AgdaPkt 2000-02-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~c..Z- REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager February 14, 2000 Subject Shopping Cart Ordinance, Shopping Cart Retrieval Program, and a Public Education Program. Recommendations 1. Introduce an ordinance repealing Article VI of, and adding Article VII to, Chapter 14 of the Redwood City Code regarding shopping cart removal, retrieval, impoundment, and disposal. 2. Provide staff direction on implementing a public education program. 3. Provide staff direction regarding fines. Background Shopping carts removed from business premises and left on public and private property throughout the City create blight and create an expense for local retailers to locate, retrieve or replace. Presently, some retailers hire retrieval companies to pick up their carts several times a week, while other retailers do not retrieve their carts but rather regard the loss of a cart as the cost of doing business. One large retailer has installed wheel-locking devices on its carts which are activated by a perimeter cable which surrounds the business premises (including the parking lot). In each of these approaches removal of carts from business premises continues in spite of the preventative measures taken. In August 1999, the City Council held a first reading of a shopping cart ordinance with the goal of freeing the City's public areas of stray carts - "a cart-free City." At that time, the City Council also directed staff to work with retailers and to return with a proposal for a retrieval service. Staff was to bring back a thorough program at the second reading of the ordinance. Since August, significant work has been accomplished. All retailers were invited to a meeting with staff and Mayor Ruskin on November 16, 1999. Thirteen retailers representing ten businesses were in attendance. All retailers in attendance indicated a willingness to participate in a City-wide retrieval system. As a result of the meeting, two retailers, a representative of the Northern California Grocers Association, and a community volunteer agreed to serve on a committee with staff to interview retrieval providers. The input from the November 16th meeting and the good work and suggestions of the committee are the basis of the recommendations in this report. It is recommended that the City Council: 1) introduce a proposed shopping cart ordinance; 2) institute a City-wide shopping cart retrieval program that operates 7 days a week; and 3) conduct a public education campaign. These are more thoroughly discussed in "Issues," below. ----~---'----~---T--'CC-