Los Banos Municipal Code Ch. 8 Shopping Carts Retention and Cleaning

Abandoned shopping carts constitute a nuisance, create potential hazards to the public health and safety and interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic within the city. Wrecked, dismantled and/or abandoned shopping carts on public or private property create conditions that reduce property values and promote blight and deterioration within the city's neighborhoods. In addition a program for shopping cart cleaning and sanitizing to protect customers using shopping carts is necessary to protect the public health and safety. The purpose of this chapter is to ensure that measures are taken by shopping cart owners to prevent the removal of shopping carts from store premises and to ensure that measures are put into place for the cleaning and sanitizing of shopping carts. This chapter is based in part on California Business and Professions Code Section 22435 et seq.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and § 3, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

"City"

means the City of Los Banos.

"Owner"

means a person or entity that owns one or more shopping carts or a retailer that provides one or more shopping carts for customer use.

"Parking area"

means a parking lot or other property provided by a retailer for use by a customer for parking an automobile or other vehicle.

"Premises"

means the entire area owned or under the control of an owner, including the parking area or other off-street area.

"Shopping cart"

means a basket which is mounted on wheels or a similar device generally used in a retail establishment by a customer for transporting goods of any kind.

"Shopping basket"

means a handheld basket or a similar device generally used in a retail establishment by a customer for carrying goods of any kind.

"Cleaning"

means removing visible debris, dirt and dust.

"Sanitizing"

means a process to reduce contaminants that could affect health such as bacteria and pathogens from surfaces to make them safe for contact.

"Disinfecting"

means a process to destroy/kill germs rather than simply reducing them.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 4, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

(a) Required Signs on Shopping Carts. Every shopping cart owned or provided by any business establishment in the City shall have a sign permanently affixed to it that contains the following information:

(1) The identity of the owner or business, or both;

(2) Notification of the procedure for authorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises;

(3) Notice to the public that the unauthorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises or parking area of the business establishment, or the unauthorized possession of the shopping cart, is a violation of State law and a violation of City ordinance; and

(4) A valid telephone number or address for returning the shopping cart.

(b) Required Signs on Property. Signs shall be placed and maintained on the premises near all customer exits and throughout the premises, including parking areas that warn customers that shopping cart removal from the premises is prohibited and constitute a violation of state and local law. Said signs shall be not less than eight (8″) inches by fourteen (14″) inches in size with block lettering containing the following "REMOVAL OF SHOPPING CARTS FROM THE PREMISES IS PROHIBITED BY LAW. California Business and Professions Code Section 22435.2 and Los Banos Municipal Code Section 11-8.05."

(c) As a condition to the issuance of a business license every cart owner shall on or before January 1, 2021, install, operate and maintain an on-site cart retention system approved by the community and Economic Development Director. On-site cart retention system means one or more of the following measures:

(1) Mechanical disabling devices on all shopping carts, which prevent the cart from being removed from the business premises by locking the wheels automatically or otherwise preventing movement of the carts off of the business premises.

(2) An on-site security guard to prevent customers from removing carts from the business premises.

(3) Bollards and/or other barriers around the business premises to prevent cart removal, subject to approval of the City's Fire Chief.

(4) Obtaining a security deposit from customers for the use of shopping carts on the business premises.

(5) Prohibiting the use of shopping carts outside the building of the business premises unless accompanied by an employee of the business.

(6) A contracted retrieval service approved by the Community and Economic Development Director. This measure shall be mandatory.

(7) Any other measure approved by the Director of Community and Economic Development as a means of preventing carts from being removed from the business premises.

(d) Every cart owner shall lock or otherwise secure all shopping carts during hours when the business premises are not open for business; and shall lock or otherwise secure all shopping carts not in service and stored on the premises.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and § 5, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

(a) Every shopping cart and/or shopping basket owner shall implement measures to maintain clean and sanitized shopping carts and shopping baskets.

(b) Clean and sanitized means one or more of the following measures to be employed no less than monthly:

(1) Use of onsite cleaning and/or sanitizing systems; or

(2) Pressure washing and sanitizing; or

(3) Steam cleaning and sanitizing; or

(4) Any other measure approved by the Community and Economic Development Director as a means of cleaning, sanitizing, or eliminating exposure to contaminants that may be found on shopping carts and/or baskets.

(c) Any shopping cart or shopping basket retrieved from off premises shall be cleaned and sanitized prior to the next customer use.

(d) Every shopping cart and/or shopping basket owner shall provide at each customer entrance with prominent signage a cart handle disinfectant wipe dispenser and hand sanitizer dispenser.

(e) The requirements of this section shall be a condition of issuance of a business license.

(§ 7, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following, without the written consent of the owner, if a shopping cart has a permanently affixed sign pursuant to Section 11-8.03:

(a) To remove a shopping cart from the premises or parking area of a business establishment with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner of possession of the shopping cart;

(b) To leave or abandon a shopping cart at a location other than the premises or parking area of the retail establishment, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the shopping cart;

(c) To alter, convert, or tamper with a shopping cart, or to remove any part or portion thereof or to remove, obliterate or alter serial numbers on a shopping cart, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the shopping cart;

(d) To be in possession of any shopping cart while that shopping cart is not located on the premises or parking lot of a retail establishment, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of the shopping cart.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and § 6, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

(a) A shopping cart that has a sign affixed to it in accordance with Section 11-8.03 may be impounded by the city provided that the shopping cart is located outside the premises or parking area of a retail establishment and the shopping cart is not retrieved within three business days from the date the owner of the shopping cart, or his or her agent, receives actual notice from the City of the shopping cart's discovery and location. In instances where the location of a shopping cart will impede emergency services, the City is authorized to immediately retrieve the shopping cart from public or private property.

(b) The City may impound a shopping cart that has a sign affixed to it in accordance with Section 11-8.03 without complying with the three day advance notice requirement of subsection (a), provided that the owner of the shopping cart, or his or her agent, is provided actual notice within 24 hours following the impound and that notice informs the owner, or his or her agent, as to the location where the shopping cart may be claimed.

(c) Any shopping cart that is impounded by the City shall be held at a location that is both: reasonably convenient to the owner of the shopping cart and open for business at least six hours of each business day.

(d) If the City does not comply with the three day advance notice requirement of subsection (a), any shopping cart reclaimed by the owner or his or her agent, within three business days following the date of actual notice, shall be released and surrendered to the owner or agent at no charge whatsoever, including the waiver of any impound and storage fees or fines that would otherwise be applicable.

(e) Any shopping cart not reclaimed from the City, within 30 days of receipt of a notice of violation by the owner of the shopping cart may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the entity in possession of the shopping cart. The City may, without notice, retrieve and immediately dispose of any abandoned shopping cart(s) that lack the signs required by this chapter if the owner of the abandoned shopping cart cannot readily be determined from inspection of the shopping cart.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and § 6, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

Any owner of a shopping cart that is impounded in accordance with this chapter shall pay the City's administrative costs for impounding the shopping cart(s) including but not limited to the costs of retrieval and notification. Any owner who fails to retrieve an abandoned shopping cart(s) in accordance with this chapter in excess of three times during a specified six month period shall be subject to a Fifty and No/100ths ($50.00) Dollar fine for each occurrence. An occurrence includes all shopping carts owned by the owner that are impounded by the City in a one-day period.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and § 6, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)

Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter is subject to any enforcement procedures permitted by law, including but not limited to: prosecution of a misdemeanor or an infraction, civil action for injunction, administrative enforcement procedures, and revocation of a business license and/or use permit if applicable.

(§ 1, Ord. 1055, eff. June 16, 2007, as amended by § 10, Ord. 1161, eff. February 17, 2018, and §§ 6, 8, Ord. 1185, eff. July 3, 2020)