Reedley council pushes along shopping cart ordinance – Mid Valley Times

REEDLEY – Tired of shopping carts strewn about town, blocking sidewalks, creeping into roads and piling up in the Kings River, Reedley is revamping an old ordinance to put the responsibility for wayward carts in the hands of business owners. 

Community Development Director Rodney Horton brought forward an ordinance to the Reedley City Council on Nov. 12 that would repeal and replace the city’s current shopping cart ordinance in its entirety. The council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance despite some hesitation about the impact it would have on local businesses. 

“We get and understand that typically, when the government gets involved, it can be tough for some people to really want to concede that, but we couldn’t just stand around and really do nothing; we needed to come to you with a proposal,” Horton said.

Although the city already has an ordinance related to mitigating the public nuisance caused by shopping carts left on public property, it does little to incentivize businesses to keep people from stealing their carts. In addition to creating blight in neighborhoods, carts in the public right-of-way create significant safety hazards for residents, Horton said. 

“We have seen quite a bit of the public, particularly those that are wheelchair bound, struggle at maneuvering around the shopping carts that are left on the sidewalk particularly,” Horton said. “We have seen people leave the safety of the public sidewalk to go into the street to get around them.”

Council members and a member of the public said they were concerned the ordinance was punishing businesses for the actions of others; however, City Manager Nicole Zieba explained the city has tried to address the issue on the side of those taking the carts, and it has not been successful. 

While some businesses have been happy to cooperate with the city in dealing with the problem, other businesses have said they do not care about their stolen carts and simply budget to replace them. Businesses are also hesitant to prosecute the carts as stolen property because they do not want to get a bad reputation with customers, Zieba said. 

“This is years of trying to deal with an issue in various means, and finally, coming to what you see tonight,” Zieba said. 

Further, the ordinance could end up as a cost-saving measure for businesses, as shopping carts cost hundreds of dollars per cart and continue to get more expensive.

Wrangling carts

Under the proposed ordinance, Horton said businesses would be required to have some type of cart containment system as outlined in the ordinance. Existing businesses can receive an exemption from the ordinance if they have a cart retrieval system that picks up abandoned carts within 24 hours of notification. 

Acceptable containment systems include disabling devices on carts that prevent them from being removed from the property; an on-site security guard or employee to deter customers from removing carts; bollards and chains around the business to prevent removal; or a financial security deposit system, such as requiring customers to insert a quarter into a slot in the cart to be able to use it. Businesses can use a different containment measure with approval from the city manager. 

Also required under the ordinance are store removal warnings posted in multiple locations, and signage on the carts identifying the business they belong to and warning the public that the unauthorized removal of the cart is a violation of both state law and city ordinance. 

To enforce the ordinance, city staff will notify business owners of abandoned carts and allow them 36 hours to retrieve the shopping cart. If the cart is not picked up after that time, the city will impound it and give its owner three business days to retrieve it.

Businesses that do not retrieve their carts after three days may be subject to a fee. Reedley code enforcement will also issue a $50 citation to shopping cart owners that fail to retrieve their shopping carts, in accordance with the timeframes outlined, more than three times in a six month period. 

Mayor Anita Betancourt suggested the city implement this program on a trial basis because it sounded like a lot of work would go into its enforcement; however, Zieba said city staff already spend a great deal of time mitigating cart issues. 

“It’s a phenomenal amount of work right now,” Zieba said. “That’s why we’re introducing this ordinance, to try to actually make sure the businesses do their part and to make it less onerous on city staff.”

A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for Dec. 17, and, if passed, it will go into effect 30 days after that.