L.A. gets wheels moving to free streets of abandoned shopping carts
Two city councilmen are proposing that supermarkets and other stores be required to use containment systems to keep people from removing the baskets. Those that don't comply would be fined.
Los Angeles city officials took steps today to rid their streets of abandoned shopping carts by proposing a crackdown on supermarkets and other stores whose carts repeatedly turn up in neighborhoods.
Using the city of Glendale's pioneering enforcement program as their model, Los Angeles Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Greig Smith called for the planning department and the city attorney to draw up a proposed ordinance within 30 days.
If approved by the City Council, the measure would require stores that habitually lose carts to use "containment" systems that would keep people from removing the baskets from the premises. Shops that don't comply would face fines.
Cardenas began pushing for such an ordinance after he and the city's Bureau of Sanitation conducted a 2007 pilot program in his east San Fernando Valley district. Workers collected 6,880 abandoned shopping carts within six months. They witnessed several near-accidents in which drivers had to swerve around carts to avoid crashes and found children using the abandoned carts as toys, often in the middle of busy streets.
"This is about the quality of life and public safety," Cardenas said in a statement. "Abandoned shopping carts are eyesores that denigrate community pride and pose extreme danger when left on public streets and sidewalks."
While retailers often argue that it is unfair to put the onus on them for customers who steal carts, advocates of requiring stores to be held responsible say it makes more sense than trying to prosecute the individuals.
"I don't think any police officer would ever, ever write a ticket for somebody taking a cart," Smith told The Times earlier this year in explaining why he favors holding retailers responsible.
Today, Smith issued a statement noting "a proliferation of abandoned shopping carts throughout the city."
"It is time to get serious about addressing this problem head on to protect our neighborhoods," Smith said.
Cardenas said he worked with store managers in devising the proposed ordinance. However, the California Grocers Assn. has said that containment systems are costly, and the trade group has suggested that cities instead enforce an existing state law that makes it a misdemeanor to take shopping carts.
jean.merl@latimes.com
