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Council Agenda - City of BurbankTuesday, July 25, 2006Agenda Item - 9 |
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Purpose
The purpose of this report is to provide Council with information concerning the progress of the Glendale Shopping Cart Containment Ordinance and recommend that Council direct staff to draft a similar ordinance for Planning Board consideration. Also, this report provides information gathered from community outreach efforts concerning the issue of abandoned shopping carts in Burbank as well as an overall perspective of the issue both statewide and citywide.
History
At the August 23, 2005 Council meeting staff provided Council with a report on the issues involved with abandoned shopping carts. Attached as Exhibit A, is a copy of the staff report for that meeting. At the conclusion of staff�s presentation a motion was made for staff to return in the near future with a City of Glendale-style, containment �Abandoned Shopping Cart Ordinance�. However, there was only four (4) Council Members present at this meeting and the motion resulted in a split (2-2) vote and consequently did not pass.
Continued Council deliberations that evening resulted in direction for staff to wait for the effective date of the Glendale ordinance and later return with a progress report on the status of that ordinance. Council also directed staff to return with information gathered from public outreach efforts to understand the public�s perspective on this subject. In preparation for reporting back to Council, staff has been in continual contact with City of Glendale officials concerning their ordinance which became effective January 1, 2006. In addition, staff conducted an abandoned shopping cart public outreach meeting on April 17, 2006 at the Buena Vista Library auditorium. This information, along with information staff has gathered from recent and past public inquiries and complaints concerning the issue of abandoned shopping carts will be discussed further in this report.
Background
Abandoned shopping carts have been an increasing problem in many California communities. The issue of abandoned shopping carts is a difficult issue to resolve because of a protective state law which limits a city�s ability to provide uninhibited and expeditious impoundment relief. A copy of the state law, which most California cities consider one-sided and onerous, is attached as Exhibit B.
Abandoned shopping carts are a visual blight as well as potential hazards for pedestrian and vehicular traffic on streets, sidewalks, parkways, alleys, flood control property, railroad crossings/tracks, and private property. In addition, from time to time abandoned shopping carts have raised a concern for public health reasons. It is not uncommon for reclaimed abandoned shopping carts which have been used as trash receptacles for debris and conveyors of garden supplies, auto parts, dirty clothing, and animals, to be placed back into immediate service without the benefit of being washed or sanitized.
This report will discuss the following:
(#1) How Many Abandoned Shopping Carts Are In Burbank?
A recent survey of Burbank businesses has determined that there is an approximate shopping cart population in Burbank in excess of 6,725 carts (survey attached as Exhibit C). Trying to count abandoned shopping carts within a particular period of time is difficult, therefore for purposes of this report assumptions will need to be made. Such as, if at any particular time 10% of the Burbank�s shopping cart population is abandoned in Burbank, there would be a minimum of 670 carts temporarily abandoned on either public or private property. The estimated number of abandoned shopping carts in Burbank remains high even if the estimated percentage of abandonment is reduced to 5% (335 abandoned carts), or 2.5% (168 abandoned carts). It is a reasonable estimate that at any particular time there is a minimum of 150 to 400 plus abandoned shopping carts in the City of Burbank.
(#2) Why Is It That The City Can�t Easily Impound Abandoned Shopping Carts?
Because of the imposition of the protective California State Shopping Cart Law (B&P, Section 22435, attached as Exhibit B) all California cities are limited in their efforts to expeditiously abate the issues of blight, liability, and potential health hazards associated with abandoned shopping carts. Consequently, California cities have to either work within the restraints of this law, which usurps an extraordinary amount of personnel resource time, or as the City of Glendale accomplished, adopt and enact an ordinance which restricts shopping carts to the premises of the cart owners.
The California State Shopping Cart Law became effective in 1997. Since that time the number of abandoned shopping carts has increased significantly in Burbank. Staff theorizes that in addition to the impacts of the California Shopping Cart Law there has been a significant increase in abandoned shopping carts in Burbank because of:
(#3) Current State Law
In 1997, Chapter 19 of the California Business and Professions Code was amended such that, with non-emergency or non-hazardous circumstances, there are restrictions on local governments for enacting legislation which would expedite the removal of abandoned shopping carts from the public right-of-way. This law is known as the California State Shopping Cart and Laundry Cart Law. Consequently, because of the preemptions of this law local governments are limited in how to legislatively address issues associated with abandoned shopping carts.
(#4) Why Is The California Shopping Cart Law Difficult For Local Government?
Administratively, it is almost as difficult to impound an abandoned shopping cart as it is to impound an abandoned vehicle. Provisions of the California Shopping Cart Law allow abandoned shopping carts, which are not impeding emergency services, to remain at the abandoned location for three working days (72-hours) prior to abatement efforts by a city. Further, this law also requires that after the 72-hour period has lapsed and an abandoned shopping cart has been impounded, the local jurisdiction must notify the owner of the cart of the impoundment within a 24 hour period.
If the owner of the cart responds within three (3) working days to pick up a cart that has been impounded, no impound fee, storage fee, fine, or other charges may be rendered by the impounding authority. Fees may only be levied beginning on the 4th working day after the official notice of impoundment has been delivered. Overall, it is very difficult for cities to recover enforcement costs, which includes impoundment fees, if the owner of the abandoned cart acts within three (3) working days in response to impoundment notification. If an abandoned cart is not reclaimed 30 days after the impound notice has been given, then, and only then, can the impounding authority dispose of the abandoned cart. Selling the abandoned shopping cart isn�t much of an option therefore the landfill is the most logical, yet environmentally unsound resolution for resolving this portion of the abandoned shopping cart issue.
State law does not preclude the removal of a cart from a business premises to be considered a theft. However, rarely will a cart owner, if ever, press charges against their clients for the removal of carts from their premises. Consequently, it is not feasible to think that utilizing policing authority to cite persons with carts off premises will be a permanent solution. In addition, if police resources were directed to do this would require a re-prioritizing of police duties which at times are already strained trying to meet the public�s general policing needs.
Additional requirements of state law mandate that for the removal of a shopping cart from premises to be considered illegal, the cart must be equipped with a proper sign. This sign must be permanently affixed to the cart and will:
(#5) How Do Other Cities Deal With The Issue of Abandoned Shopping Carts?
Burbank is joined by many other California cities, such as Glendale, Long Beach, San Jose, Berkeley, Oroville, Colton, and Milpitas who, short of seeking an amendment to the state law, are currently researching or utilizing ways to effectively address this issue. Glendale, in particular has recently enacted an effective shopping cart containment ordinance which is reported to be working very well.
Before the Glendale ordinance, there were two other primary avenues most cities explored as solutions. One avenue is to partner with the local retail industry, those who are primarily responsible for abandoned shopping carts, to educate both them and the public relative to the facts surrounding this matter. The next avenue, which is a costly one, is to fund the application of strong code enforcement of existing state law, and in some circumstances augment this program by adopting a local shopping cart ordinance. However, the newest method for dealing with this issue, which is the primary method staff is interested in, is the new Glendale Shopping Cart Containment Ordinance.
(#6) The Glendale Shopping Cart Containment Ordinance
After three years of consideration and study, the City of Glendale developed a new approach for resolving the growing abandoned shopping cart problem. The Glendale ordinance involves amending the Zone Text of the Glendale Municipal Code to define shopping cart usage as a land use. As a land use, this provides municipalities more options in dealing with abandoned shopping cart issues because they can now work on resolving the problems associated with abandoned shopping carts beyond the restrictions of the State Shopping Cart Law.
Because the Glendale ordinance is a zone text amendment, the ordinance required review by both the Glendale City Council and the Glendale Planning Board. Consequently, as a zoning use, Glendale was able to develop its own standards for the manner in which shopping carts are to be controlled by the businesses which own these carts and as such, have the ability to exercise their police powers through the enforcement of their zoning laws.
The Glendale ordinance requires businesses which provide clientele shopping carts, to implement containment or control methods for keeping the carts from leaving the business premises. Glendale�s ordinance doesn�t specify a particular system or method for how containment or control is to be accomplished. Instead, this ordinance set measures in the zone text which establish a standard of no more than five (5) carts being allowed off the business premises within a 24-hour period. Violations of this standard are considered citable offenses. In addition, a violation of this standard requires the violating business to place into effect a mandatory containment system.
Containment can be achieved by various methods or control. Such control ranges from the newer hi-tech technologies, to simple traditional methods of security. The newer technologies mostly involve magnetically locking wheels. The businesses known as Cart Tronics, Gatekeeper, and Uncart are examples of such magnetically controlled systems (Exhibit D). Currently, the �Burbank Target� store at the Empire Center, the �99 Cent Only Store� on Buena Vista, the �Walgreens� store on Alameda, and the �Home Depot� on Flower St., all utilize this magnetically locking wheels containment technology which has resulted in very few of their shopping carts being abandoned on public and private property.
Another feature of the Glendale ordinance is that the ordinance also mandates that at all times stores either maintain a self-retrieval service or utilize professional commercial cart retrieval services. Attached is Exhibit E which details the various cart retrieval methods businesses in Burbank utilize which include: a third party professional cart retrieval service; a containment system; a self-cart retrieval system; or, no retrieval service at all.
Currently in Burbank nineteen (19) businesses, which represents 35% of Burbank businesses which own shopping carts and also represents 16% of the overall shopping cart population, do not have any formalized or on-going shopping cart retrieval service system. There are twenty-seven (27) businesses, 50% of the stores which have shopping carts, representing approximately 65% of Burbank�s shopping cart population, which utilize professional commercial shopping cart retrieval services. Three (3) stores, 4% of Burbank�s stores which have shopping carts, representing 4% of Burbank�s shopping cart population, conduct self-retrieval. The remaining four (4) stores, which represent 15% of the overall shopping cart population in Burbank, have containment systems which are magnetically controlled. These stores report very few, if any of their carts leave the premises and become abandoned.
The initial ordinance which Glendale staff presented to their City Council originally required that cart containment systems be installed or implemented on all the premises which utilized shopping carts. In other words, each store had to have a containment system in place to achieve a �no abandoned carts (zero tolerance) policy�. However, a more conservative approach was adopted establishing thresholds which allow a certain number of abandoned carts, within a specified period of time, to be off the premises. Since the implementation of the Glendale ordinance on January 1, 2006, Glendale reports a 94% compliance rate and has determined that their ordinance is successful and has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of abandoned shopping carts in Glendale. Glendale also reports that the majority of abandoned shopping carts are either imports from Burbank, Los Angeles, and Eagle Rock, or that the abandoned carts are previously stolen carts which are now coming out of garages and other storage areas.
There are several options, which vary in cost, associated with achieving cart containment. These options include: physical barriers; using employees for transporting groceries to patron�s vehicles; or, the most technologically sophisticated systems, which are the various magnetically wheel-locking cart systems. The least costly containment system is the barrier system which may include installing bollards on a property which prevents carts from leaving a building or leaving a close location to the building. Depending on the complexity, size, and scope of installation, a magnetically locking-wheel system can cost between $5,000 to $30,000. However, over a period of time, ranging from one (1) to two (2) years, the magnetically-locking wheel systems of cart containment pays for itself by not requiring cart owners to incur the direct costs associated with retrieving their abandoned carts. In addition, over time, containment systems will save cart owners money because they will no longer be expending as much money on shopping cart retrieval services and have fewer stolen and damaged carts. Furthermore, ultimately their customers benefit because the costs associated with abandoned shopping cart retrieval will not be passed on to the consumer.
(#7) Educational Programs
Some communities, including Burbank, have stressed public education in an attempt to try to minimize the negative effects of abandoned shopping carts. Education is an attempt to work within the State law and basically functions by teaching a community how to be a �watchdog� service for working within the parameters the California Shopping and Laundry Cart Law. Education programs provide the public with information concerning the provisions of the state law which protect abandoned shopping carts from expeditious municipal abatement. Such programs also provide the public with telephone numbers of commercial cart retrieval services and the retail store telephone numbers for the owners of the abandoned shopping carts.
Educational programs do provide some relief by informing the public about what the state law requires concerning abandoned carts. However, depending on the scope of the educationally-based programs, usually the cost of the program is absorbed by local government. Educational programs tend to perpetuate stagnant perceptions concerning the acceptance of abandoned carts as being a part of a community�s normal landscape. Unilaterally, educationally based programs do not stimulate, nor induce the largest abandoned shopping cart violators into taking pro-active leadership roles while trying to resolve the blight, hazards, and unsanitary conditions brought about by their abandoned carts.
As mentioned, educational programs may or may not have a large associated cost. These programs can vary widely and may include some or all of the following elements:
(#8) Targeted Code Enforcement Program with Dedicated Funding
Abandoned shopping cart programs which stress strong code enforcement targeted towards abatement of carts must function within the parameters of the state law. These programs operate with personnel who are primarily dedicated to oversee abandoned shopping cart issues. Usually programs of this nature are conducted by larger cities because they have a greater potential for having dedicated personnel resources to conduct these types of programs. Such programs must observe the state law requirement for: an observation standard of seventy-two hours; the twenty-four hour impoundment notification requirement; and, conclude with an impoundment which prohibits the collection of impound fees for the first three (3) days (72 hours).
A specialized code enforcement program such as this is usually not blended into the daily code enforcement routines for all inspectors. A program of this nature is generally assigned to one inspector as their primary job function. One benefit of this type of an enforcement program is the immediate positive impact of abandoned cart removal from public property caused by planned �sweeps� of the city. These �sweeps� pickup unmarked abandoned carts (no ownership identification on the cart) which may immediately be impounded and destroyed.
Targeted abandoned shopping cart code enforcement programs can be successful when they are coordinated to augment the work of commercial shopping cart retrieval services. These retrieval services are already picking up carts for businesses which have contracted for this service. However, shopping cart retrieval services will only pick up carts that belong to the businesses they are contracted with. Not all businesses which have shopping carts subscribe to a commercial shopping cart retrieval service. As previously mentioned, 36% of Burbank�s shopping cart population belong to stores which do not subscribe to a cart retrieval service (Exhibit E).
Dedicated abandoned shopping cart code enforcement programs are costly and usually become a drain on personnel resources when these resources are diverted from other code enforcement programs and priorities. The success of these programs lasts as long as the funding provided to conduct this type of code enforcement continues. Sustained success is dependent on continued funding and prioritization of workload assignments. If funding appropriation is discontinued, the program deflates and abatement reverts to previous abatement levels.
An example of this scenario is the City of San Jose, which is the 10th largest city in the nation and the largest city in Northern California. In 2001, the City of San Jose adopted a shopping cart ordinance (San Jose staff report attached to Exhibit A). In addition to working within the parameters of state law, San Jose�s ordinance requires each business to provide an Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan which includes a minimum of the following components:
The San Jose ordinance required that qualifying businesses, those with more than twenty-five (25) carts, file an Abandoned Cart Prevention Plan at the cost of between $135 to $150 per year. It was proposed that $10 of this fee for the first year was to be utilized to fund a citywide educational outreach program. The balance of the fee requirement would be augmented with Solid Waste Funds and be utilized to help fund the three (3) full-time positions hired to conduct this program.
San Jose increased staffing levels by adding a code enforcement officer, a clerical position, and a street maintenance worker to monitor and enforce both the application of the city�s ordinance and the enforcement of the state law. Although, San Jose�s approach was labor intensive, and thereby costly, theoretically their ordinance did provide General Fund cost recovery through the appropriation and collection of �plan� fees.
Generally, energies and resources dedicated to new cart retrieval programs initially have a favorable impact. However, favorable impacts will dwindle as resources devoted to these programs are not renewed, severely cut, or as resources are re-deployed to other priority areas of code enforcement. San Jose�s ordinance was successful for a brief period of time. However, in an effort to address a budget deficit, funding for this program was cut and remaining resources were reprioritized. Recently, the City of San Jose reported to Burbank staff that San Jose�s Abandoned Shopping Cart Program is no longer effective because of the lack of dedicated personnel to enforce the ordinance.
(#9) Deposit Method of Cart Control
There is another method of cart control which is not widely used in the United States, and is most commonly found in European countries. This method is the �deposit method� and essentially is premised on persons making a monetary deposit for the temporary use of a cart and upon return of the cart the deposit money is returned or credited. Although staff has no direct knowledge or experience with this method of abandoned cart control, it is being mentioned because it is a consideration that could be adopted widely in the future if businesses which supply shopping carts to their clients make infrastructure and policy changes to accommodate this methodology.
(#10) Legislative Options
The legislative process created the current California Shopping and Laundry Cart Law. Although not expeditiously practical, consideration for amending existing state law to provide more of a local government perspective could be a solution. The current �cart� law was enacted as a result of effective lobbying efforts conducted through strong special interest groups. However, legislative solutions are generally uphill battles which are usually lengthy and filled with compromises which could dilute original logic intended for better solutions. Therefore, staff feels that while in the long run the legislative option can be a permanent fix, however usually such options involve lengthy and �give and take� negotiations which are not as expeditious as self-enacted ordinances such as the Glendale Shopping Cart Ordinance.
(#11) Shopping Cart Retrieval Services
As previously mentioned, it is estimated that there is in excess of 6,725 shopping carts in Burbank. When shopping carts are removed from the premises of the business which owns the carts the resulting abandoned shopping carts are usually returned by one, or a combination of four different methods. Those methods are:
For most large businesses, commercial shopping cart retrieval services are the predominant method for returning abandoned shopping carts. Owner-conducted shopping cart retrieval is the predominant method of returning carts for smaller businesses. However, 36% of Burbank�s shopping cart owners have no cart retrieval service whatsoever (Exhibit E).
Commercial shopping cart retrieval services work with businesses through a contractual agreement. Payment for retrieved carts can be based on a per-cart principle (example, $3 per cart), or on a per truck load principle (example, $14 for a load of 10 to 12 returned of carts). The most important fact about shopping cart retrieval services is not the number of carts they pick up, but the number of carts they don�t pick up. Commercial shopping cart retrieval services will only retrieve carts for businesses which have contractually agreed to pay for the retrieval service. Consequently, if a cart retrieval service comes upon a group of abandoned carts at one location such as a bus stop, they will only pick up the carts belonging to the businesses which have contracts with them while ignoring and leaving the remaining abandoned carts.
Businesses know that for the most part, by state law their abandoned carts can remain abandoned for 72 hours before action can be taken by local government to remove the carts. Consequently, in a cost saving effort many businesses which contract with a cart retrieval service do not contract for retrieval service all seven (7) days a week. Many businesses which contract with shopping cart retrieval services only utilize retrieval services for two (2), or three (3) days a week. Because there are so few days a week carts are picked up, this is a contributing factor for protracting the amount of time a shopping cart will remain abandoned and consequently increases the number of abandoned shopping carts in a community.
(#12) Environmental and Health & Issues
An argument can be made that shopping carts, in this case, abandoned shopping carts, provide an environmental benefit to a community. Use of a shopping cart as a method of conveyance, can be a factor for the reduction of the number of motor vehicles contributing to traffic congestion and thereby decreases associated air pollution in addition to decreasing the use of limited parking spaces within a community.
During discussions of how to approach solutions to abandoned shopping carts, the issue of environmental pros (less traffic, air pollution, trash and debris, etc.), and cons (blight, theft, unsanitary and hazardous liabilities, and landfill issues), will be factors for consideration. This report acknowledges that environmental pros and cons most likely exist. However, this report does not determine if benefits outweigh liabilities when studying the overall environmental impacts brought about by the use of shopping carts.
From a public health perspective, unsanitary abandoned shopping carts which are immediately placed back into use can be cause for concern. Staff has observed numerous abandoned shopping carts which have been used for the storage and transfer of various kinds of unsanitary materials, animals, auto and mechanical parts, and in general, debris, available for public use upon the return of the carts to the owners. Attached as Exhibit F, are photos of abandoned shopping carts which contain unknown non-food materials which are not intended for shopping cart storage or transport. Common sense suggests that such carts should be subjected to cleaning and sanitizing before being placed back into service.
CONCLUSION
There are three (3) primary solutions for keeping abandoned shopping carts off public and private property. Two solutions many California cities utilize when trying to work within the restrictions of the state law are: targeted code enforcement programs with dedicated funding; and, educational programs. Arguably, the most effective solution is to adopt a containment ordinance similar to the ordinance the City of Glendale enacted. This ordinance is a process which involves amending the Zone Text to define shopping cart use as a �land use� and as such could mandate a zero tolerance containment requirement along with a �Cart Retrieval Plan�. Staff believes this is the most beneficial method for preventing shopping carts from becoming abandoned. Containment systems will prevent the majority of shopping carts from being removed from premises and becoming abandoned.
Staff believes Glendale�s containment ordinance is an effective ordinance. This fresh approach is premised on amending the zone text to make the �use� of shopping carts, a land use. As a zoning use this broadens a city�s ability to control shopping carts because it controls shopping carts at the source and diminishes the possibility for a shopping cart to become abandoned. Therefore, by establishing the use of shopping carts as a �land use�, standards for containment are established which have an effect of limiting the number of carts abandoned within any particular timeframe. Staff has been monitoring Glendale�s ordinance since the beginning of 2006 and has concluded that Glendale is benefiting from the positive results as they had anticipated.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Council provide direction for staff to draft a Glendale-style abandoned shopping cart containment ordinance which is based on a zone text amendment. Further, it is recommended that staff be directed to proceed with the draft ordinance to the Planning Board and return to the City Council with the Planning Board�s recommendations.
EXHIBITS
A. August 23, 2005 Council Staff Report B. State Shopping Cart Law C. Burbank Shopping Cart Survey D. Technology Systems (Magnetic Locking Wheels) E. Survey of Burbank Stores with Retrieval Services F. Photos of Shopping Carts being used for Storage
Shopping Carts 2006
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