Atascadero considers new shopping cart ordinance

Shopping carts usually start their day outside a grocery store, but oftentimes get left in public areas. Shopping cart ordinances have been successful in parts of the county such as San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, so Atascadero has drafted a similar ordinance that’s being discussed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

“It’s a great idea,” said Paso Robles resident Ralph Chiariello. “I think it’s something they really need to do.”

“There’s too many, too many of them left everywhere,” added Templeton resident Tim Kennedy.

Vons in Atascadero off El Camino Real now locks the wheels of its carts to prevent them from leaving the parking lot.

“If you get it off the property, the wheel locks up, and you can’t push it or anything anymore,” Kennedy said. “It just, it freezes.”

Police Chief Dan Suttles says there are nine stores that have 10 or more shopping carts that this ordinance would affect.

Under the ordinance, carts would be required to have a placard identifying who they belong to and that it is illegal to take the carts from the store’s property.

“If it was one that would require locking wheels, I’m all for that, but not one that would penalize the store if the cart was found elsewhere,” Atascadero resident David Bell said of the potential ordinance.

If the cart has a placard and is found abandoned off property, the police would have the authority to take the shopping cart into their custody and notify the owner that they have it. This way, the cart is at least off the street. If the cart owner doesn’t pick it up after three days of being notified, they can be fined up to $50 after the third occurrence in a six-month time period.

Chief Suttles says the idea is to keep Atascadero a clean place to work and live without punishing the homeless population for moving the carts.

More information will be shared once the ordinance becomes law.