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(A) Each and every shopping cart utilized by a business establishment shall have affixed thereto a permanent identity tag. A first violation of this Section shall be subject to a warning, and each subsequent violation of this Section shall be subject to a fine of $20. Each cart not in compliance with this Subsection shall be considered a separate violation.
(B) Each and every business establishments shall implement and maintain a system to retain all shopping carts within the property boundaries of the business establishment including its parking lot. The business establishment shall provide signage in a conspicuous location on the premises which clearly notifies shopping cart users of the specific retention system in place and how the retention system operates.
(C) Each method included in this Subsection shall be considered to be an example of an on-site retention method complying with these Sections. If the business establishment has a method for retention that is not delineated as an example herein, then an owner may submit a plan to the Commissioner of Inspectional Services that satisfies the intent of these Sections to retain shopping carts on the premises of the business establishment and/or its parking lot or to ensure the immediate retrieval of shopping carts outside of the business establishment and/or its parking lot; no plan submitted by an owner to the Commissioner of Inspectional Services shall be valid until approved in writing by the Commissioner of Inspectional Services. Examples of methods and/or plans are as follows:
(1) A physical barrier, such as bollards, restricting shopping carts to a portion of the exterior of the business establishment, but physical barriers shall not interfere with fire lanes, handicap access or similar building features;
(2) A protruding vertical arm, or other similar or similarly-functioning device, attached to the cart which prevents the cart from being removed from the interior of the business establishment;
(3) A system, which may be mechanical in nature, requiring the 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 cart; the collateral shall be returned to the user upon the user’s return of the cart;
(4) A wheel-locking mechanism installed on the 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 cart’s approach or passing through the electronic barrier;
(5) An attendant or attendants whose sole responsibility is to manage and/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; and
(6) Other similar methods or plans submitted by an owner for the approval of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services which would satisfy the intent of these Sections to retain shopping carts on the premises of the business establishment and/or its parking lot or to ensure the immediate retrieval of shopping carts outside of the business establishment and/or its parking lot.
(D) No business establishment shall allow shopping carts to congregate or “stack up” in such a manner as to impede ingress to or egress from the business establishment or any public or private way adjacent to the business establishment.
(E) Prior to the close of each business day, every business establishment shall collect and secure its shopping carts on its premises, including its parking lot. This action shall be commenced no sooner than 15 minutes prior to the close of each business day.
(CBC 1985 16-8A.3; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
(A) Any unattended shopping cart found outside the perimeter of a business establishment or its parking lot may be removed and impounded by the Department of Public Works, the Inspectional Services Department or an Agent thereof. The enforcement personnel removing the cart shall make a written report that identifies himself or herself as well as the date, time and location of the cart at the time of the removal; this report may take the form of a tag attached to the cart; a copy of the report shall be immediately forwarded to the Commissioner of Inspectional Services.
(B) Within a reasonable time but not more than three business days after removal, the Commissioner of Inspectional Services shall notify the owner of the removed cart using the information provided on the permanent identity tag attached pursuant to Subsection16-12.8A.3(A). If the cart does not have a permanent identity tag, then the Commissioner of Inspectional Services may attempt to notify the owner of the removed cart if the identity of the owner is known or reasonably discernible. Any notification of removed and impounded shopping carts shall be made in writing and shall include the date of removal, the location of removal and the process for the owner’s retrieval of the cart.
(C) Any cart that does not have the permanent identity tag attached pursuant to Subsection 16-12.8A.3(A) and which is removed pursuant to these Sections is deemed to be abandoned property and the Commissioner of Inspectional Services may sell any such cart at public auction and the proceeds shall inure to the city, or destroy or otherwise dispose of any such cart.
(D) No person shall remove a shopping cart from a business establishment without the express written authorization of the business establishment. Any person that removes a shopping cart from a business establishment without the express written authorization of the business establishment, although subject to the criminal penalties in M.G.L. Chapter 266, Section 30A, shall also be subject to a civil fine in the amount of $50. The Boston Police Department shall have non-exclusive authority to enforce this Subsection.
(CBC 1985 16-12.8A.4; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
(A) An owner or an owner’s agent may retrieve a shopping cart removed pursuant to Subsection 16-12.8A.4 by appearing during normal business hours at the location in the notice required under Subsection 16-12.8A.4 and by paying:
(1) A fee for the removal of the carts in the amount of $20 for each of the first three carts and $40 for each additional cart thereafter; and
(2) A fee for the storage of the cart(s) in the amount of $5 per cart per day.
(B) The obligation of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services to release a shopping cart continues only as follows:
(1) If no hearing in accordance with Subsection 16-12.8A.7 has been timely and properly requested and the cart has not been retrieved, then the obligation of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services extends only 30 calendar days after notice of removal has been mailed; and
(2) If a hearing in accordance with Subsection 16-12.8A.7 has been timely and properly requested, then the obligation of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services extends only 15 calendar days after a notice of decision of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services has been made in accordance with Subsection 16-12.8A.7.
(C) Any shopping cart that has not been retrieved by an owner within the time periods contained in this Section shall be deemed to be permanently abandoned, and the Commissioner of Inspectional Services may, in said Commissioner’s sole discretion:
(1) Continue to release such carts to the owner in accordance with Subsection 16-12.8A.5(A);
(2) Sell such carts at public auction and the proceeds shall inure to the city; or
(3) Destroy or otherwise dispose of such carts.
(D) An owner that does not retrieve a cart and that has not petitioned for a hearing may be subject to additional fines and/or fees which may include a fee to dispose of the cart of $40.
(CBC 1985 16-12.8A.5; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
Unless otherwise specified in these Sections, a violation of Subsection 16-12.8A shall be subject to the issuance of a warning for a first offense, a fine of $25 for a second offense and a fine of $50 for any third or subsequent offense. Any fines and/or fees that remain unpaid by an owner for more than 12 months may become liens against the real estate of the business establishment. The provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 21D may be used to enforce these Sections.
(CBC 1985 16-12.8A.6; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
(A) An owner who has incurred a shopping cart-related warning and/or fee under these Sections may obtain a hearing regarding the propriety of the warning and/or fee by making a written petition to the Commissioner of Inspectional Services for a hearing within 15 calendar days of receipt of the notice of removal pursuant to Subsection 16-12.8A.4(B). The Commissioner of Inspectional Services shall provide written notice to the owner of the date, time and location of the hearing, and the hearing shall be held within 30 calendar days from the date of the hearing request.
(B) The Commissioner of Inspectional Services shall act as the Hearing Officer and the decision resulting therefrom shall be final and subject only to judicial review under M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 14.
(C) The Commissioner of Inspectional Services shall notify the owner of the decision in writing within 30 calendar days of the hearing.
(D) Proceedings for review of the decision of the Commissioner of Inspectional Services may be instituted in any court of competent jurisdiction within the commonwealth within 30 calendar days of the date of the notice of decision of said Commissioner. The commencement of an action shall not operate as a stay of enforcement of said Commissioner’s decision, but the Commissioner of Inspectional Services, at his or her discretion, may stay enforcement; the reviewing court may order a stay upon such terms as it considers proper as prescribed by M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 14.
(CBC 1985 16-12.8A.7; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
The Commissioner of Inspectional Services and the Commissioner of Public Works may withhold the issuance of any permit if the applicant therefor is an owner, or is acting on behalf of an owner, of a business establishment that has an uncorrected violation and/or amounts due for an unpaid fine or an unpaid fee.
(CBC 1985 16-12.8A.8; Ord. 2003 c. 24)
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