(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED CART. Any cart that has been removed from the cart owner’s premises without written consent of the owner and is located on either public or private property.
CART or SHOPPING CART. A basket that is mounted on wheels or a similar device that is provided by an owner to a customer for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind, including a basket used in a laundromat or similar business.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. Any officer or person designated with the authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
OWNER. Any person or entity that, in connection with the conduct of a business, provides carts available to the public for use at their business.
PREMISES. The entire area owned, occupied, or utilized by an owner, including any parking lot, loading area, and adjacent public rights-of-way, or any other property provided by or on behalf of an owner for customer parking or use.
(B) Cart removal warnings, cart identification, and reporting abandoned carts. A person that supplies shopping carts for public use at the person’s business shall:
(1) Post signs in sufficient number to give notice to members of the public entering onto or leaving the business premises that unauthorized appropriation of a shopping cart is a crime under O.R.S. 164.015, and provide a toll-free or local telephone number that members of the public may use to report abandoned shopping carts;
(2) Identify the person’s business on each shopping cart and post a sign on the shopping cart that:
(a) Notifies any member of the public using the shopping cart that unauthorized appropriation of a shopping cart is a crime under O.R.S. 164.015; and
(b) Provides a toll-free or local telephone number for use in reporting an abandoned shopping cart.
(3) Establish, maintain, and make available to the public, at the person’s own expense, a toll-free or local telephone line for the purpose of reporting abandoned shopping carts. If the person who provides the carts has a contractor who receives the calls concerning abandoned shopping carts, that contractor shall forward each report the contractor receives concerning an abandoned shopping cart to the owner of the shopping cart and to the city’s Code Enforcement Office within one business day after the contractor receives the report.
(C) Retrieval of abandoned shopping carts.
(1) Owner may agree with other persons to share and to pay expenses related to the toll-free or local telephone line described above. The agreement shall provide that any person designated to operate the toll-free or local telephone line and receive reports concerning abandoned shopping carts must forward the reports in accordance with division (B)(3) above.
(2) Owner shall retrieve a shopping cart within 72 hours after receiving notification that the shopping cart has been abandoned.
(3) If the city identifies, salvages, or reclaims an abandoned shopping cart, it shall use the toll-free or local telephone line described in division (B)(2)(b) above to report the existence and location of an abandoned shopping cart to the owner of the shopping cart, if the owner is identifiable.
(D) Custody, enforcement, and disposal of abandoned shopping carts.
(1) The city may take custody of an abandoned shopping cart and impose a penalty of $50 on the owner of the shopping cart if the owner does not retrieve the shopping cart within 72 hours after the city makes a report under division (D)(3) below or after the owner receives a report under division (B)(3) above.
(2) The city may release a shopping cart held in the city’s custody to the owner upon payment of the $50 penalty.
(3) The city may take title to a shopping cart in the city’s custody and dispose of the shopping cart as the city deems appropriate, if the owner does not claim the shopping cart within 30 days.
(4) The Enforcement Officer may issue citations for the commission of a violation of this section. A violation proceeding under this section shall be processed in accordance with O.R.S. Chapter 153.
(E) Rulemaking authority. The City Manager or designee is authorized to promulgate any rules necessary for the implementation of this section.
(Prior Code, § 5.236) Penalty, see § 91.999