[Adopted 4-29-1975 by L.L. No. 8-1975
as Ch. 79 of the 1975 Code]
It is the intent of this article to eliminate
danger and inconvenience to the public caused by the abandonment of
shopping carts in public places such as streets and sidewalks within
the Town of Yorktown, where the abandoned carts may become an obstacle
to traffic and a hazard to pedestrians.
A.
ABANDON
BUILDING INSPECTOR
CART or SHOPPING CART
OWNER
PERSON
PUBLIC PLACE
TOWN
As used in this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Leaving, discarding, dumping, throwing or placing of personal
property in public places.
The Building Inspector of the Town of Yorktown.
Any rolling or nonrolling basket or container, and any part
of parts thereof, commonly used in supermarkets or self-service stores
as a conveyor of goods, wares and merchandise.
The merchant or purveyor of foods or other goods who provides
patrons with shopping carts and to the person responsible for cart-tag
identification under the provisions of this article.
A natural person of either sex, a corporation, a partnership,
association, joint-stock company, society and all other entities capable
of being sued.
Any street, avenue, road, alley, lane, highway, boulevard,
concourse, driveway, culvert, crosswalk, thoroughfare, off-street
parking area, parking field, commercial parking lot, municipal parking
facility, park, parking space, sidewalk, vacant lot, plot, parcel
of land and all other spaces or places available to or used by the
general public.
The unincorporated area of the Town of Yorktown.
B.
Word usage. The words "or" and "and" as used herein
may be construed interchangeably, where such meaning is necessary
to effectuate the purpose of this article.
It shall be unlawful for any person to provide
carts for patron's use on store or business premises, unless the cart
has permanently affixed to it a sign, metallic tag or other means
for clearly identifying the owner of the cart and the specific store
location at which said cart is used.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this
article for any owner to suffer or permit any person to take any cart
from the owner's premises or parking area and thereafter abandon,
discard, leave, place or suffer or permit any cart to be left or placed
in a public place.
The Building Inspector is hereby authorized
to seize and remove or cause to be removed any abandoned shopping
cart from any public place within the town, without notice and shall
take or cause the same to be taken to a facility within the town for
redemption or disposition as hereinafter provided.
[Amended 4-21-1987 by L.L. No. 10-1987]
A.
Whenever the Building Inspector removes or causes
to be removed any shopping carts having identification of ownership
or right of possession, notice of the removal shall be served personally
on the owner or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested,
to the owner advising him/her/it of the removal of the shopping cart,
the facility to which the shopping cart was removed and the amount
necessary to redeem the shopping cart.
B.
Any shopping carts removed from public places within the town may be redeemed by the owner thereof any time prior to disposal by the town by tendering to the office of the Building Inspector during regular business hours at his office the sum of $25 each, plus the sum of $1 for each day or part thereof that said property is held by the town following the owner's receipt of the notice provided pursuant to Subsection A of this article.
C.
The Building Inspector shall require satisfactory
proof of ownership or lawful right to possession of the property sought
prior to release. Any return of property by the Building Inspector
to a person claiming the same pursuant to this article shall be an
absolute defense to the town against any other person claiming same.
[Amended 4-21-1987 by L.L. No. 10-1987]
The Building Inspector may dispose of all shopping carts held by the town for a period in excess of five days, following the owner's receipt of the notice provided pursuant to § 250-12A of this article in any manner the Building Inspector sees fit, including the destruction of the shopping cart.
Any person committing an offense against any
provision of this article shall be guilty of a violation punishable
by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days or by a fine not
exceeding $250 or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation
of an offense against the provisions of this article shall constitute,
for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense
hereunder.
