A bill introduced by Northern California legislator is trying to enhance the cleanup process for discarded shopping carts throughout the state, which frequently cause blight along streets and waterways.
State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) made the announcement on Monday that he introduced Senate Bill 753, a bill also supported by leaders in the Bay Area’s biggest city, including Mayor Matt Mahan.
“My legislation does away with blight and provides incentives to get retailers to cooperate with local governments,” Cortese said in a release.
Under SB753, the bill would make several revisions to the state’s existing abandoned shopping cart laws, which his office stated were “ineffective” in keeping carts from being abandoned and encouraging responsible recovery. Cities must currently store the carts at an impound lot and wait for the retailer to pick them up.
If authorized, the abandoned carts can be sent directly back to the retailers by the cities, rather than impounding them. The cities can also gain revenue by charging stores for retrieval services.
Other details of the proposal are cities and counties would have the authority to impose their own fines, now capped at $50. Violations would also be redefined, said Cortese’s office, to “each occurrence where a retailer does not pick up a cart within three business days of notification by the city or county, rather than per day’s accumulation of carts under existing law.”
“I’m tired of watching shopping carts line our streets and waterways, and I know I’m not the only one,” Mahan said. “I welcome Senator Cortese’s sense of urgency — allowing cities to recover stolen carts right away and providing means to recoup costs keeps them where they should be — in stores, not on our streets.”
It was unclear when the measure would be brought up in the legislature.