storyhill.net, Sept. 11, 2006

Crackdown on renegade shopping carts sought by alderman

Sept. 11 -- An alderman is proposing that the city require grocery stores and other retailers to tag their shopping carts and find ways to keep them on site.

Methods stores could use to keep their carts include charging shoppers deposits to use carts or hiring employees whose only duties would be to manage or return the carts, according to the proposal.

The ordinance proposed by Ald. Robert Donovan also would allow the Department of Public Works to impound any errant shopping cart found outside the boundaries of a business. Businesses would have to pay $20 to $40 to retrieve each cart, plus a $5 per day storage fee.

DPW, which now does not have the resources to keep city-owned lots mowed and free from litter, would be required to notify businesses in writing that their carts have been impounded.

The proposed ordinance is scheduled to be discussed by the Common Council's Public Safety Committee on Thursday.

Cruising carts have not previously been identified as a major problem in the city.

Under the ordinance, businesses with 20 or more shopping carts would be required to install permanent identity tags on each one.

Requirements for the tags are very specific, according to the proposed ordinance:

The permanent identity tag shall state the name of the business establishment, the address of the business establishment, and the telephone number of the business establishment. The name, address, and telephone number on the permanent identity tag shall be of the neighborhood business establishment rather than a state, regional or national headquarters, except that business establishments using a total of more than 350 shopping carts at more than 2 locations within the city may place central telephone numbers on the permanent identity tags as long as the telephone numbers are within the 414 or 262 area code.

The proposed ordinance also lists several methods that could be used to keep shopping carts on-site, but also allows businesses to apply in writing for permission to use alternative methods.

Those explicitly approved under the ordinance would include:

  • A physical barrier, such as bollards, restricting shopping carts to a portion of the exterior of the business establishment, but these barriers shall not interfere with fire lanes, handicap access or similar building features.
  • A system, which may be mechanical in nature, requiring the shopping cart user to remit collateral, including but not limited to a returnable monetary deposit to use a shopping cart; the collateral shall be reasonable in scope and shall not unreasonably deter the use of the cart but instead encourages the user's return of the shopping cart; the collateral shall be returned.
  • A wheel-locking mechanism installed on the shopping cart that is commonly used in conjunction with an electronic barrier along the perimeter of a business establishment and which mechanism is activated upon the shopping cart's approach or passing through the electronic barrier.
  • An attendant or attendants whose sole responsibility is to manage or return the business establishment's shopping carts from the exterior premises of the business establishment and areas immediately adjacent thereto to the interior premises of the business establishment or another exterior area of the business establishment dedicated to the containment of shopping carts.