On Tuesday, October 22nd, District 2 Council Member Wanika Fisher’s bill that aims to cut down on stray shopping carts collecting trash, blocking sidewalks, and becoming eyesores in the community will be introduced before the full County Council. Tuesday is the final day for bills to be introduced for the 2024 legislative year.
CB-98-2024 requires retailers with more than 20 shopping carts to take proactive steps to prevent people from taking carts off property and leaving them elsewhere in the community.
According to Fisher, the issue has become a huge problem in her district and other parts of the county.
“I’ve been living in this community for 15 years now, and this problem has been recurring. It’s time we take action to address it,” Fisher said.
This proposed legislation would require all applicable businesses to mark their shopping carts with the store name, address, and phone number, and take at least one proactive anti-theft measure, including having a security guard, installing electronic disabling devices on carts, or implementing a coin deposit method for getting and returning carts. Companies failing to meet these requirements would be subject to a fine of $2,000 per day.
"You have to incentivize retailers to actually do it," said Fisher. "If it’s cheaper to pay the fine every day, why would businesses install the wheel locking technology or coin deposit system? I think it’s a pretty fair penalty and retailers would have six months to get in compliance with the new policy.”
After introduction on Tuesday, the bill goes to a public hearing which will likely occur on Tuesday, November 19th, the last day of the Council’s legislative year. The bill would then be eligible for enactment.