Abandoned Shopping Carts Endless Days In Creekbeds, Sidewalks & Neighborhoods May Soon Be Over

SACRAMENTO – Abandoned shopping carts lying in creek beds and blocking streets and sidewalks have become such a problem throughout California that State Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley) has introduced SB 753, a bill allowing local governments to return carts directly to retailers, pick up carts immediately and return them to retailers without delay and recover the actual costs of managing the program.

“My bill eliminates blight and creates incentives for retailers to work collaboratively with local governments,” said Senator Dave Cortese.

SB 753 is sponsored by the City of San Jose and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

“I am sick and tired of seeing shopping carts litter our streets and waterways, and I know I’m not alone,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. “I appreciate Senator Cortese’s shared urgency — letting cities return stolen carts immediately and creating avenues to recover costs keeps them where they belong — in stores, not on our streets.”

  • Under this bill, cities would now be able to return abandoned carts directly to retailers instead of impounding them.
  • They would also be able to recover costs by billing retailers for retrieval services.
  • The three-day waiting period is eliminated, allowing cities to pick up and return carts immediately.
  •  If a retailer fails to retrieve their carts within three days, cities can still impound them as permitted under current law.
  • The $50 fine cap would be removed; cities and counties will have the ability to set their own fines.
  • A violation is now defined as each instance where a retailer fails to retrieve a cart within three business days after being notified by the city or county, rather than being based on a single day’s collection of carts under the current law.

Current state law has proven ineffective at preventing shopping cart abandonment and incentivizing proper recovery. Existing law requires cities to store carts in an impound lot and wait for retailers to pick them up, which is inefficient and very costly for large cities.