ORD 18-858 - Relating to Shopping Cart Regulations ORDINANCE NO. 18-858
AN ORDINANCE of the City of Federal Way, Washington, relating
to shopping cart regulation; amending FWRC 07.03.020 and
07.03.040, and adding new Chapter 07.25 FWRC. (Amending
Ordinance Nos. 09-596; 10-669; and 12-715)
WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 11 of the Washington State Constitution authorizes the
City Council to make all local police and other regulations as long as they do not conflict with
general state laws; and
WHEREAS, RCW 35A.11.020 authorizes the City Council to adopt and enforce
ordinances regulating municipal affairs and impose penalties not exceeding five thousand
dollars; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has enacted the City's ordinances, some of which are set
forth in the Federal Way Revised Code including Chapter 7, which identifies public nuisances;
and
WHEREAS, retail businesses provide shopping carts for the convenience of customers
shopping on the premises of the businesses; and
WHEREAS, a shopping cart that has been removed from the premises of the business
and left abandoned on public or private property throughout the City constitutes a potential
hazard to the health and safety of the public; and
WHEREAS, shopping carts abandoned on public or private property contribute to
conditions of blight in the community and reduced property values; and
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WHEREAS, shopping carts abandoned on public or private property can obstruct free
access to sidewalks, streets and other rights-of-way, interfere with pedestrian and vehicular
traffic on pathways, driveways,public and private streets, and impede emergency services.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Findings. The foregoing recitals are adopted as findings of the City Council.
Section 2. Section 7.03.020 of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby revised to read as
follows:
7.03.020 Definitions.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this title unless the context clearly
requires otherwise. Terms not defined here are defined according to FWRC 1.05.020.
"Abandoned" means any property, real or personal, which is unattended and either open or
unsecured so that admittance may be gained without damaging any portion of the property, or
which evidences indicia that no person is presently in possession, e.g., disconnected utilities,
accumulated debris, uncleanness, disrepair and, in the case of chattels, location. Length of time
or any particular state of mind of the owner or person entitled to possession are not conclusive in
determining that property is abandoned.
"Abandoned shopping cart" means any shopping cart made available for customers to use that
has been removed from the retail establishment's premises, without the owner's written consent,
and is located on either public or private property.
"Attractive nuisance" means the circumstance or condition which may reasonably be expected
to attract young children and which constitutes a danger to such children. Attractive nuisances
include but are not limited to unused or abandoned refrigerators, freezers, or other large
appliances or equipment or any parts thereof; abandoned motor vehicles; any structurally
unsound or unsafe fence or edifice; any unsecured or abandoned excavation, pit, well, cistern,
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storage tank, or shaft; and any lumber, trash, debris, or vegetation that may prove a hazard for
minors.
"Building" in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any dwelling, fenced area, vehicle,
railway car, cargo container, or other structure used for the lodging of persons or for carrying on
business therein, or for the use, sale or deposit of goods. Each unit of a building consisting of
two or more units separately secured or occupied is a separate building.
"Director" means the director of the Community Development Department or a person
designated by the director of the Community Development Department.
"Hearing officer" means the mayor, or his or her designated representative.
"Junk" means old, used, or scrap metal, rope, rags, batteries, paper, rubber, tires, machinery or
appliances or parts of such machinery or appliances, wood, debris, trash, waste, household goods
or hardware, medications, medical supplies, or medical devices, or junked, dismantled, wrecked
or inoperable motor vehicles or vehicular component parts.
"Junk vehicle" means any vehicle substantially meeting at least three of the following
conditions:
(1) Is three years old or older;
(2) Is extensively damaged, such damage including but not limited to any of the
following: a broken window or windshield or missing wheels, tires, motor, or transmission;
(3) Is apparently inoperable;
(4) Has an approximate fair market value equal only to the approximate value of the
scrap in it.
"Junkyard" means a property or place of business which is maintained, operated or used for
storing, keeping, buying, selling or salvaging junk.
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"Litter" shall include, but is not limited to, debris in the form of cans, bottles, glass, ashes,
garbage, wastepaper, packing material, scrap iron, wire, metal articles, discarded furniture and
appliances, junk, broken stone or cement, broken crockery, discarded building materials,
inoperable bicycles or bicycle parts, rags, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding, tree
and vegetation trimmings, and all other trash, including abandoned inflammable materials, which
are a fire hazard or a menace to the public health, safety, or welfare.
"Shopping cart" means a basket mounted on wheels or a similar device of the type generally
used in a retail establishment by a customer for the purpose of transporting goods of any kind.
Section 3. Section 7.03.040 of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby revised to read as
follows:
7.03.040 Specific public nuisances.
The following specific acts, omissions, places, conditions, and things, including those that create,
maintain, use, cause, allow, or permit to exist or remain on any public or private property any of
the following specific acts, omissions, places, conditions, and things, are hereby declared to be
public nuisances:
(1) Excavations or naturally occurring holes, including, but not limited to, privies, vaults,
cesspools, sumps, pits, wells, or any other similar conditions, which are not secure and which
constitute a concealed danger or other attractive nuisance;
(2) Making, causing, or permitting to be made discordant and unnecessary noise of any kind
which annoys any significant number of persons lawfully in the immediate area, whether by
means of any speaker or other sound-amplifying device, horn, or other mechanical device; or by
outcry, loud speaking, singing; or by any other means;
(3) The discharge of sewage, human excrement, or other wastes in any location or manner,
except through systems approved for the conveyance of such, to approved public or private
disposal systems and which are constructed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of
this Code, other applicable law, or in a manner injurious to the public health;
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(4) Animal parts, manure, excreta, or wastes including bones, meats, hides, skins, or any part of
any dead animal, fish, or fowl, which are improperly handled, contained, or removed from a
premises; placed in any watercourse, lake, or street; or allowed to become putrid, offensive, and
injurious to the public health;
(5) The erection or use of any building, room, or other place in the city for exercise of any trade,
employment, or manufacture which, by emitting noxious exhausts, particulate matter, offensive
odors, or other related annoyances, is discomforting, offensive, or detrimental to the health of
individuals or of the public;
(6) Any poisonous material or thing on any property, placed so as to be dangerous to any person
or domesticated animal;
(7) Storing of flammable junk on any property, including but not limited to old rags, rope,
cordage, rubber, boxes, or paper, unless it is in a building of fireproof construction;
(8) Burning or disposal of refuse, sawdust, or other material in such a manner as to cause or
permit ashes, sawdust, soot, or cinders to be cast upon the streets of the city, or to cause or
permit the smoke, ashes, soot, or gases arising from such burning to become annoying or to
injure or endanger the health, comfort, or repose of persons;
(9) To carry on the business of manufacturing gun powder, nitroglycerine, or other highly
explosive substance, mixing or grinding such materials, or to establish a powder magazine within
1,000 feet of any building or without all necessary permits;
(10) Filthy, littered, trash-covered, or overgrown premises or abutting street and alley rights-of-
way for which a property owner is responsible, including, but not limited to:
(a) Storing outside a completely enclosed building litter, junk, or cut brush or wood
including dead or decaying plant material except as contained in a compost pile or orderly
stacked firewood if cut in lengths of four feet or less, or items that threaten public health, safety
or welfare;
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(b) All unused, abandoned or discarded refrigerators, ice boxes or like containers which
are left in any place exposed or accessible to children, whether such is outside any building or
dwelling or within any unoccupied or abandoned building, dwelling or other structure;
(c) All places used or maintained as dumps, junkyards, or automobile or machinery
disassembly yards or buildings not properly permitted and licensed or not in compliance with
any law or regulation;
(11) Any unsightly, abandoned, or deteriorated structure constructed with inappropriate materials
or improperly fastened together or anchored against the forces of nature; any screening which is
in a falling, decayed, dilapidated, or unsafe condition; any structure where construction was
commenced and the structure was left unfinished; or any structure that has been constructed or
modified without permits or which is otherwise in violation of city ordinance;
(12) Personal property left in the public right-of-way of any road or alley, including but not
limited to any personal and household items, furniture, appliances, machinery, equipment,
building materials; and the abandonment or allowing the abandonment of property in any public
right-of-way;
(13) The parking or storage of vehicles on single-family residential lots in violation of the
parking regulations in this Code;
(14) To obstruct, impede, or encroach upon, without legal authority, the use of any river, harbor,
lake, waterway, landing place, right-of-way, street, private way, or public area; to unlawfully
obstruct or impede the flow of municipal transit vehicles or passenger traffic, access to municipal
transit vehicles or stations; to unlawfully obstruct or impede a municipal transit driver, operator,
or supervisor in the performance of that individual's duties; or otherwise interfere with the
provision or use of public transportation services; or to create or place any device simulating
traffic control signs;
(15) To suffer, maintain, or permit to be maintained any place where intoxicating liquors are
unlawfully kept for sale or disposal to the public;
(16) Any place where fighting between people or animals or birds is unlawfully conducted or
Ordinance No. 18-858 Page 6 of 11
allowed;
(17) Those acts, omissions, places, conditions, and things declared nuisances elsewhere in this
title or elsewhere in the Code, including in FWRC 6.70.010;
(18) All violations of development, land use, public health, safety, and welfare and sanitation
rules, regulations, or ordinances of the city or Seattle-King County health department rules,
regulations, or ordinances;
(19) Use or operation of any internal combustion engine on Steel Lake and North Lake;
provided, that this provision shall not apply to authorized law enforcement or emergency vessels
or watercraft, or to authorized vessels or watercraft which are actually engaged in, or being
prepared for, duties such as maintenance, scientific study, or protection of lakes or wetlands;
(20) Anything meeting the definition of a public nuisance under this title.
(21) Causing or allowing any shopping cart to be abandoned on either public or private property.
Section 4. A new chapter of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby created, Chapter
7.25, to read as follows:
Chapter 7.25
ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS
7.25.010 Purpose and Applicability.
(1)A purpose of this chapter is to provide for the prompt retrieval of lost, stolen or abandoned
shopping carts in order to promote public safety and improve the image and appearance of the
City. It is a further purpose of this chapter to have the owners and operators of businesses
providing shopping carts use the means available to them to deter,prevent or mitigate the
removal of shopping carts from their business premises, and to retrieve any carts that may be
removed despite these efforts. It is a further purpose of this chapter to prevent the illegal removal
of shopping carts from the business premises, to prevent the continued possession of illegally
removed carts, and to prevent the accumulation of illegally removed carts on public or private
properties.
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(2) Applicability: This chapter shall apply to all shopping carts in the City of Federal Way.
7.25.020 Definitions.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires
otherwise. Unless defined otherwise here, the definitions of FWRC 1.05.020 shall control.
"Owner" means the owner or retailer identified by an identification sign on a shopping cart or,
in relation to a shopping cart without an identification sign, the retail establishment that makes
available that shopping cart for customers to use.
"Retail Establishment"means any business that makes available shopping carts for customers of
the business to use regardless of whether such business is advertised or operated as a retail or
wholesale business, and regardless of whether such business is open to the general public,is a
private club or business, or is a membership store.
7.25.030 Identification Signs.
Each shopping cart offered or provided for customers to use shall have an identification sign
affixed to it in accordance with RCW 9A.56.270(2), as now enacted or hereafter amended.
7.25.040 Impoundment and Fees.
(1) Impoundment of Shopping Carts: The City may immediately impound an abandoned
shopping cart on private land within the city with the consent of the party in possession of the
land and may immediately impound an abandoned shopping cart on public land within the city.
(2)Notification: The City shall notify the owner of each impounded shopping cart in writing if
the shopping cart has an identification sign as required by FWRC 7.25.030. The Director may
establish by rule a process for owners to register a preferred method of notification. If delivered
by U.S. mail, the notice shall be deemed to have been received 3 days after mailing.
The notice shall state the amount of the impound fee and that the owner has 14 days from the
date of receipt to retrieve the shopping cart. The notice shall also state that if the shopping cart is
not retrieved within 14 days, the City may dispose of the shopping cart.
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(3) Impound Fee: The City shall charge a shopping cart impound fee to the owner of each
abandoned shopping cart impounded by the City, unless the fee is eligible for deferral. Each
shopping cart impounded by the City shall constitute a separate violation. The shopping cart
impound fee shall be per the fee schedule maintained by the City Clerk.
(4) Fee Deferrals: The City shall defer impound fees for the first three impounded shopping carts
within any calendar month owned by any retail establishment that,prior to the impoundment,has
implemented security measures as defined in FWRC 7.25.050. The City shall defer no impound
fees for a particular retail establishment in a calendar month if four or more shopping carts from
that retail establishment are impounded within that calendar month.
7.25.050 Security Measures.
(1) Security measures are methods to prevent removal of shopping carts from or to return them to
the premises of the retail establishment including, but not limited to:
(a) Electronically-activated self-braking wheels; or
(b) Poles mounted to shopping carts or other physical barriers that prevent removing the
shopping carts from the interior of the retail establishment; or
(c) Utilization of a shopping cart patrol and retrieval company who recovers shopping carts
on behalf of the retail business within a two mile radius of the contracting retail
establishment no fewer than two times per week; or
(d) Security personnel dedicated to cart control and retention; or
(e) Other measures deemed appropriate and effective by the Director.
7.25.060 Disposition of Unclaimed Shopping carts.
The City may summarily dispose of shopping carts impounded by the City that are either not
retrieved within 14 days following the receipt of notification or without an identification sign. If
the City disposes of a shopping cart, the City may assess the owner with a disposal fee in
addition to the impoundment fee. The shopping cart disposal fee shall be per the fee schedule
maintained by the City Clerk.
Ordinance No. 18-858 Page 9 of 11
Section 5. Impound and Disposal Fees. The shopping cart impound fee is set at $25 until
the fee schedule maintained by the City Clerk is updated to include a shopping cart impound fee.
The shopping cart disposal fee is set at $25 until the fee schedule maintained by the City Clerk is
updated to include a shopping cart disposal fee.
Section 6. Severability. Should any section, subsection,paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this ordinance, or its application to any person or situation,be declared unconstitutional
or invalid for any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of
this ordinance or its application to any other person or situation. The City Council of the City of
Federal Way hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section,
subsection, sentence, clauses,phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses,phrases, or portions ortions be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Section 7. Corrections. The City Clerk and the codifiers of this ordinance are authorized
to make necessary corrections to this ordinance including, but not limited to, the correction of
scrivener's or clerical errors, references, ordinance numbering, section or subsection numbers,
and any references thereto.
Section 8. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effective
date of this ordinance is hereby ratified and affirmed.
Ordinance No. 18-858 Page 10 of 11
Section 9. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect 30 days after its passage and
publication, as provided by law.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Federal Way this 4th day of December, 2018.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY:
F` 'RELL, MAYOR
ATTEST:
S i7 P 'ANIE COURTNEY, • , CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
C• eL
J. RYAN CALL, CITY ATTORNEY
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 11/14/2018
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: 12/04/2018
PUBLISHED: 12/07/2018
EFFECTIVE DATE: 01/07/2019
ORDINANCE NO.: 18-858
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