Rialto Municipal Code Ch. 9.98 Shopping Carts

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 1436, § 1, adopted November 12 2008, repealed the former Chapter 9.98 §§ 9.98.010—9.98.150, and enacted a new Chapter 9.98 as set out herein. The former Chapter 9.98 pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. No. 1123; Ord. No. 1234 and Ord. No. 1364, 2004.

This chapter shall be known as the "Shopping Cart" Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

A. The city council finds that laundry carts and shopping carts are being removed from retail businesses and abandoned throughout the city on public and private property, which blight the city of Rialto, create safety hazards for pedestrians, create potential safety hazards for motor vehicle operators, increase the operating costs of retail businesses and cause the city to expend resources unnecessarily by deploying its employees to retrieve and remove such carts from public and private property. The city council also finds that the accumulation of such carts on public and private property diminishes property values and promotes blight throughout the entire city of Rialto.

B. The city council finds that the conditions created by the removal of laundry carts and shopping carts from retail business premises and the abandonment of such carts throughout the city of Rialto constitute nuisances.

C. The purposes of this ordinance are to require business owners that provide laundry carts and shopping carts to their customers to maintain such carts on their business premises, to require business owners to prevent persons from removing such carts from their business premises, to make it unlawful for any person to remove such carts from any business premises, to make it unlawful for any person to abandon such carts onto any public or private property, and to reduce the cost of retrieving such carts from public and private property to business owners and the city of Rialto.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

As use in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings set forth below:

"Business owner" means any person, any partner, employee or agent of a partnership, any officer, director, employee or agent of any corporation who conducts, directs, manages, supervises, operates, oversees or owns any retail business within the city of Rialto that uses or locates carts on the business premises.

"Business premises" means the entire area of any structure or parking lot utilized by a business owner to conduct its retail business within the city of Rialto.

"Cart" means a vehicle containing wheels and a basket or other device to carry goods provided by a business owner to its customers to transport goods upon the business premises.

"Cart identification plaque" means a plate mounted on a cart that contains the name and address of the business owner owning or using any such cart upon a business premises, the name, address and phone number of the agent or employee of the business owner pertaining to the cart and an identifying number of the Cart distinct from any other Cart so owned or used.

"Cart removal prevention plan" or "plan" means the plan required by Section 9.98.050.

"Code enforcement division head" or "supervisor" means the head of the code enforcement department of the city of Rialto and includes any designee of the Supervisor.

"Containment system" means a device on a cart that prevents it from being removed from a business premises by locking the wheels of the cart or otherwise prevents the cart's movement, or any other device or system approved by the supervisor that physically contains carts on a business premises.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

A. It is the duty of a business owner to contain carts solely upon the business premises.

B. It is the duty of a business owner to prevent any person from removing any cart from the business premises except for those persons authorized to repair the carts.

C. It is the duty of a business owner to affix a cart identification plaque in a secure manner on each cart used or located upon a business premises.

D. It is the duty of a business owner to submit a cart removal prevention plan and to comply with all of its provisions including those of any revised, prepared or modified plan authorized by the supervisor.

E. It is the duty of a business owner to permit the supervisor to inspect the carts used or located on the business premises in order to ascertain whether each cart contains a cart identification plaque as required by this chapter.

F. It is the duty of every business owner that uses or locates any cart on its business premises to post signs, in the size specified by the supervisor, at all entrances and exits to the business premises and parking lots containing the following language: "REMOVAL OF ANY CART FROM THESE PREMISES IS A MISDEMEANOR. R.M.C. Section 9.98.080."

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

A. Each business owner who uses or locates any cart on a business premises shall submit a cart removal prevention plan ("plan") that contains the policies and procedures by which the business owner intends to comply with the purposes and provisions of this chapter.

B. A business owner who intends to commence a business that will use or locate any cart on the business premises shall submit a plan prior to commencing such a business. A business owner shall not commence business unless and until the plan has been approved by the supervisor. A business owner shall submit a cart removal prevention plan together with an application for a business license. No business license shall be issued to the business owner unless and until the plan has been submitted and approved.

C. A business owner operating on the effective date of this chapter shall submit a cart removal prevention plan to the supervisor of code enforcement no later than sixty (60) days from the effective date of this chapter. The supervisor of code enforcement shall notify each business owner operating a business on the effective date of chapter to submit such a plan and the final date by which the plan must be submitted.

D. A cart removal prevention plan shall describe how the business owner shall comply with the purpose and provisions of this chapter. In addition, the plan shall include, at a minimum, the following elements:

1. Name of Business Owner. The name of the business owner; the physical address where the business is conducted; and the name, address, and telephone number(s) of the business owner and all on-site managers including any changes of such persons.

2. Cart Inventory. A list that contains each cart to be used or located on the business premises and the distinct identification number of each cart.

3. Customer Outreach. A description of the customer outreach process through which the business owner shall notify its customers that removal of any cart from the business premises is prohibited. The outreach shall include, but is not limited to, flyers distributed on the business premises, signs posted in prominent places near doors and parking lot exits, shopping bags, announcements using intercom systems on the premises, website direct mail, and other means demonstrated to be effective that inform the customers that carts may not be removed from the business premises. Any posting of signs shall comply with applicable provisions in Chapter 18.102 of this code.

4. Cart Identification Plaque. A sample of the cart identification plaque described in Section 9.98.030 that will be mounted on each cart that will be used or located on the business premises.

5. Prevention Measures. A description of the specific measures that the business owner will implement to prevent removal of any cart from the business premises. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, electronic or other disabling devices on any cart so they cannot be removed from the business premises; management practices; use of courtesy clerks to accompany customers and return carts to the inside of the business premises; use of security personnel to prevent removal; security deposits for cart usage; other demonstrably effective measures acceptable to the supervisor that are likely to prevent removal of carts from the business premises.

6. Employee Training. A description of the employee training program to be implemented by the business owner that is designed to educate new and existing employees about the cart removal prevention plan; and the date during each quarter of each year that the training program will be administered.

7. Mandatory Cart Retrieval. The procedure by which the business owner will search, find and return carts removed from the business premises. The procedure by which the business owner will retrieve abandoned carts from public or private property when demanded by the supervisor within the periods required by Section 9.98.080.

E. Each business owner submitting a cart removal prevention plan shall pay the fee established by the city council, which shall be based on the city's cost to review, to monitor the cart removal prevention plan and to implement this chapter.

F. Each business owner shall comply with the cart removal prevention plan that it submits to the supervisor of code enforcement commencing on the date of its submission.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

A. Within ten (10) days of submission of a plan, the supervisor of code enforcement shall determine whether the plan contains the information required by this chapter. If the supervisor determines that the plan is insufficient, the supervisor of code enforcement shall return the plan to the business owner together with a written notice of the plan's insufficiency. The Business Owner shall submit a corrected plan within ten (10) of the notice of insufficiency. The supervisor shall provide written notice to the business owner to submit a corrected plan within ten (10) days and the penalties for failing to do so.

B. if the supervisor deems the plan to contain sufficient information, the supervisor of code enforcement may approve, revise or reject the plan; and the supervisor shall notify the business owner of such decision within thirty (30) days from the date that the plan was submitted. If the supervisor approves or revises the plan, the business owner shall comply with the cart removal prevention plan as approved or revised commencing on the date of the supervisor's notice thereof.

C. The Supervisor may reject a Plan on any of the following grounds:

1. The plan fails to include any material information required by this chapter;

2. The plan would fail to achieve the purposes of this chapter;

3. The plan fails to address any special or unique conditions about the business premises;

4. The plan violates other provisions of the municipal code or policies of the city;

5. Implementation of the plan would violate provisions of the building, zoning, health, safety, fire, police or other municipal codes, or any county, state, or federal law which substantially affects public health, welfare or safety; or

6. The business owner has made a false statement of fact, omitted information required for the plan, or omitted any information required by the plan in any addendum or report to the plan.

D. Upon the rejection of a plan, the supervisor of code enforcement also may:

1. Order the business owner to submit another plan within ten (10) days; or

2. Prepare a plan and order the business owner to comply with such prepared plan.

E. The supervisor of code enforcement shall notify the business owner in writing of the plan rejection, the basis of the plan rejection and any action taken under subsection (D) hereof. The notice of rejection also shall advise the business owner of the right to appeal the supervisor's actions to the city administrator and that the notice of appeal must be filed in writing within ten (10) days and states the basis of the appeal.

F. If the supervisor prepares a plan, the business owner shall comply with the prepared plan commencing on the date of the supervisor's notice thereof.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

Any time subsequent to the supervisor's approval, revision or preparation of a cart removal prevention plan, the business owner may request a modification of such a plan to address a change in circumstances, an unanticipated adverse physical or economic impact of the plan, or a need to modernize the plan to be more effective or efficient. The supervisor also shall have authority to require modifications to a plan when he or she determines that the plan has failed to achieve the purposes and requirements of this chapter or if a business owner fails to implement an approved, revised or prepared plan.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

A. The supervisor may notify a business owner that a cart belonging to the business owner has been discovered on public or private property other than the business premises and request the business owner to retrieve the cart. Whenever the supervisor requests a business owner to retrieve a cart prior one p.m. of any day, the business owner shall retrieve the cart by five p.m. on the same day. Whenever the supervisor requests a business owner to retrieve a cart after one p.m. of any day, the business owner shall retrieve the cart by ten a.m. of the next day. If the supervisor requests a business officer to retrieve a cart on a day that the retail business is closed for business, then the business owner shall retrieve the cart by ten a.m. of the next business day.

B. Notification by telephone to the business owner's telephone number contained on the cart identification plaque shall be deemed sufficient notice to the business owner in the event that no one answers the telephone call placed to the phone number on the cart identification plaque.

C. It is unlawful for a business owner to fail to assign an operator to answer all calls to the telephone number on the cart identification plaque made by the supervisor from eight a.m. to five p.m. on any day that the business is open.

D. The supervisor is authorized to require a business owner who is requested to retrieve more than three carts within a ninety (90) day period to install a cart containment system.

E. Any cart found on any public or private property on which no cart identification plaque is affixed shall constitute a nuisance and may be retrieved and discarded by the city immediately.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

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

A. To remove a cart from a business premises;

B. To abandon a cart at a location other than a business premises;

C. To be in possession of a cart that has been removed from a business premises or that is not located on a business premises;

D. To be in possession of a cart that does not have a cart identification plaque;

E. To be in possession of a cart on which the information on the cart identification plaque has been altered, defaced or obliterated;

F. To alter, convert, or tamper with a cart, or to remove any part or portion of a cart, or to alter, obliterate, or remove the cart identification plaque.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)

it is unlawful for a business owner to do any of the following acts:

A. To fail to comply with any duty under Section 9.98.040;

B. To fail to submit a cart removal prevention plan required by Section 9.98.050;

C. To fail to comply with the cart removal prevention plan under Section 9.98.050(F);

D. To fail to submit a corrected cart removal prevention plan within the ten (10) day period required by Section 9.98.060 (A);

E. To fail to comply with any cart removal prevention plan required by section 9.98.060;

F. To fail to comply with a request to retrieve a cart required by Section 9.98.080.

(Ord. No. 1436, § 2, 11-12-08)