5.25.030 Shopping carts – Activities – Prohibitions – Notices – Applicability – Consent – Presumption – Violations.
A. A person shall not do any of the following with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer of possession of a shopping cart:
1. Remove a shopping cart from the premises or parking area of a retail establishment.
2. Be in possession of any shopping cart that has been removed from the premises or parking area of a retail establishment.
3. Be in possession of any shopping cart with the serial numbers removed, obliterated or altered.
4. Leave or abandon a shopping cart at a location other than the premises or parking area of the retail establishment.
5. Alter, convert or tamper with a shopping cart, remove any part or portion of a shopping cart or remove, obliterate or alter serial numbers, the name of the owner, or any restrictive device on a shopping cart.
6. Be in possession of any shopping cart while that shopping cart is not located on the premises or parking area of a retail establishment.
B. Each owner of a shopping cart or retailer shall post a notice in English and Spanish in the following format in a location on their premises reasonably accessible to the public as follows:
NOTICE: REMOVAL OF SHOPPING CARTS FROM THE PREMISES AND PARKING AREA OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS ILLEGAL AND A VIOLATION OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA LAW AND MAY BE ENFORCED BY A CIVIL OR CRIMINAL PENALTY PURSUANT TO A.R.S. §44-1799.32 AND A.R.S. §44-1799.36.
C. Each owner of a shopping cart or retailer shall place on each shopping cart in their control the name of the owner of the shopping cart or retailer, notification to the public of the procedure to be used for authorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises, notification to the public that the unauthorized removal of the shopping cart from the premises or parking area of the retail establishment or the unauthorized possession of the shopping cart is a violation of law and list a valid address and telephone number for returning the shopping cart removed from the premises or parking area to the owner or retailer.
D. An owner of a shopping cart or retailer shall only give consent in writing to the removal of a shopping cart from the premises or parking area of their establishment. It shall be presumed as a matter of law that any person not having written consent, other than the owner of the shopping cart or the retailer, in possession of a shopping cart located outside the premises of the owner or retailer has temporarily or permanently deprived the owner or retailer of possession of the shopping cart.
E. This section does not apply to the owner of a shopping cart or to a retailer or a retailer’s agents, or employees, to a customer of a retail establishment who has written consent from the owner of a shopping cart or a retailer to be in possession of the shopping cart or to remove the shopping cart from the premises or the parking area of the retail establishment, or to any employee of the city or a business of shopping cart retrieval designated to retrieve shopping carts.
F. Violation of subsection (A) of this section is a class 3 misdemeanor pursuant to A.R.S. § 44-1799.36. Violation of subsection (B) or (C) of this section shall be enforced by a civil penalty. [Ord. 21-07 § 2; Res. 21-28.]