Last month the Las Cruces City Council passed an ordinance in a 4-3 split vote that would impose penalties for individuals in possession of a shopping cart outside of a business’s property. But beyond that, businesses that have shopping carts must take steps to prevent theft of carts and have plans for cart retrieval, or face fines of up to $500 per violation.
On Tuesday the city held a shopping cart ordinance overview meeting, where Deputy Economic Development Director Chris Faivre detailed the expectations for businesses to stay in compliance with the new law.
“The nuts and bolts of this ordinance are requirements for businesses to put together a shopping cart plan and submit that to the Community Development Department,” Faivre said. “There’s about six different elements that each shopping cart plan needs to contain; identification signs, general information, public notices, loss prevention, cart retrieval, and then overview of your implementation.”
Faivre said businesses can apply for an exemption if they meet certain criteria, such as having locking devices that keeps carts from leaving the store’s property. Faivre went on to say that the deadline to submit the plan is September 16, and the city’s identified roughly 84 businesses that need to submit a plan or file for an exemption.
“This is a brand-new policy and there will be some growing pains on both sides to make sure everyone understands the finer points of it.”
The city said that enforcement of the new law will begin on October 16 for both businesses and individuals in possession of carts.