds and determines that the unauthorized use, accumulation, and storage of abandoned shopping carts and laundry carts on any parcel of land within the city constitutes a public nuisance as it is injurious to the public health, safety, and welfare by having a tendency to degrade the appearance of the community and thereby decrease property values, and it obstructs free access to public and private sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and other ways.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

For the purpose of this chapter, words and phrases not expressly defined in Section 9.70.040 shall be given their customary and usual meanings and shall be interpreted and construed accordingly.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

Whenever the following terms are used in this chapter, they shall mean the following:

"Abandoned cart" means an unattended shopping cart or laundry cart located outside the premises or parking facility of the business establishment which furnishes such cart for use.

"Cart" means a shopping cart or laundry cart as those terms are defined in this section.

"Contractor" means a person or company that provides retrieval services for carts as outlined in the business' annual cart retrieval program.

"Director" means the city's director of public safety services or other employee designated by the city manager to enforce or carry out the provisions of this chapter.

"Laundry cart" means a basket or container mounted on wheels or a similar device, including parts thereof, intended for transporting clothing or other fabrics and cleaning supplies within a laundry or cleaning establishment or designated parking facility.

"Owner" means the owner of the cart, his or her agent, or the business establishment, which furnishes one or more carts for use within the city.

"Parking facility" means an area intended for the parking of vehicles by customers, clients, or patrons of a business establishment. The parking facility of business establishment located in a multistore complex or shopping center shall include the entire parking area used by the complex or center.

"Private property" means any property not owned by the city or by the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Duarte.

"Public property" means property owned by the city or the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Duarte.

"Shopping cart" means a basket or container mounted on wheels or similar device, including parts thereof, intended for transporting goods of any kind within a business establishment or designated parking facility.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009; Ord. No. 899, § 1, 7-28-2020)

It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following acts:

A. To remove or cause to be removed any cart from a business establishment or a parking facility without the prior written consent of the owner.

B. To possess any cart that has been removed from a parking facility without the prior written consent of the owner, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner of possession of the cart.

C. To alter, convert, or tamper with any cart, or remove any part or portion thereof, or to remove, obliterate, or alter any identification, including but not limited to any serial numbers, or to possess any cart that has been altered, converted, or tampered with or whose identification has been removed, obliterated, or altered, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the cart without the prior written consent of the owner.

D. To abandon or leave any cart, which has been removed from a business establishment or a parking facility, upon any public property or upon any private property that is not the premises of the business establishment or the parking facility.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

Each owner shall cause signs to be permanently affixed to its carts and said signs shall include all of the following information:

A. Identification of the owner or the business furnishing the cart, or both.

B. The procedure required for authorized removal of the cart from the parking facility.

C. Notification that the unauthorized removal of the cart from the parking facility, or unauthorized possession of the cart, is a violation of law.

D. A valid telephone number or address for returning to the owner the cart removed from the business establishment or the parking facility.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

A. Each owner shall prepare a written annual cart retrieval program and submit said program to the director not later than sixty days prior to the owner's or business establishment's original application or renewal application for its business license as required under Title 5 of this Code. The director shall review the proposed program and approve or deny the proposed program within thirty days of its receipt. If the proposed program is approved, owner shall implement the approved program within thirty days from the date of approval. In lieu of approving or denying a proposed program, if the proposed program is incomplete, the director may notify owner in writing to revise the proposed program and resubmit it within fifteen days of director's notice. The director may deny a proposed program based upon one or more of the following grounds:

1. Implementation of the program would violate one or more provisions of this code or of any county, state, or federal law or regulation.

2. The proposed program fails to include all of the information required by this chapter.

3. The proposed program is insufficient or inadequate to prevent removal of carts from the business establishment or the parking facility.

4. The proposed program fails to address any special or unique conditions to the geographical location of the business establishment or parking facility as such conditions relate to cart removal prevention.

5. Implementation of the proposed program would violate a term or condition of any agreement between the city or Redevelopment Agency of the City of Duarte on the one hand, and the business establishment or owner of the parking facility or owner of the carts, on the other hand.

B. The director's denial of the proposed program shall be the final administrative decision unless such denial is appealed to the city manager in writing within five business days. The city manager shall review the director's decision and render a decision which shall be the final administrative decision.

C. An owner who fails to submit a program, or whose program is denied, or whose program is approved but who then does not comply with the terms of the approved program, shall be subject to enforcement of these requirements as set forth in Section 9.70.140.

D. After the director's approval of a program, the owner may request a modification of a previously approved program to address a change in circumstances or a need to modify an ineffective program.

E. The city council, by resolution, may establish a fee to be charged to the owner for the cost of the director's review of the proposed program, which fee shall be paid by the owner with the submittal of the proposed program. No proposed program shall be reviewed until the fee is paid.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

All business establishments furnishing a cart shall post a sign not less than eighteen inches in width and twenty-four inches in height with block lettering not less than a half-inch in width and two inches in height in a conspicuous place within ten feet of all customer entrances and exits stating, in substantial form, the following:

REMOVAL OF SHOPPING CARTS (or laundry carts, if applicable) FROM THE PARKING FACILITIES WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE MANAGER IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Duarte Municipal Code Section 9.70.050 (Unauthorized Removal).

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

For purpose of enforcing this chapter, the director may enter public or private property as allowed by law, or with the consent of the property owner, or by warrant, to examine a cart or to cause the removal of such cart if authorized pursuant to this chapter.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

A. The director shall have the authority to remove any abandoned cart on public or private property, other than from the property of the owner.

B. Any abandoned cart removed from public or private property by the director shall be stored for no more than thirty days at the department of public works in the city, or at a location designated by the director, which is reasonably convenient to the owner and open for business at least six hours of each business day.

C. Any abandoned cart removed from public or private property and stored pursuant to this section shall be released to the lawful owner or its contractor if claimed within thirty days after such removal and upon payment of any applicable redemption fee. The redemption fee for the removal and storage of any abandoned cart under this section shall be established by city council resolution and shall cover the actual costs of removal, storage, and related administrative procedures. The schedule for such fees shall remain on file and be available in the office of the director and the office of the city clerk.

D. In addition to any redemption fee for which owner is liable, owner shall also be liable for a fine in an amount established by resolution of the city council for any cart not reclaimed by the owner or its contractor within three business days following the date of actual notice as provided pursuant to this section.

E. Any personal property contained within an abandoned cart shall be handled consistent with the city's policy re: unattended personal property.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009; Ord. No. 899, § 1, 7-28-2020)

A. The city may impound an abandoned cart that otherwise meets the criteria set forth in Section 9.70.100.A. provided that each of the following is met:

1. The owner or contractor of the abandoned cart is provided actual notice within twenty-four hours following the impound and that notice informs the owner as to the location where the cart may be claimed. Notice may be provided by telephone, electronic mail, or web based notification.

2. Any cart so impounded shall be held at a location in compliance with Section 9.70.100.B.

3. Any cart reclaimed by the owner within three business days following the date of actual notice as provided pursuant to this section, shall be released and surrendered to the owner without fine or redemption fee hereunder.

4. Any cart not reclaimed by the owner or its contractor within three business days following the date of actual notice as provided pursuant to this section, shall be subject to any applicable fine imposed pursuant to Section 9.70.100.D. commencing on the fourth business day following the date of notice but accruing from the date of retrieval and storage, and any applicable redemption fee imposed pursuant to Section 9.70.100.C., imposed from the date of impoundment.

B. Any cart not reclaimed by the owner or its contractor within thirty days of receipt following the date of actual notice as provided pursuant to this section, may be sold or disposed of in accordance with Section 9.70.130.

C. The city manager may, in accordance with the applicable city policies, enter into a contract with a business or individual to retrieve abandoned carts and such business or individual shall comply with the provisions of this chapter and applicable state law including, but not limited to, Business and Professions Code Section 22435.10 et seq.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009; Ord. No. 899, § 1, 7-28-2020)

Within twenty-four hours of the removal of an abandoned cart pursuant to this chapter, the director shall provide notice to any known owner of the cart or its contractor by in person contact at the business location, telephonic, electronic mail, or first-class mail, at the address indicated on the cart or the owner's or contractor's last known address. The notice shall include the following information: (1) date and location of removal of the cart from public or private property; (2) procedure for recovering such cart; and (3) last possible date such cart may be recovered. If the owner is unknown and not clearly identified on the cart, the cart shall be designated "unidentified." The director, for each unidentified cart, shall maintain a record containing the information above and a brief description of the cart.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009; Ord. No. 899, § 1, 7-28-2020)

Thirty days after notice is given to the owner, or after the cart is designated "unidentified" pursuant to Section 9.70.120, any abandoned cart not claimed may be sold at public auction or otherwise disposed of. Any proceeds derived from such auction or disposal shall be used to pay the costs of removal, storage, and related administrative procedures. Surplus proceeds derived from such auction or disposal shall be deposited in the general fund of the city.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)

Every owner who violates any provision of such owner's approved cart retrieval program, and every person who violates any provision of this chapter, shall be subject to enforcement procedures for each violation by any lawful means available to the city, including, but not limited to, those set forth in California Business and Professions Code Sections 22435.2 and 22435.5, and chapters 1.04, 1.08, and 9.32 of this Code.

(Ord. No. 818, § 1, 7-28-2009)