Housing and Neighborhood Preservation and Retail Alliance initiated a program in 2004 to address abandoned shopping carts on public property, streets, and sidewalk areas.
An inspector will verify the existence of the cart on public property. If the cart's ownership is identifiable, the inspector will contact the store and request that they remove the cart within 48 hours. If the cart has not been removed within 48 hours, Retail Alliance is informed and will then remove it within the next 24 hours. When the ownership of a shopping cart is not identifiable, or when an identified cart is not removed within the agreed upon time frame, the cart will be removed by the city and destroyed.
Abandoned shopping carts that are on private property are treated as junk in accordance with City Code Section 23-48. A notice of violation is issued to the occupant to remove the cart within seven days. Failure to comply may result in a summons being issued.
To file a complaint about abandoned shopping carts, please call the Code Enforcement Division at 385-4421.