Weed Municipal Code Ch. 8.10 [removal of Shopping Carts]

This Chapter is adopted pursuant to Business and Professions Code Sections 22435 through 22435.8 and the city's general police powers for the purpose of regulating and prohibiting the removal of shopping carts from the premises of retail establishments, including designated parking areas, without the authorization or consent of the shopping cart's owner, and to regulate the retrieval and disposition of abandoned or unattended shopping carts that are found off the premises of retail establishments.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

This Chapter applies to all businesses located in the city that provide shopping carts for customer use and to any person in possession of a shopping cart off the premises of an owner's business within the city.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

The director is authorized to administer this Chapter which includes, without limitation, the ability to promulgate administrative policies and procedures to interpret, implement and enforce this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

"Abandoned or unattended shopping cart" means any shopping cart which is left unattended, discarded or abandoned upon any public property other than the premises from which the shopping cart was removed, without the authorization or consent of the cart's owner.

"Director" shall mean the city manager, or such other as designated by the city manager, to administer the appropriate Sections of this Chapter.

"Owner" means a person who owns or provides shopping carts for use by customers in connection with the operation of a business.

"Person" includes, without limitation, individuals, corporations, partnerships, and all other legal entities, and officers, employees, and authorized agents of an owner.

"Parking area" means a parking lot of other property provided by a retailer for use by a customer for parking an automobile or other vehicle. The parking area of a retail establishment located in a multistore complex or shopping center shall include the entire parking area used by the complex or center.

"Premises" means the entire area owned and utilized by a retail establishment that provides shopping carts for use by customers, including any parking area or other off-street area provided by an owner, or shared with other retail establishments, for use by customers for parking automobiles or other vehicles.

"Retail establishment" or "business" means any business located in the city that offers or provides shopping carts for the use by customers of such business regardless of whether such business is advertised or operated as a retail or wholesale business, and regardless of whether such business is open to the general public, is a private club or business, or is a membership store.

"Shopping cart" means a basket mounted on wheels or a similar device generally used by a customer for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind within a retail establishment or designated parking or loading area of that business establishment.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

Within sixty days following the effective date of this ordinance, every shopping cart owned or provided by an owner shall have a sign permanently affixed to the shopping cart that includes the following information:

A. The owner's name, the business's address, and the business's phone number.

B. Notice of the procedure to be utilized for authorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises.

C. Notice that unauthorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises or parking area of the retail establishment, or the unauthorized possession of the shopping cart, is a violation of state law and city ordinance.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

A. Unauthorized removal unlawful.

It is unlawful for any person, either temporarily or permanently, to remove a shopping cart from the premises of a retail establishment or be in possession of a shopping cart with a permanently affixed sign as provided in Section 8.10.050, that has been removed from the premises of a retail establishment, without written consent of the owner authorized by this Chapter or for the purpose of repair, maintenance, or disposal authorized by this Chapter.

An owner may permit customers' off-premises use of a shopping cart for transportation of purchased items. The authorization must be in writing with date(s) and time(s) of authorized use. Any shopping cart taken off premises must be returned to the owner's premises within seventy-two hours unless undergoing repair, maintenance, or disposal.

B. Abandonment prohibited.

It shall be unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to cause or permit any shopping cart to be abandoned or remain unattended on or upon any sidewalk, street, alley or other public area, other than the premises of the owner of such shopping cart.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

A. Mandatory secure containment of shopping carts after hours.

Every shopping cart owner must lock or otherwise securely contain all shopping carts of the owner after business hours in a manner that prevents theft or removal from the retail establishment's premises. All shopping carts located on the premises of a retail establishment, other than an establishment open for business twenty-four hours per day, must be collected at the end of each business day by the owner, employee(s), or authorized agent(s) of the retail establishment and be collectively confined in a secured manner in a designated cart confinement area on the premises until the commencement of the next business day.

All shopping carts located on the premises of any retail establishment open for business twenty-four hours per day, other than carts then currently in use by a customer, must be collected by the owner, employee(s), or authorized agent(s) of the retail establishment and returned to a designated cart confinement area on the premises at least twice per calendar day between the hours of twelve p.m. (noon) and twelve a.m. (midnight) on each day the retail establishment is open for business. This subsection (A) does not apply to:

1. Shopping carts located within an enclosed building.

2. Shopping carts removed from the premises of a retail establishment for purposes of repair or maintenance that are in the possession or custody of the party to whom removal has been authorized in writing by the shopping cart owner.

3. Shopping carts being transported by the owner, or an officer, employee, or authorized agent of the owner, to or from a business location of the owner.

B. Mandatory retrieval of carts.

All abandoned shopping carts of a retail establishment that are found off of or outside of the premises of the retail establishment must be retrieved as soon as practicable by the owner, or an authorized agent of the owner, including but not limited to a cart retrieval service retained by the owner. The city may notify the owner of an abandoned shopping cart. Such notice may given by telephone, email or text message to the owner or owner's agent.

The owner, or agent(s) thereof, shall retrieve or cause the identified shopping cart(s) to be retrieved within seventy-two hours of receipt of notice from the city. Any owner of an abandoned shopping cart who fails to retrieve or cause the retrieval of the identified shopping cart(s) within seventy-two hours of receipt of notice from the city is guilty of a violation of this Chapter and shall be subject to enforcement by any lawful means available to the city, including without limitation issuance of an administrative citation and/or fine(s) under Section 8.10.090 of this Chapter. In accordance with subsection (B) of Section 8.10.060, such abandoned shopping cart(s) are a public nuisances and the city may pursue any and all lawful means for the abatement thereof and the collection of abatement and enforcement costs from the owner.

C. Retrieval services.

Persons retained to perform shopping cart retrieval services must retain written authorization from the owner to be presented upon request by the director. A copy of the record showing written authorization shall be maintained in each vehicle used for shopping cart retrieval. Vehicles used by retrieval services must bear conspicuous signs identifying the name of the cart retrieval service.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

A. Every owner of a business that provides ten or more shopping carts shall develop, implement and comply with the terms and conditions of an abandoned shopping cart prevention plan to prevent the unauthorized removal of shopping carts from the business's premises and, if removed, to retrieve the cart within seventy-two hours of the removal or notice of the removal. The abandoned shopping cart prevention plan shall include the following elements:

1. Name of business/owner. The name of the owner and the business name, the physical address where the business is conducted, name, address and phone number(s) of the on-site manager or designated agent.

2. Inventory of carts. The number of shopping carts held by the business at the business's premises.

3. Notice. A description of the notice to be provided to customers that the removal of carts from the premises is prohibited and is a violation of state and local law. This notice may include, but is not limited to, flyers distributed at the premises, warnings on shopping bags, signs posted in prominent places near door and parking lot exits, and announcements using intercom systems at the premises.

4. Cart identification. A description of the cart identification requirements which conform to state law and Section 8.10.050.

5. Loss prevention measures. A description of the specific measures that the owner shall implement to prevent unauthorized cart removal from the premises. These measures may include, but are not limited to, electronic or other disabling devices on the carts so they cannot be removed from the premises, effective management practices, use of courtesy clerks to accompany customers and return the carts to the store, use of security personnel to prevent removal, and requiring a security deposit for use of cart.

6. Employee training. A description of an ongoing employee training program that shall be implemented by the owner and that shall be designed to educate new and existing employees on the abandoned shopping cart prevention plan.

7. Cart containment. A plan for secure containment of shopping carts in a designated cart confinement area on the premises at least twice per calendar day between the hours of twelve p.m. (noon) and twelve a.m. (midnight) on each day the retail establishment is open for business, unless exempt from subsection (A) of Section 8.10.070.

8. Mandatory cart retrieval. A plan for retrieval of abandoned carts by the owner within seventy-two hours, including specific measures for the retrieval of abandoned carts by employees or proof that the owner has entered into a contract for cart retrieval services.

B. A proposed plan for preventing shopping cart removal shall be submitted to the city within sixty days following the effective date of this ordinance. Any owner of a business that opens after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this Section will have thirty days from the filing date on their city business license application to submit a shopping cart removal prevention plan to the city for approval.

C. The director may reject a prevention plan on any of the following grounds:

1. The plan fails to include the information required by this Section or fails to adequately address the elements required by this Section.

2. The plan fails to address any special or unique conditions due to the geographical location of the premises as they relate to cart retention and prevention efforts.

3. Implementation of the plan violates this Chapter or other local, State, or Federal law.

4. The plan is insufficient or inadequate to prevent removal of carts from the premises.

5. The owner knowingly makes a false statement or omits relevant facts in the plan or in any modification or attachment to the plan.

D. If a prevention plan is rejected, or if additional information is needed, the director shall notify the owner. Within thirty days of this notice, the owner shall submit the additional information or a complete or adequate prevention plan. The director's decision to reject or deny a prevention plan shall be final.

E. Upon notice to the owner that the city has approved the prevention plan, the owner has thirty days to implement the prevention plan at their business.

F. An owner shall submit a modified prevention plan for city approval as necessary to address changed circumstances. The city may require an owner to submit a modified prevention plan based on changed circumstances or if an owner's shopping carts are repeatedly discovered to be abandoned or unattended. The city shall review and consider the modified prevention plan in the same manner as an initial prevention plan.

G. An owner who fails to timely submit a complete prevention plan to the satisfaction of the director or fails to implement or comply with approved prevention plan measures is guilty of a violation of this Chapter and shall be subject to enforcement by any lawful means available to the city, including without limitation issuance of an administrative citation and/or fine(s).

H. Every owner who is required to submit an abandoned shopping cart prevention plan or a modified prevention plan pursuant to this Chapter shall submit with the plan a fee for the director's review the plan in the amount set forth in the schedule of fees established by resolution of the city council.

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)

Any person who violates any provision of this Chapter is guilty of an infraction and is subject to punishment as provided by law including under Weed Municipal Code Title 19 Chapter 19.01 (Administrative Citations).

(Ord. No. 483-2025, § 2, 3-13-2025)