One-Day City Sweep Collects
Hundreds Of Shopping Carts

By Amy Bentley-Smith
Features Editor

In a six-month period in 2004-2005, more than 12,000 shopping carts were retrieved from city sidewalks.

That is according to statistics from the California Shopping Cart Retrieval Corporation (CSCRC), which the city pays to pick up abandoned unmarked carts or those from stores that aren’t a member of the California Grocers Association. But it is likely that even more carts from CGA members such as Ralphs, Vons and other major chains, which pay for similar service for their carts, wind up on city streets too.

City crews got proof that the number was much higher earlier this month when they picked up 699 shopping carts in one day sweep.

“This truly doesn’t surprise me,” said First District Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal, who proposed a shopping cart ordinance for the city, which was approved in March after years of off-and-on discussion on the subject.

Since the city implemented its cart retrieval program — the contract with CSCRC — in 1999, council members have wanted a tough mechanism in place to keep carts off city streets.

What the council approved in March would require that stores retrieve carts abandoned on city streets within 24 hours of notification or face a citation. Stiffer penalties would apply for subsequent violations, with the toughest penalty being the requirement of an on-site cart containment system. All new retail stores that use carts must have a containment system, the ordinance says.

The ordinance won’t take effect until October, and in preparation, city staff said they wanted to find out the extent of the problem and come up with a cost recovery plan. The sweep was the first of its kind in the city.

“We were trying to determine which grocery stores are the biggest violators,” Environmental Services Bureau Manager James Kuhl said. “We want to avoid spending taxpayer money on retrieving private property. We want stores to take financial responsibility.”

More than 100 carts collected in the sweep came from Top Valu and Ralphs each. Another 100 were unmarked. Others came from Superior, Vons, Northgate and Albertsons, Kuhl said.

Twenty city trucks were used in the citywide sweep. Kuhl added that emphasis was placed on areas of known problem stores. The city has contacted the stores about the carts that were picked up. They will have 30 days (by state law) to get their carts out of impound, after which time the city can crush and recycle them.

Kuhl anticipates at least one more sweep before the ordinance takes effect.

“I guess we’ll do it in three to five months to see if there’s a change in behavior. That’s the purpose behind the new ordinance,” he said.