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Council approves stronger shopping-cart rules, launches city pilot retrieval program; state bill on cart recovery advances
Summary
San Jose amended its municipal code to require larger retailers to adopt stricter cart-loss prevention measures and approved a limited pilot for city-contracted cart retrieval in two problem areas; staff reported a related state bill (SB 573) to simplify cart recovery and allow local fines beyond a $50 cap is moving through the Legislature.
The San Jose City Council voted unanimously May 6 to tighten local requirements for retail shopping-cart loss prevention and to fund a short pilot program for city-contracted cart retrieval in two targeted areas.
Peter Hamilton, assistant to the city manager, presented the ordinance amendment and a parallel outreach-and-pilot plan. Hamilton said staff’s proposal narrows the options retailers with 76 or more carts must choose from in their mandatory annual cart-management plans: operators must now select at least one of three specified strategies — theft-prevention devices (electronic wheel locks), a security-deposit system (coin‑or‑token return), or a cart-retrieval contract meeting city standards (weekly proactive retrieval plus 24‑hour response to city‑identified carts). Retailers with 26–75 carts remain subject to the existing, more-flexible plan…
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