HomeMy WebLinkAbout1514 - ORDINANCES - 7/19/1995 ORDINANCE NO. 1514
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS,
CALIFORNIA ADDING CHAPTER 11 . 100, "ABANDONMENT
OF SHOPPING CARTS" TO THE PALM SPRINGS
MUNICIPAL CODE.
' THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS :
SECTION 1. CODE AMENDMENT. Section 11 . 100, "Abandonment of
Shopping Carts, " is hereby added to the Palm Springs Municipal Code
to read as follows :
CHAPTER 11 . 100
ABANDONMENT OF SHOPPING CARTS
Sections :
11 . 100 . 010 Declaration of Public Nuisance
11 . 100 . 020 Definitions
11 . 100 . 030 Abandoned Shopping Cart
11 . 100 . 040 Administration and Enforcement
11 . 100 . 050 Shopping Cart Abatement
11 . 100 . 060 Hearings on Shopping Cart Abatement
11 . 100 . 070 Disposition of Shopping Carts
11 . 100 . 080 Removal and Disposal of Wrecked Shopping Carts
11 . 100 . 090 Identification of Shopping Carts
11 . 100 . 100 Removal from Premises Prohibited; Exceptions
11 . 100 . 110 Abandonment Prohibited
11 . 100 . 120 Owner' s Responsibility to Prevent Littering
11 . 100 . 130 Unlawful Possession
11 . 100 . 140 Supplementation of Codes, Statutes, Ordinances
Sec. 11 . 100 . 010 Declaration of Public Nuisance. The City
Council makes the following findings and declarations : The
accumulation and storage of wrecked, dismantled, or abandoned
shopping carts, or parts thereof, on public or private property is
found to create a condition tending to reduce property values, to
promote blight and deterioration, to constitute an attractive
nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to
be aesthetically detrimental to the community, and to be injurious
to the health, safety and general welfare. Therefore, the presence
of wrecked, dismantled, or abandoned shopping carts, or parts
thereof, on public or private property, is declared to constitute
a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
Sec . 11 . 100 . 020 Definitions . The following definitions
shall apply to this chapter:
(a) "Shopping cart" means a basket which is mounted on
wheels or a similar device generally used in retail
establishments by a customer for the purpose of
' transporting goods of any kind.
(b) "Public property" means and includes, but is not
limited to, all areas dedicated to public use for
public street purposes, roadways, parkways, alleys,
sidewalks, flood control channels and any public
right-of-way.
(c) "Parkway" means that area between the sidewalks and
the curb of any street, and where there is no
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sidewalk, that area between the edge of the roadway
and the property line adjacent thereto. Parkway
shall also include any area within a roadway which
is not open to vehicular travel .
(d) "Abandoned shopping dart" means any empty shopping
cart left on any public or private property with no
person in the vicinity. ,
(e) "Abatement of shopping cart-" means the removal by the
city of an abandoned shopping cart which is visible from
any public right-of-way.
(f) "City Manager" means City Manager, City Tanager' s
designee, and/or authorized representatives of the City
Manager.
(g) "Director" means Director of Planning and Building for
the City, Director' s designee, and/or authorized
representatives of the Director.
Sec . 11 . 100 . 030 Abandoned Shopping Cart . Any shopping
cart left on any public or private property shall be deemed to be
abandoned and therefore a public: nuisance pursuant to this chapter.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to shopping carts
left on the owner' s private property (including the common areas of
shopping centers adjacent thereto) .
In the event that a shopping cart is left. on any public or
private property, the owner of the shopping cart shall be
responsible and liable for the removal and disposition of the
abandoned shopping cart as provided in this chapter.
The City Manager may exempt a shopping cart owner from the '
provisions of this chapter if the shopping cart owner has
implemented a plan whereby employees provide shopping cart
retrieval, or where the shopping cart owner has entered into a
contract with a shopping cart retrieval service and has provided
the City with proof of such contract, provided that such plan or
contract meets with the City Manager' s approval . The plan or
contract shall provide that carts will be retrieved within 72 hours
after abandonment and shall contain appropriate enforcement
mechanisms . If an approved plan or contract fails to retrieve
carts within 72 hours, the City Manager may revoke such approval .
Such revocation shall subject the shopping cart owner to the
provisions of this chapter. .
Sec. 11 . 100 . 040 Administration and Enforcement . Except as
otherwise provided in this chapter, the provisions of this chapter
shall be administered and enforced by the City Manager. In the
enforcement of this chapter, the City Manager may enter onto public
or private property to examine a shopping cart or parts thereof, or
to obtain information to identify the owner of the shopping cart
and to order, pursuant to this chapter, the abatement and removal
of the shopping cart, or parts thereof, declared to be a nuisance.
Notwithstanding the forgoing, the Director shall perform the day-
to-day administration of this chapter. '
Sec . 11 . 100 . 050 Shopping Cart Abatement .
(a) Upon discovering the existence of a wrecked, dismantled
or abandoned shopping cart, or parts thereof, on public
or private property within the City, the Director shall
have the authority to order the abatement and removal
thereof in accordance with the procedure described in
this chapter.
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(b) Upon the abatement and removal of any shopping cart
located on public or private property within the City,
the Director shall notify the owner thereof (if the name
can be ascertained) by mailing an abatement notice to the
Owner' s last known address . Such notice shall state the
date the shopping cart was removed, the procedure for
retrieving the shopping cart, and a statement that the
' owner may request a hearing to appeal the abatement order
by submitting a written request within (10) days of the
date appearing on the notice.
Sec . 11 . 100 . 060 Hearings on Shopping Cart Abatement.
(a) Any shopping cart removed and stored pursuant to
these provisions shall be released to the owner
thereof if claimed within thirty (30) days of the
date appearing on the abatement notice and upon the
payment of reasonable administrative fees . Such
administrative fees shall be waived if, after a
hearing to appeal has been requested, a
determination is made at such hearing that the fees
shall be waived. The administrative fees for the
removal and storage of the shopping cart shall be
established or modified by resolution of the City
Council and shall include the actual cost of
removal and storage of any shopping cart, or parts
thereof, plus the proportional share of
administrative costs in connection therewith.
(b) Any hearing to appeal an abatement order which is
requested shall be conducted within five (5) days
of the receipt of the request, excluding weekends
and holidays, by the City Manager, or his designee,
who should be designated as the hearing officer.
The failure of either the owner or his agent to
request a hearing shall waive the right to a
hearing. At the hearing, the hearing officer shall
determine whether good cause was shown for the
abatement and removal of the shopping cart . The
decision of the hearing officer shall be deemed the
final administrative determination. If good cause
is shown for the abatement and removal of the
shopping cart, the owner or his agent shall have
thirty (30) days from the hearing date to retrieve
his shopping cart upon payment of the
administrative fee . If good cause is not shown for
the abatement and removal of the shopping cart, the
administrative fee shall be waived and the owner or
his agent shall have thirty (30) days from the
hearing date to retrieve his shopping cart.
Sec. 11 . 100 . 070 Disposition of Shopping Carts .
(a) Any shopping cart not retrieved by its owner within
thirty (30) days of the date appearing on the
abatement notice when such owner has not requested
' a hearing to appeal, or within thirty (30) days of
the hearing date when such owner has requested a
hearing to appeal, shall be deemed to be
permanently abandoned and may be sold at public
auction or otherwise disposed of .
(b) At a time convenient to the City, the City shall
advertise the sale of permanently abandoned (as
provided in subsection (a) of this section)
shopping carts . Notice of such sale, including the
Vse3
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time and place, shall be posted in three
conspicuous places within the City. Ten (10) days
after posting such notice, such shopping carts may
be sold and delivered to the highest bidder free
and clear of any claims of the owner thereof .
(c) The proceeds of such sale shall be disbursed to the
City. ,
Sec. 11 . 100 . 080 Removal and Disposal of Wrecked Shopping
Carts . The Director may determine that a wrecked shopping cart is
in such poor condition that it may be immediately disposed of .
This action will be a discretionary decision of the Director and
shall be based upon the Director' s determination that the shopping
cart is inoperable, unsafe, or that the cost to repair exceeds the
value of the shopping cart . I:n such case, the shopping cart or
parts thereof may be destroyed without providing the appeal hearing
provided in Section 11 . 100 . 060, but the Director shall give notice
of his action to the owner, if' the same can be determined. The
owner shall not be liable for any cost for removal and abatement in
such case.
Sec. 11 . 100 . 090 identification of Shopping Carts . Every
owner of a shopping cart_, as defined in this chapter, shall
permanently affix a sign to such shopping cart conspicuously
identifying the owner thereof including name, address, and a
telephone number for purposes of providing any necessary notice
hereunder to the owner.
Sec . 11 . 100 . 100 Removal From Premises Prohibited --
Exceptions . No person shall remove any shopping cart from the
premises or parking area of any business establishment if such
shopping cart has permanently affixed to it a sign identifying it ,
as belonging to the owner or operator of such business
establishment, and a notification to the effect that the shopping
cart is not to be removed from the owner' s premises . This section
shall , not apply to the removal by the owner or his agent or an
employee of the business, nor to removal by a customer with the
consent of its owner, owner' s manager, or owner' s authorized agent .
Sec. 11 . 100 . 110 Abandonment Prohibited. No person shall
abandon or leave any shopping cart which has been removed, from the
owner' s premises upon any public street, alley, sidewalk, parkway
or other public place, nor upon any private property except that of
the owner of the shopping cart .
Sec . 11 . 100 . 120 Owner Responsibility to Prevent
Littering. The action of an owner or owner' s agent or employee to
permit any shopping cart to be removed from the owner' s premises
shall be considered littering by the owner.
Sec . 11 . 100 . 130 Unlawful Possession. No person shall have
in his possession any shopping cart which has been removed from the
owner' s premises without authorization or which has been abandoned
or left on public or private property unless such person has
notified the Police Department of the presence and location of such
shopping cart . '
Sec . 11 . 100 . 140 Suppic:mentation of Codes. Statutes ,
Ordinances, etc . This chapter is not to be construed as the
exclusive regulation of wrecked, dismantled or abandoned shopping
carts within the City. It shall supplement and be in addition to
other regulatory codes, statutes and ordinances heretofore or
hereafter enacted by the City, State or legal. entity or agency
having jurisdiction.
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SECTION 2 . EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall take effect
and be in force thirty (30) days after its passage.
SECTION 3 . PUBLICATION. The City Clerk is hereby ordered and
directed to certify to the passage of this Ordinance, and to cause
the same or a summary thereof or a display advertisement, duly
prepared according to law, to be published in accordance with law.
' ADOPTED this 19th day of July 1995 .
AYES : Members Kleindienst, Reller-Spurgin and Mayor Maryanov
NOES : Members Hodges and Lyons
ABSENT: None
ATTEST: CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
City--CXerk Mayor
REVIEWED AND APPROVED:
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT the foregoing Ordinance 1514 was duly adopted
by the City Council of the City of Palm Springs, California in
' a meeting held on the 19th day of July, 1995, and that same was
published in the DESERT SUN, a newspaper of general circulation
on July 13, 1995, and July 24, 1995.
JUDITH SUMICH
City Clerk
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