§ 21-21.10. Shopping carts.

(a)

Definitions.

(1)

Cart. Cart shall mean a basket which is mounted on wheels or a similar device provided by a business establishment for use by a customer for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind, including, but not limited to, grocery store shopping carts.

(2)

Owner. Owner shall mean any person or entity, who in connection with the conduct of a business, owns, possesses, or makes any cart available to customers or the public. For purposes of this section, owner shall also include the owner's on-site or designated agent that provides the carts for use by its customers.

(3)

Premises. Premises shall mean the entire area owned and utilized by the business establishment that provides carts for use by customers, including any parking lot or other property provided by the owner for customer parking.

(4)

Abandoned cart. An abandoned cart shall mean any cart that has been removed, regardless of whether it has been left on either private or public property. This provision shall not apply to carts that are removed for purposes of repair or maintenance.

(b)

Identification. Every shopping cart used on any premises shall have permanently affixed to it the owner's name, address and telephone number, and the name of the store or business by which it is being utilized.

(c)

Removal prohibited. Any person who temporarily or permanently removes a shopping cart from a business premises may be subject to an infraction issued by the Bristol Police Department.

(d)

Mandatory plan. Within sixty (60) days of the enactment of this ordinance, every owner utilizing more than ten (10) shopping carts shall prepare and submit to the director of public works a specific written plan to prevent the unauthorized removal of shopping carts from the owner's premises and to recover abandoned shopping carts that have been removed from the premises. The plan shall include the following elements:

(1)

Notice to customers. Written notice shall be provided to customers and others that removal of shopping carts from the premises is prohibited and a violation of law. The notice may be provided in the form of flyers, warnings on shopping bags, or any other form of written notification that will provide effective notice of the prohibition.

(2)

Signs. Signs shall be placed in appropriate places on the owner's premises near customer exits and near parking area exits to inform customers and others that shopping cart removal is prohibited and constitutes a violation of law.

(3)

Contact information. Name, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address for the person responsible for cart retrieval.

(4)

Employee education. Every owner shall develop and implement a plan for the education of new and existing employees concerning their duties pursuant to the cart retrieval plan.

(5)

Retrieval measures. Specific measures shall be implemented to retrieve shopping carts that are removed from the owner's premises. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, employment of personnel or contractors to retrieve shopping carts.

The plan may include the following elements:

(i)

Automatic disabling devices.

(ii)

Installation of physical barriers to prevent removal of carts.

(iii)

Security deposits for carts.

(iv)

Employment of security personnel.

Each plan shall be subject to the reasonable approval of the director of public works. Owners shall notify the director of public works within twenty-four (24) hours of any change in the contact information.

(e)

Cart recovery. The owner of any abandoned cart shall remove the abandoned cart within twenty-four (24) hours' notice from the city. Failure to remove the cart after notice period shall constitute a violation of this section. The city may remove and return to the owner any abandoned cart after the notice period or immediately remove a cart to which an identification sign is not attached or any cart which is a threat to health and safety.

(f)

Penalties for offenses. Any violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of one hundred fifty ($150.00) dollars. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. In addition to the fines set forth in this subsection, an additional administrative fee of two dollars ($2.00) per ten dollars ($10.00) of the amount of the fine(s) payable hereunder, or any fraction thereof, shall be payable to the city by each person to whom a citation is issued.

Any citation not paid or under appeal within fifteen (15) days of the assessment shall render the owner, occupant, operator or agent of the premises a penalty equal to twice the amount of the initial penalty provided. Any citation not paid or under appeal within thirty (30) days of the assessment shall render the owner, occupant, operator or agent of the premises a penalty equal to three (3) times the amount of the initial penalty provided.

(Ord. of 3-11-08; Ord. of 7-13-10; Ord. of 3-10-15)