Ordinance Number 742VJJ
ORDINANCE NO. 742
AMENDING TITLE 5 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE -
ADDING CHAPTER 26 RELATING TO ABANDONMENT OF SHOPPING CARTS
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA,
ADDING CHAPTER 26, "ABANDONMENT OF SHOPPING CARTS" TO TITLE
5 OF THE SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO MUNICIPAL CODE
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION L Code Amendment.
Chapter 26, "Abandonment of Shopping Carts", is hereby added to Title 5 of the San Juan
Capistrano Municipal Code to read as follows:
TITLE 5, CHAPTER 26
ABANDONMENT OF SHOPPING CARTS
Sections:
5-26.01
Declaration of Public Nuisance
5-26.02
Definitions
5-26.03
Abandoned Cart
5-26.04
Administration and Enforcement
5-26.05
Shopping Cart Abatement
5-26.06
Removal of Wrecked Shopping Carts
5-26.07
Assessments for Shopping Cart Removal - Hearings
5-26.08
Identification of Shopping Carts
5-26.09
Removal from Premises Prohibited - Exceptions
5-26.10
Abandonment Prohibited
5-26.11
Owner's Responsibility to Prevent Littering
5-26.12
Unlawful Possession
5-26.13
Supplementation of Codes, Statutes, Ordinances, etc.
Sec. 5-26.01 Declaration of Public Nuisance. The City Council makes the following findings
and declarations: The accumulation and storage of wrecked, dismantled, or abandoned shopping carts, or parts
thereof, on public or private property is found to create a condition tending to reduce property values, to
promote blight and deterioration, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety
of minors, to be aesthetically detrimental to the community and to be injurious to the health, safety and general
welfare. Therefore, the presence of wrecked, dismantled, or abandoned shopping carts, or parts thereof, on
public or private property, is declared to constitute a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 5-26.02. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
(a) "Shopping Cart" means a basket which is mounted on wheels or a similar device
generally used in retail establishments by a customer for the purpose of transporting
goods of any kind.
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(b) "Public property" means and includes, but is not limited to, all areas dedicated to
public use for public street purposes, roadways, parkways, alleys, sidewalks, flood
control channels and any public right-of-way.
(c) 'Parkway" means that area between the sidewalks and the curb of any street, and
where there is no sidewalk, that area between the edge of the roadway and the
property line adjacent thereto. Parkway shall also include any area within a roadway
which is not open to vehicular travel.
Sec. 5-26.03. Abandoned Cart. When a shopping cart is left standing on any public or
private property, the shopping cart shall be deemed to be abandoned and therefore a public nuisance pursuant
to this chapter. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to shopping carts left standing on private
property (including the common areas of shopping centers adjacent thereto) of the owner of the shopping cart
according to the name of such owner affixed thereto as required by Section 5-26.08 of this chapter. In the event
that a shopping cart is left standing on any public or private property or, in the event the cart violates Section
5-26.08 of this chapter, the owner thereof shall be responsible and liable for the removal and disposition of the
abandoned shopping cart as provided in this chapter.
The City Manager may exempt a shopping cart owner from the provisions of this subsection
if the cart owner has implemented a plan whereby employees provide cart retrieval, or whereby the cart owner
has entered into a contract with a cart retrieval service and has provided the City with proof of such contract,
provided the frequency of cart retrieval service meets the City Manager's approval.
Sec. 5-26.04. Administration and Enforcement. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
the provisions of this chapter shall be administered and enforced by the City Manager or his authorized
representative. In the enforcement of this chapter, the City Manager or his authorized representative may enter
onto public or private property to examine a shopping cart or parts thereof, or to obtain information as to the.
identity of a shopping cart and to remove, or cause the removal of, a shopping cart, or parts thereof, declared
to be a nuisance pursuant to this chapter.
Sec. 5-26.05. Shopping Cart Abatement. Upon discovering the existence of a wrecked,
dismantled or abandoned shopping cart, or parts thereof, on public or private property within the City, the City
Manager, or his authorized representative shall have the authority to cause the abatement and removal thereof
in accordance with the procedure described in this chapter.
Sec. 5-26.06. Removal of Wrecked Shopping Carts. The City Manager, or his authorized
designee, may determine that a wrecked shopping cart abated according to the provisions of this chapter is in
such poor condition that it may be immediately disposed of. This action will be a discretionary decision of the
City Manager or his authorized designee.
Sec. 5-26.07. Assessments for Shunning Cart Removal - Hearin
(a) Upon the abatement and removal of any shopping cart located on public or private
property within the City, the City Manager or his authorized representative shall notify
the owner thereof (if the same can be ascertained) by mailing a notice of abatement
to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall state the date the shopping
cart was removed from public or private property, the location and procedure for
retrieval of the shopping cart, and a statement that, in order to receive a hearing w th
regard to the removal of the shopping cart, the owner or its agent shall submit a
request for such hearing either in person or in writing within ten (10) days of the date
appearing on the notice. Any such shopping cart removed and stored pursuant to
these provisions shall be released to the owner thereof if claimed within thirty (30)
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days after such removal and upon the payment of reasonable administrative fees. Such
administrative fees shall be waived if, after a hearing has been requested, a
determination is made at such hearing that upon a finding of good cause, the
administrative fees shall be waived.
(b) The administrative fees for the removal and storage of the shopping cart shall be
established or modified by resolution of the City Council and shall include the actual
cost of removal and storage of any shopping cart, or parts thereof, plus the
proportional share of administrative costs in connection therewith.
(c) Any hearing which is requested shall be conducted within five (5) days of the receipt
of the request for such hearing, excluding weekends and holidays, by the City Manager,
or his/her designate, who should be designated as the hearing officer. The failure of
either the owner or its agent to request a hearing shall satisfy the hearing requirement.
If it is determined at a hearing that reasonable grounds for the abatement and removal
of a shopping cart are not established, no fee for removal and storage of such shopping
cart shall be imposed. At the close of the hearing, the hearing officer shall determine
whether good cause was shown for the abatement or removal of the shopping cart
from public or private property. The decision of the hearing officer shall be deemed
the final administrative determination. If good cause is shown for the abatement and
removal of the shopping cart, the owner or its agent shall have fifteen (15) days from
the date of the hearing to retrieve its shopping cart upon payment of the administrative
fee. If good cause is not shown for the abatement and removal of the shopping cart
from public or private property, the administrative fee shall be waived and the owner
or its agent shall have fifteen (15) days to retrieve its shopping cart from the storage
area.
(d) Any shopping carts which are not retrieved by the owner of such shopping cart within
thirty (30) days after the mailing of written notice of abatement when such owner has
not requested a hearing in accordance with this section, or within thirty (30) days of
storage of the cart by the City in all other cases, shall be deemed to be permanently
abandoned and may be sold at public auction or otherwise disposed of at the end of
thirty (30) days following such notice.
(e) At such time as shall be convenient to the City, the City shall advertise for the sale of
permanently abandoned (as provided in subsection [d] of this section) shopping carts.
Notice of such sale shall be posted in three conspicuous places located within the City.
Ten (10) days after the posting of such notice and the time and place fixed in the
notice for said sale (or at such times and places as the sale shall be reasonably
continued) such shopping cart may be sold along with other shopping carts, and
delivered to the highest bidder free and clear of the claims of the owner thereof.
(f) The proceeds of such sale shall be disbursed to the City.
Sec. 5-26.08. Identification of Shopping_ Carts. All shopping carts used in the City shall be
properly identified by the owner thereof, including the name of the local store in which such shopping cart is to
be used. All persons owning shopping carts within the City for use of their customers to take outside of the
buildings shall have firmly affixed thereto the owner's identification.
Sec. 5-26.09. Removal From Premises Prohibited - Exceotions. No person shall remove
from the immediate store or parking premises of any food store, market or other mercantile establishment to
the City, any shopping cart, wagon or similar device, bearing a notification affixed thereto in a conspicuous place
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thereon to the effect that such cart, wagon or device is not to be removed from the owner's premises, unless such
person is the owner or owner's employee or agent.
Sec. 5-26.10. Abandonment Prohibited. No person shall abandon or leave any such cart,
wagon or device which has been removed from the owner's premises upon any public street, alley, sidewalk,
parkway or other public place, or upon any private property (except that of the owner of the cart, wagon or
device) not under the control of such person abandoning or leaving such cart, wagon or device.
Sec. 5-26.11. Owner's Responsibility to Prevent Littering. The action of an owner or owner's
agent or employee to permit any such cart, wagon or device to be removed from the owner's premises shall be
considered littering.
Sec. 5-26.12. Unlawful Possession. No person shall have in his/her possession any such cart,
wagon or device which has been removed from the owner's premises without authorization or which has been
abandoned or left on private property under circumstances as described in Section 5-26.03 of this chapter unless
such person so having possession has notified the Sheriffs' Department of the presence and location of such cart,
wagon or device.
Sec. 5-26.13. Supplementation of Codes Statutes Ordinances. etc.. This chapter is not to
be construed as the exclusive regulation of wrecked, dismantled or abandoned shopping carts with the City. It
shall supplement and be in addition to other regulatory codes, statutes and ordinances heretofore or hereafter
enacted by the City, State or other legal entity or agency having jurisdiction.
SECTION 2 Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days after its passage.
SECTION 3. Ci!y Clerk's Certification.
The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and cause the same to be posted
at the duly designated posting places within the City and published once within fifteen (15) days after passage
and adoption as required by law, or, in the alternative, the City Clerk may cause to be published a summary of
this Ordinance and a certified copy of the text of this Ordinance shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk
five (5) days prior to the date of adoption of this Ordinance; and, within fifteen (15) days after adoption, the City
Clerk shall cause to he published the aforementioned summary and shall post a certified copy of this Ordinance,
together with the vote for and against the same, in the Office of the City Clerk.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of November , 1993.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERKv I/
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NES, MAYOR
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) u
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPLSTRANO )
OS9
1, CHERYL JOHNSON, City Clerk of the City of San Juan Capistrano, California, DO
HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Ordinance No. 742 which was
introduced at a meeting of the City Council of the City of San Juan Capistrano, California, held on
November 2 1993, and adopted at a meeting held on November 16 1993,
by the following vote:
AYES: Council Members Nash, Hausdorfer, Campbell, Vasquez
and Mayor Jones
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
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