At Tuesday’s Council Committee meeting, the issue of the behavior of the juveniles selling water on street corners was brought up by the Chairperson of the ‘Community Standards and Enforcement’ Committee: Ward 1 Councilperson Chris Rodriguez. Responding to his constituents, he addressed the problems to Administration, those which exist. This was Director of Development and Service Zach Woodruff’s response to the ongoing problem of Target carts too often being taken by these juveniles to cart their water to the corner, which are often then filled with trash.
(This is an edited version, only dealing with Mr. Woodruff’s comments on carts and cart legislation, that which is relevant to this post’s point only)
Let me unpack some of Mr. Woodruff’s statements on this matter:
He said: “…that legislation was enacted to require/enforce Kroger, for example, to make sure they were picking up their carts. …So, those carts that are taken off their property, we can call Target and tell them that there are carts at the corner of Robinwood and Doney and to come get them. …we either pick it up or notify the property owner, that’s pretty standard.”
I was going to the meetings when the shopping cart legislation* was discussed and adopted. At the time, people were taking carts off the store’s property and their presence littered the neighborhoods, making them look junky. Because of public outcry, this legislation was introduced and enacted. It compelled stores, like Kroger and Target, to do something about their carts, lest they suffer fines and loss of carts. Kroger responded by installing a system which locked their carts, preventing them from leaving their property. Target, on the other hand, has seemingly not followed suit. That is why you see their carts scattered through the west side of Whitehall, including clogging Mason Run. It continues to be a problem, whether by shoppers taking them home or kids who take them to cart their inventory to the corner. The success of the legislation and the sanctity of our neighborhoods from this carelessness rests on Mr. Woodruff’s Service Department, through its Code Enforcement division. When he, as the Service Director says things like, “I don’t think that’s something we’re gonna enforce” or speaks about carts being “adjacent to or on the property of Target” as something that’s not of immediacy and importance to him, then it says to me that the citizens surrounding Target will just have to suffer the City’s and Target’s lacks attitude about their responsibilities towards our community. That makes Target a bad neighbor and the City a bad government.
The fact is that the city has the right per ordinance 766.01, when grabbing stray carts off the streets, to levy a cost to the store to get that cart back, this is done to compel the store to fix the problem regarding our neighborhood’s quality of life with carts littering the area. Due to the stray cart issue continuing to be a problem for the neighborhoods, it appears Target is not acting in good faith towards the legislation nor the neighborhood it sits or the community it relies on, therefore… if the city isn’t willing to do what’s necessary to enforce this legislation, using the teeth it possesses to compel Target to adhere to this legislation, then the City is, in essence, guilty of nonfeasance; failing to act on legislation they’re tasked to enforce, thereby exerting a careless and disrespectful attitude towards our community. HIs boss is Mayor Kim Maggard.
(Of course, they’ll jump all over private citizens tall grass or permit-less yard sales but a huge corporation like Target, the 8th largest** in America, gets a pass in our community?)
He said: “…that legislation doesn’t speak to people taking the carts off the property***, if anything that would be a theft issue, and again, that would be enforced by the division of police. I don’t think that’s something we’re looking to enforce. …Again, this particular issue, the carts being taken off of the property, that is not something that we can assert someone else’s rights, so either Target or the property owner would have to call.”
The ordinance says: ‘(f) No person shall, without written permission from the owner, remove from the premises of the owner any shopping cart.’
”Possession of a shopping cart away from the premises of the owner of the shopping cart shall be considered prima-facie evidence of petit larceny and/or possession of stolen goods.’ That says that if an authority (Code enforcement? Police?) comes upon someone in possession of a cart away from the premises of the owner of the shopping cart, that they shall consider it…’evidence of petit larceny and/or possession of stolen goods’. That alone gives someone the authority to do something tangible about the shopping cart in the juveniles possession. Of course, the authority coming upon this scene has a measure of restraint they may choose to exercise: to actually follow the law or let them off the hook. I understand that one doesn’t want to immediately start sending kids off to jail but,
a) they continue taking the carts despite being told many times not to, therefore no one seems to be learning any lessons and,
b) I was handcuffed, put in the back of a cruiser and taken to Whitehall jail at 15 years of age for stealing a .15 cent Hostess fruit pie from the Robinwood Kroger store****. So, the law in Whitehall doesn’t apply anymore? Where were my 25 warnings as they took back the fruit pie and sent me on my way?
So then, the issue appears to be two-fold: stolen carts and the Service Department enforcing the ordinance regarding them.
Unless Target and/or the City’s authorities are willing to ticket and/or prosecute apprehended cart thieves, or the authorities enforce laws which exist, then the behavior goes unpunished to do it again, again and again in an atmosphere where, as Mr. Woodruff characterized it, “I don’t believe this is a big issue, I really don’t”.
So too, if Mr. Woodruff’s Service Department doesn’t levy any fees for stray carts, then the initial problem regarding citizen’s quality of life here goes unenforced, meaning Mr. Woodruff is not doing the job he is being paid handsomely to do. It makes for an atmosphere where private citizens are held responsible for every picayune thing through the heavy-handed power of government but big corporations and city government itself act irresponsibly, leaving the citizens alone then to deal with the waste of the inaction they leave in their wake. It is entirely unacceptable, I rebuke Mr. Woodruff’s response and I respectfully ask, again, that his boss, Mayor Maggard, take the correct and appropriate action.
*766.01 SHOPPING CART REGULATIONS; IMPOUNDING; REMOVAL PROHIBITED.
(a) For the purpose of this Chapter the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Shopping cart” means that type of basket, of wire or other construction on wheels, propelled by human power, commonly but not exclusively used for transporting articles of merchandise within or from a place of business and popularly known as a shopping cart.
(2) “Place of business” means a grocery store, supermarket, drugstore, dry goods store, department store, discount store, variety store or other establishment which supplies shopping carts for the use of its customers to transport articles of merchandise within or from such establishment.
(3) “Customer” means any person who enters a place of business for the purpose of purchasing, or inspecting with a view toward purchasing, articles of merchandise.
(4) “Shopping cart owner” or “owner” means any person, operator, firm or corporation, or an agent of any person, operator, firm or corporation who is authorized to act on the Owner’s behalf, and being one or more of the following:
- Having a legal or equitable interest in the property;
- Recorded in the official records of the state, county, or municipality as holding title to the property; or
- Otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
(5) “Parking lot” means any parcel of land used for parking vehicles or otherwise adjoining or used in connection with a place of business, and owned or leased by the person, firm or corporation which is the owner, lessee or operator of such place of business or which is provided for the use of the customers of such place of business under any form of lease or other contractual arrangement.
(6) “Premises” includes any real property or portion thereof upon which the owner of the shopping cart engages in business. It also includes any real property designated for or devoted to use in conjunction with the business engaged in by such owner. “Premises” also means the property owned, leased or controlled and so connected with the business in which the owner is engaged as to form a component or integral part of it.
(b) No person, firm or corporation, being the owner, lessee or in charge of a place of business shall leave, or permit to be left, any shopping cart or carts unattended within the boundaries of any parking lot. However, this section shall not be deemed to be violated if such person, firm or corporation, at reasonable frequent intervals, of not more than one hour each, during the hours such place of business is open to the public for business and within one hour after the closing of such place of business each day, removes his or its unattended shopping cart or carts from such parking lot.
(c) Not less than one hour following the close of business each day, any person, firm or corporation being the owner, lessee or operator of a place of business shall remove all or any unattended shopping carts from any parking lot. Such shopping carts shall, until such place of business is again open to the public for business, be placed within a locked enclosure or otherwise secured in place so as to prevent their unauthorized removal from such place of business.
(d) Any shopping car found abandoned on any street, alley, sidewalk, tree lawn or other public place or in any parking lot within the City may be impounded by the City. Prior to impoundment the City may as a courtesy give notice to the cart owner’s contact person of the location of carts belonging to them. If after twenty-four (24) hours from this notice carts have not been collected, these carts are subject to impoundment. Any shopping cart which has been impounded may be reclaimed by the owner upon payment of twenty dollars ($20.00) per shopping cart, which shall be paid into the General Fund of the City. Thirty days after mailing of notice by certified mail to the owner, and as to any shopping cart that is unidentifiable as to ownership, thirty days after having been impounded, any unclaimed shopping cart may be disposed of by the City in the manner provided by law for the disposition of abandoned property.
(e) Owners of shopping carts are hereby required to mark and identify shopping carts in a permanent manner so that they can be identified as to ownership. Any individual cart for which permission has been granted to a person to remove from the premises shall be marked with a numbering system so it can be identified. This number system shall be registered with the Service Department and shall include digits for identification of each cart. Only those carts which the owner gives permission to be removed from the premises is required to be numbered but all carts need to be identified by the owner’s name.
(f) No person shall, without written permission from the owner, remove from the premises of the owner any shopping cart.
(g) Possession of a shopping cart away from the premises of the owner of the shopping cart shall be considered prima-facie evidence of petit larceny and/or possession of stolen goods. The storage of or location of a shopping cart on or in a house, barn, garage, shed or business building or upon the lot or land upon which the same is situated shall be deemed to be in the possession of the person controlling or occupying the same.
(h) All shopping cart owners shall provide to the Director of Public Service the name of a contract person, residential address, work phone number and/or cell phone number and email address whom shall be responsible for the collection of off-premise shopping carts. Such person shall be accountable when cart violations occur.
(i) All shopping cart owners shall post a sign in English and Spanish not less than eight and half (8.5) inches in height and fourteen (14) inches in width with block lettering in a conspicuous place on the building within four (4) feet of all customer entrances and exits stating, at a minimum, the following:
REMOVAL OF SHOPPING CARTS FROM THE PREMISES IS PROHIBITED BY LAW
(j) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 011-2013. Passed 4-2-13.)
**Source: Wikipedia
***Ordinance 766.01 ends with:
‘(i) All shopping cart owners shall post a sign in English and Spanish not less than eight and half (8.5) inches in height and fourteen (14) inches in width with block lettering in a conspicuous place on the building within four (4) feet of all customer entrances and exits stating, at a minimum, the following:
REMOVAL OF SHOPPING CARTS FROM THE PREMISES IS PROHIBITED BY LAW’
Tonight (7/15/2020; 6:00 p.m.) I went into Target to check on their compliance with this edict and saw zero signs posted per the ordinance’s language. Again, why are citizens being dragged into Mayor’s Court and some thrown into jail for non-compliance but large corporations aren’t being held to the same standard as private citizens? Have they never put up a sign since 2013 when the ordinance was enacted? Are the code officers too busy measuring citizen’s grass height or monitoring yard sale activity to notice? Is there a separate standard for businesses than citizens? Are businesses favored over people? This inaction by Target and/or the Whitehall Service Department begs several questions.
****Shopping cart theft can be a costly problem with stores that use them. The carts, which typically cost between $75 and $150 each, with some models costing $300–400, are removed by people for various purposes. To prevent theft, estimated at $800 million worldwide per annum, stores use various security systems…- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_cart
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