Los Angeles Proposal Would Fine Supermarkets for Abandoned Carts

Two Los Angeles city councilmen have proposed a law requiring grocery stores to keep track of their carts or face fines.

Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Greig Smith want Los Angeles to follow the lead of Glendale, Calif., which enacted a tough ordinance in 2006 ordering any store with five abandoned carts found in a week to install a system to keep carts at the store, such as one that locks a cart's wheels as soon as it gets a certain distance from the store.

The proposed ordinance and any potential fines would need to be vetted in council committees before a final vote.

“Abandoned shopping carts are eyesores that denigrate community pride and pose extreme danger when left on public streets and sidewalks,” Cardenas said. “As the second-largest city in the nation, it's time we follow the responsible example of other cities and pass an abandoned-shopping-cart ordinance.” Cardenas funded a six-month pilot project in his San Fernando Valley district last year and city staff picked up 6880 abandoned shopping carts from 128 stores.

The California Grocers Association said it had not seen the proposal and could not comment on it. In the past, the group has expressed concern with city rules that punish stores for shoppers who walk off with carts, which are worth as much as $100 a piece. While it is a crime to steal a shopping cart, the law is difficult to enforce because officers have to witness a shopper walking away with a cart. Many stores pay a private company for cart retrieval, but city officials said too many carts are still left on the streets.