On a bike ride Sunday, I passed this unusual combination of shopping carts on the Dave Clark Path at Sherman Street.
Trying to get a handle on the problem of stolen and abandoned shopping carts, Albany passed a law in 2008. The law was amended in 2021 and then, in a reorganization of the city code, passed again in 2022. What has been the result?
“Shopping carts continue to pose a big problem,” City Manager Peter Troedsson said in his weekly report to the city council on Friday, March 7. “By law, stores are responsible for their carts but that doesn’t stop them from being removed from store lots.”
The report went on: “When complaints are received, the parks maintenance staff end up taking action, but they spend a significant amount of time hauling carts back to stores. We’re looking into methods for better enforcement. Fred Meyer has locks on their carts that keep them in the lot. As can be expected, parks staff find very few Fred Meyer carts.”
The current Albany Municipal Code (AMC 8.01.065) apparently ignores the changes the council voted to make in 2021. In March that year, the council changed the law to allow the city to dispose of abandoned carts right away if stores don’t collect them within three days of being notified. The current code still says the city must wait 30 days to dispose of carts.
The code also says shopping cart owners must provide a local or toll-free phone number for reporting abandoned carts. If the city ends up picking up the carts, stores have 72 hours to collect them in return for a “$50 fine.”
Making off with a shopping cart amounts to theft under state law. And fining the victims of theft — the store owners — never made any sense. Which is the reason there is no reported case of this fine being applied.
The city manager’s report says Albany is “looking into methods for better enforcement.”
Like what? (hh)
albany oregon police dept. cant patrol and protect the streets and pathways in albany as it is. we see unauthorized use of stolen shopping carts used by homeless people each and every day we drive thru town. albany pd does little, if nothing about it. if albany pd cant patrol pathways, we close the pathway. if we simply ban shopping carts city wide, we solve the shopping cart problem :)
Leave it to Oregonians to punish the store for having their carts stolen, instead of the thief. Which in turn is a cost for the store passed on to the consumer. This place is ridiculous.
How about ticketing the people in possession of the cart?
Wish they would all get the ‘brakes’ on them like Fred Meyer did.
The city should just call the return of stolen carts a “convenience fee”. $50 sounds about right for the city to pick up and return the carts. They certainly are worth more than that. This is just a cost of doing business in the modern era where a large group of citizens glorify homelessness and probably defend cart stealing.
Agreed $50 is a low cost to pay to have them returned to stores. Police do need to try and hold the thieves responsible in some way. Tickets? Will it be a waste of time and paper? Maybe notifications on carts displaced around town to stores. Giving them like 48 hrs to collect them, or receive a $100 fine. That seems fair to me. Of course the consumers end up paying as they already do for stolen goods from inside the stores.
The Aldi stores in Georgia have a system where people must insert a quarter in order to get a shopping cart to use. When they return the cart and attach it to the other “parked” carts, a quarter is returned to the person. It seems to work well in Georgia. Any possibility of trying that in Albany?
They also do this in Italy, which works great. Insert a coin and off you go, done with the card return to coral and pull out your coin.
Great idea! The problem is, no public official will take the reigns and make this a point of discussion/action.
I would think people that steal carts would then just consider a quarter is what they paid for the cart.
Do you jail a homeless person? In foul weather, that’s not much of a deterrent.
that is a question for the stores
the store who owns the cart is easily identified. If carts are seen by city employees do they contact the store, giving location, and request the store to come get it??
APD and volunteers could do that.
When I was stationed in west Germany in 76 77 78 all the grocery stores had strips around the perimeter of the parking lots so the carts could not leave the premises
Just like Fred Meyer apparently has now also like Georgia has now it cost 25 pfennigs
To get a cart and you got it back when you put it back in the stall. Some people were lazy and did not return the carts but you always had someone to return it so then they would get the money. If all stores did this you would have no problem with carts at all!
Where we lived before, there was an actual cottage industry entrepreneur who had a business with a flat bed trailer, picking up carts and taking them back to stores…all I needed to do was phone his cell or text and he would show up usually within an hour and get the cart loaded and locked in place on his trailer. Maybe we have an enterprising person in the area who could do the same for the benefit of all parties involved.
this would be a question for the stores
Yes, Great idea. someone was doing just that during the mid-70’s In Corvallis. I would try this, but I don’t have the funds/trailer to do so. I think this Idea of Cart Wrangling is
good, cost effective way to return the carts to the store. Or maybe a lot somewhere. In this way customers who don’t drive or bike can transport purchases home, yet the cart is returned, No one needs to be fined. The City does not have to be involved. This arrangement would be between the owner’s of the shopping carts and the Cart Wrangler.
Most major grocery stores change out there older cart’s for new one’s. There could be a program to have the stores donate those carts and they could be given to the homless. They could be registered to the person,. You would also be able to track the abandon carts.
My car was hit by a cart in Price Chopper parking lot rolled into my back of car broke the cover ! I went in and told the manager they s asid they are not responsible for the carts in lot only inside makes no sense then what the hell are you removing them when you feel as it’s time I been removing them for awhile because I don’t want damage again ! I want my car fixed !
Then you need to find the person who left the cart that rolled into your vehicle since THEY are the one who is responsible.
shopping carts with license plates for homeless people. im gonna pretend i did not read that.
i also see that as a not smart comment
I think Mr. Vance has the best idea – Let’s go. Who pays the guy picking them up? Probably each store pays him monthly, and he shoots some film showing the drop off and date. City contracts it. Funds do not go into any City coffers…
require stores to charge a deposit on carts which would be refunded upon return of the cart to the storage rack. This would be like the cart vending machines at the airport. This will not only incentivize the return of stolen carts it will prevent carts from being left in the parking lots of stores. Stolen or damaged carts are an expense the grocery stores must recover and that is done in the price of food. The technology to solve the cart problem has already been developed we just need to apply it to grocery carts.
Maybe they should take some of their traffic cameras and put them up on the pathways that are poorly lit and poorly patrolled. That way they can semi patrol an area that’s actually needed. That would actually be public safety in my eyes. I don’t know what it would do about the whole cart thing, really don’t care about the whole cart thing. I’m sure we catch people with carts, also catch people damaging fences, getting assaulted, and maybe even prevent some of these occurrences. I think maybe Albany needs a different political system in place The one we’re going by is not working
or we could fully fund APD for more patrols
Isnt possession of stolen property a crime?
Its usually obvious that the homeless person has a cart, lock em up.
at the cost of $130+ a day? for how long?
how about as long as it takes for them to learn how to not be homeless? maybe they should be fined till they learn to not be homeless
Homeless people do not have a right to be a thief, Do not make excuses for aberrant behavior.
Just because someone is homeless doesn’t mean they have to steal property. If they are in possession of stolen property then yes they should be arrested. I don’t care if they cant afford it. Dont want to pay, dont steal stuff. Its easy.
They are stealing carts and then dumping their cart and other garbage along Hiway 20 in North Albany. Everyday there is more garbage. These people should be arrested and punished by cleaning up the entire area. It is so disgusting.