Yucca Valley Municipal Code Ch. 11.110 Abandoned Shopping Carts

The Town of Yucca Valley finds that abandoned shopping carts in the Town create potential hazard to the health and safety of the public, and interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic and create a public nuisance. The accumulation of abandoned carts on public and private property tends to create conditions that reduce property values, and promote blight and deterioration that result in a public nuisance. This chapter is intended to ensure that measures are taken by the owners of shopping carts to prevent the removal of the shopping carts from the owner's premises, to make removal of the shopping cart without the owner's approval a violation of this Code, and to facilitate the retrieval of abandoned shopping carts in a manner consistent with State law.

Retail establishments owning five (5) shopping carts or fewer are exempt from the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS: Means any cart that is located outside the premises or parking lot of a retail establishment which owns the cart, except a cart that is in the physical possession of a person who has the written consent of the cart's owner.

CART OWNER: Means every business or person who, in connection with the conduct of a retail establishment owns, rightfully possesses, or makes any cart available to patrons and/or the public. This shall include the owner's agent or authorized representative.

CONTRACTOR: Means an authorized independent contractor approved by the Town Council for the purpose of effecting the removal of abandoned shopping carts.

EFFECTIVE SHOPPING CART NUISANCE ABATEMENT PROGRAM: Means the retail establishment's ongoing activities to prevent the theft and abandonment of shopping carts from their parking area, combined with the retail establishment's ongoing activity to retrieve any abandoned shopping cart owned by the retail establishment from public or private property within the Town within forty eight (48) hours.

IDENTIFIED CART: Means a shopping cart that has a permanently affixed sign that identifies, in accordance with California Business and Professions Code section 22435.1, the owner of the cart or the retailer, or both; notifies the public of the procedure to be utilized for authorized removal of the cart from the owner's premises; notifies the public that the unauthorized removal of the cart from the cart owner's premises or cart owner's parking area or the unauthorized possession of the cart, is a violation of State law; and lists a valid telephone number or address for returning the cart to the owner or retailer. If the cart owner operates more than one store, the sign shall identify the location of the store where the cart is used.

PARKING AREA: Means a parking lot or other property provided by a retail establishment for use by a customer for parking an automobile or other vehicle. In a multi-store complex or shopping center, "parking area" includes the entire parking area used by or controlled by the complex or center.

PERSON: Means a natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity.

RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT: Means any trade establishment selling articles, commodities, services, or any line of merchandise where shopping carts are made available for and used by patrons and/or the public.

SHOPPING CART OR CART: Means a basket that is mounted on wheels or a similar device generally used in retail establishments by a patron and/or the public for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind. Shopping cart also includes a cart used in a coin- operated laundry or dry-cleaning retail establishment for purposes of transporting clothes and necessary cleaning materials.

TOWN: Means the Town of Yucca Valley or its designated representatives.

UNIDENTIFIED CART: Means a shopping cart that is not an identified cart, as defined above. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

Any abandoned shopping cart is declared to constitute a public nuisance that could impede emergency services, interfere with pedestrian and vehicular traffic, reduce property values, promote blight and deterioration, comprise an attractive nuisance and create other hazards to the health, safety, and general welfare of the community. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

It is unlawful for any person owning a retail establishment located in the Town where shopping carts are available for customer use not to implement and maintain an effective shopping cart nuisance abatement program. Effectiveness is measured by the performance of the retail establishment's program and by the standards set forth in subsection E of this section. Any cart owner shall implement and use any reasonable means in any combination to: a) prevent the removal or theft of their shopping carts from their premises and parking area and subsequent abandonment of their shopping carts within the Town limits; and b) if such prevention measures are not one hundred percent (100%) effective, cart owners shall retrieve any and all their abandoned shopping carts from within the Town boundaries within forty eight (48) hours. The effective program must also have the following minimum requirements:

A. The retail establishment must register that they own shopping carts for the use of their customers on their premises with the Town Administrative Services Department within sixty (60) days of this chapter taking effect or at the time of business registration application or renewal, whichever is later, and must have an effective shopping cart nuisance abatement program within six (6) months of adoption of this chapter or commencing with the issuance of a business registration or the renewal of the business registration, whichever is later. This registration must include a contact phone number at the retail establishment in Yucca Valley for the person or persons, or job title of the person who will be responsible for accepting all shopping carts retrieved by the Town and returned to the retail establishment during its normal hours of business.

B. The owner shall provide signage on their premises in a conspicuous location notifying shopping cart users that removal of shopping carts from the premises or parking area is prohibited without the written consent of the retail establishment.

C. The owner of a retail establishment shall mark all shopping carts used in its business by its customers as required by California Business and Professions Code section 22435.1. The owner shall permanently affix a sign to each cart that identifies the owner of the cart or the retailer, or both; notifies the public of the procedure to be utilized for authorized removal of the cart from the cart owner's premises; notifies the public that the unauthorized removal of the cart from the cart owner's premises or cart owner's parking area or the unauthorized possession of the cart is a violation of State law; lists a valid telephone number, or address for returning the cart to the cart owner.

Each day during which the retail establishment owning more than five (5) shopping carts has not registered with the Town and each day all of the carts of a retail establishment are not marked as required by this section shall constitute a separate violation.

D. A customer outreach process under which the cart owner shall cause additional notice to be provided to customers in addition to the standard signage and marking of the shopping cart as per subsections B and C of this section that the removal of carts from the premises is prohibited and is a violation of State and local law. This customer outreach notification may include, but is not limited to, flyers distributed at the premises, warnings on shopping bags, direct mail, announcements using intercom systems at the premises, website communication, and other available information tools. It may also include marketing to customers their own personal cart for use in lieu of the retail establishment's shopping cart. The exact means and frequency of this outreach is to be determined by the retail establishment.

E. Either an effective containment program for physically preventing the shopping carts from being removed from the retail establishment parking area, or an effective retrieval program to retrieve abandoned carts within forty eight (48) hours, or both.

For purposes of this section, "effective containment program" means a system selected by the retail establishment that results in no more than five (5) shopping carts being removed without the owner's consent from the business premises or parking area within the twelve (12) month period commencing with the issuance of a business registration or the renewal of the business registration (minimum of 5 carts in a 12 month time period). An effective containment system may include one or more of the following measures:

1. Disabling devices on all shopping carts which prevent them from being removed from the business premises by locking the wheels or otherwise preventing the movement of the carts.

2. An on-site security guard to deter customers who attempt to remove carts from the business premises.

3. Bollards and chains around the business premises to prevent cart removal, if permitted by the Fire Marshal.

4. Any other measure approved by the Director of Planning and Building as a means to contain carts on premises.

An "effective retrieval program" shall mean no more than five (5) abandoned shopping carts are collected by the Town or its contractor within the Town limits and returned to the retail establishment within the twelve (12) month period commencing with the issuance of a business registration or the renewal of the business registration (minimum of 5 carts in a 12 month time period). There is a rebuttable presumption that a cart found abandoned somewhere off the premises of the cart's owner was removed from the premises without the owner's consent and that if the Town or its contractor removes it and returns it to the retail establishment, the cart was abandoned for more than forty eight (48) hours.

If a retail establishment has a valid and operational contract with a contractor recognized by the Town to retrieve abandoned shopping carts and return them to the retail establishment on an ongoing and regular basis of at least three (3) times per week, then the owner is presumptively deemed to have an effective shopping cart nuisance abatement program, which presumption may be rebutted if the cart retrieval contractor fails to meet the standards for "effectiveness" set forth in this subsection E. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

It is unlawful for any person other than a cart owner or its authorized representative to remove a cart from the premises of the owner's retail establishment, unless the cart owner expressly authorizes its removal in writing. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

The Town, or any contractor duly retained by the Town for the retrieval of abandoned carts, may retrieve any abandoned shopping cart and return the cart to its owner if it has been abandoned outside the parking area of the retail establishment and not retrieved by the owner or their contractor after forty eight (48) hours. The owner of the shopping cart must make a store employee available to be present during normal store hours to receive the returned carts and document that they were returned. The Town shall recover its cost for this activity through a nuisance abatement and administrative fee based upon the Town's actual costs of abatement. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

A. Nuisance Abatement Fee: Retail establishments that have ineffective abatement programs are subject to an annual nuisance abatement fee at the time of renewal of their business registration equal to the cumulative cost to the Town for retrieval and return of the retail establishment's abandoned shopping carts over a twelve (12) month period commencing with the issuance of a business registration or the renewal of the business registration.

B. Administrative Fee: An administrative fee to cover the Town's administrative cost for the activities performed in section 11.110.060 of this chapter by the Town may also be imposed upon the owners of abandoned shopping carts at the time of business registration renewal. Such fee shall not exceed the Town's reasonable estimate of actual cost for such services. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)

Violation of any provision of this chapter is a violation of this Code and the Town may pursue any available remedy provided under this Code for a Code violation, including the issuance of an administrative citation under section 1.04.030 of this Code.

Notwithstanding any other enforcement action allowed under this Code, the Town Council may prescribe the civil fine for any person owning a retail establishment who is given a civil citation for not having established an effective shopping cart nuisance abatement program pursuant to section 11.110.040 of this chapter. (Ord. 276, 2-6-2018)