New Shopping Cart Ordinance in Duarte to Go into Effect, August 28

The City of Duarte has adopted a new ordinance to deal with the problem of stray shopping carts. Beginning Aug. 28, businesses and individuals will be responsible for the removal and misuse of shopping carts and laundry carts. The ordinance will prevent the unauthorized use, accumulation, and storage of abandoned shopping carts and laundry carts on public or private property by restricting the removal of carts from parking lots and requiring identification on carts.

The new ordinance imposes fees and fines for businesses, as well as fines for individuals in violation of the ordinance. City staff will work with the local business community to help educate them on the requirements of the new ordinance,” said Public Safety Director, Brian Villalobos.

Businesses will be required to submit a $60 fee along with a written cart retrieval program to the Public Safety Director prior to the establishment’s original or annual renewal business license application. They will need to demonstrate how they plan to retrieve abandoned carts and how they plan to prevent shopping carts from being taken off of their premises, among other requirements. Businesses will be fined $60 per cart for abandoned carts retrieved by the City. An additional $60 fine will be imposed for each occurrence in excess of three occurrences within a six-month period.

Persons found in possession of shopping carts or laundry carts outside the premises of the owner or caught removing a shopping cart from the business’s parking lot will be issued a written warning the first time and issued a citation if they are caught in violation of the ordinance again. The fine for the first offense will be $100, and an additional $50 for each additional offense.

For more information, or to report abandoned shopping carts, call Duarte Public Safety at (626) 357-7938.