Medford aims to get rid of eyesore: Abandoned shopping carts

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – An ordinance intended to cut down on stray shopping carts takes effect Sunday in Medford.

The Mail Tribune reports stores will be required to display signs on every shopping cart that removing carts from the property is illegal. The signs also must include information about the owner of the cart and a phone number to report the cart has been abandoned.

Stores will be held to a seven-day pick-up deadline. If stores don’t retrieve a cart during that window, the city will remove the cart, and stores must pay a $50 fine to get it back. After 30 days, the fine jumps to $500, and the cart will be destroyed.

Medford took action because shopping carts were increasingly turning up in parks and other public places, and city workers spent a lot of time trying to return them to their rightful stores.

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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/