A. It is unlawful to do any of the following acts:
1. Remove a shopping cart from the shopping center of a shopping cart owner.
2. Be in possession of a shopping cart that has been removed from the shopping center of a shopping cart owner.
3. Leave or abandon a shopping cart on public or private property at a location other than the shopping center of a shopping cart owner.
4. Remove, deface, or obscure identifying marks or signage of ownership installed on a shopping cart.
5. Obstruct, impede, or interfere with any representative of the city or its authorized contractor who is engaged in removing or transporting a shopping cart in accordance with this chapter.
B. Any shopping cart on any property within the city whether public or private that is controlled or used by any person violating subsection A above, may be removed in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 12-5-2.
C. This section shall not apply to:
1. Any person who provides documentary evidence of ownership of the shopping cart; or
2. Any person having written permission of the shopping cart owner to have the shopping cart away from the shopping cart owner's shopping center.
D. In any civil or criminal proceeding, any shopping cart with identification pursuant to subsection 12-5-1A1 located outside the shopping center of the shopping cart owner, establishes a rebuttable presumption that:
1. The shopping cart is owned by the shopping cart owner identified on the cart;
2. The shopping cart owner has not abandoned the shopping cart;
3. The identified shopping cart owner has not authorized another person to use the shopping cart.
(Ord. 2023-5, 1-3-2023)