City Council
MEETING DATE: 5/27/2015
TITLE:
Title
Proposed Ordinance Regulating Shopping Carts
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FROM:
Pat Milos, Community Development Director
Nicholas Hermsen, Deputy City Attorney
Tuan-Anh Vu, Deputy City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council review the attached ordinance establishing regulations concerning shopping carts and direct that it be scheduled for consideration at the next regular City Council meeting, or take other such action as the City Council deems appropriate.
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BACKGROUND:
Code Compliance staff have experienced ongoing problems with abandoned shopping and laundry carts in the City. Oftentimes these carts are found in sidewalks and streets far from the place of origin. They are a blight on the community, impede emergency services, and affect the health and general welfare of the people.
Moreover, Code Compliance staff have expressed concerns about the proliferation of carts and the lack of manpower required to impound them. Currently, the City has no ordinance to appropriately deal with abandoned carts and the business owners who allow the carts to be removed from their property. This proposed ordinance is an attempt to meet this pressing need while acknowledging the limited resources to physically remove carts.
To complicate the issue is the source for many of these carts: a select few businesses located in the neighboring City of Palm Springs. Palm Springs does have a shopping cart ordinance prohibiting abandonment and removal of carts, but does not require owners to implement preventative measures such as cart retrieval services or carriage returns.1 Owners who violate the ordinance are held liable, including for littering.2
Thus, Cathedral City has the dual challenge of preventing "littering" by outside business owners and regulating carts from stores and laundromats within city limits. The proposed ordinance is meant to be a comprehensive set of r...
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