West Covina Municipal Code § 15-602 Unauthorized use of carts by business establishments

This article regulates the process for abandoned cart retrieval and impoundment. It constitutes a public nuisance and a potential hazard to the health and safety of the public when carts are removed from the premises of businesses and left abandoned.

(Ord. No. 2511, § 1, 3-21-23)

For the purposes of this article, the following words, phrases and terms shall have the meaning set forth as follows:

Abandoned cart means (i) any cart owned by, or otherwise furnished to, a business establishment which is placed or otherwise located outside of outer perimeter of the premises upon which business establishment is located; or (ii) any other cart left unattended in the public right-of-way, on a public street or on private property without the consent of the private property owner.

Business establishment refers to any person, as defined herein, engaged in a for-profit or non-profit enterprise, undertaking or activity for which a City of West Covina business license and/or business permit is required, including but not limited to any for-profit commercial retail business or enterprise.

Cart means any basket or other like container of any size, dimension or material which is mounted on wheels or a similar device and is typically (but not necessarily exclusively) used by customers, agents, or employees of a business establishment for the purpose of transporting items of any kinds.

Cart owner means (i) any person who owns a cart that is use or otherwise located within the City of West Covina; (ii) any business establishment located in the City of West Covina which is furnished with a cart for use by its customers, agents, or employees; or (iii) any business establishment which uses a cart in connection with its operations in the City of West Covina.

City means the City of West Covina, California.

Director means the community development director or designee.

Parking area means any area within the perimeter of a premises as defined herein that is designated or otherwise used for the parking, stopping, loading or unloading of vehicles, including, but not limited to, any and all motor vehicles used by customers of the business establishment located on the premises.

Public area means any real property within the territorial boundaries of the City of West Covina that is open to, or otherwise accessible by, members of the general public, including, but not limited to, any public right-of-way, any public street and those areas of privately owned real property that are customarily open to, or otherwise accessible by, members of the general public such as the parking areas or common areas within a premises as defined herein.

(Ord. No. 2511, § 1, 3-21-23)

It shall be unlawful for the owner of any business establishment to provide or offer, or permit to be provided or offered, any carts to customers of said business establishment without an approved cart containment plan as required by division 31 (Cart Containment) of article XII (Special Regulations for Unique Uses) of chapter 26 (Zoning) of this Code.

(Ord. No. 2511, § 1, 3-21-23)

Unauthorized removal of a shopping cart from the premises or parking area of a retail establishment is prohibited. Procedures related to removal and possession of any shopping carts shall be pursuant to Business and Professions Code, Section 22435 et seq.

(Ord. No. 2511, § 1, 3-21-23)

(a) Impounding. The city may impound any cart without the permanently affixed sign required by section 26-115 of this Code and/or any cart that has the required permanently affixed sign, provided both of the following conditions have been met:

(1) The shopping cart is located outside the business premises.

(2) The shopping cart is not retrieved within twenty-four (24) hours from the date the shopping cart owner receives actual notice from the city of such cart's discovery and location.

(b) Immediate retrieval. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the city may immediately retrieve a cart from public or private property when the location of such cart will impede emergency services, obstructs the sidewalk/street and is a hazard to pedestrians/vehide traffic, and/or is deemed a public hazard/safety concern, as determined by the director or his/her designee.

(c) Location of impoundment. Any shopping cart that has been impounded by the city pursuant to subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section shall be held at a location that is reasonably convenient to the shopping cart owner and is open for business at least six (6) hours of each business day.

(d) Cost recovery. When the city has impounded a shopping cart pursuant to subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section, the city may recover its actual costs for providing such service.

(e) Fines for impoundment. The city may fine a shopping cart owner fifty dollars ($50.00) for each occurrence in excess of three (3) during a six (6)-month period for failure to retrieve shopping carts in accordance with this section. For purposes of this paragraph, an occurrence shall include all shopping carts impounded in accordance with this section during a calendar day.

(g) Unclaimed carts. The city or its authorized agent may sell or dispose of any shopping cart not reclaimed by the owner within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of actual notice from the city.

(h) No required signage. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the city may immediately impound, sell and/or dispose of any shopping cart that does not contain a permanently affixed sign required pursuant to this section and whose ownership cannot otherwise be ascertained.

(i) Revocation. An approved cart containment plan per section 26-115 of this Code authorizing the use of carts by the business establishment may be revoked by the director upon his/her determination that any of the following grounds for revocation exist, and shall be subject to revocation procedures in division 12 of article VI of chapter 26 of this Code (Revocation Procedures):

(1) The owner of any establishment has received notice that the establishment is operating, or is permitting operation of, the establishment in violation of one or more of the provisions of said approved plan(s) and has failed to correct said violation(s) for a period of at least sixty (60) calendar days following the date of receipt of written notice of such violation(s) from the city.

(2) The mandatory cart containment and retrieval plan is inadequate to reasonably prevent the removal of shopping carts from the premises of the retail establishment or to reasonably provide for the prompt retrieval of lost, stolen, or abandoned shopping carts which have been removed from the premises of the retail establishment.

(j) Use of shopping carts following revocation is prohibited. No business establishment owner shall provide or make available carts for the use of customers following the effective date of any decision revoking a required cart containment and retrieval plan pursuant to this section unless and until a new proposed cart containment and retrieval plan is approved by the city for such retail establishment.

(Ord. No. 2511, § 1, 3-21-23; Ord. No. 2519, §§ 9, 10, 2-20-24)