Eugene staff recover roughly 1,900 shopping carts in 2024; council discusses enforcement options

City staff told the Eugene City Council on April 23 that they recovered an estimated 1,900 shopping carts from public spaces across the city in 2024 and outlined current handling, return and disposal procedures.

City Manager (unnamed) introduced the topic and Rich Floyd, Public Works Director, described operations for collecting and processing carts. Floyd said staff estimate about 1,900 carts were recovered last year, with just under 900 picked up from rights of way by right-of-way cleanup crews and roughly 1,000 recovered by Parks and Open Space teams. He said recovered carts and their contents are taken to the city’s Roosevelt Yard, where crews sort carts by retailer and manage any personal property for possible retrieval.

The city partners with Glide Rite Incorporated, Floyd said, which collects participating retailers’ carts once per week. Floyd said roughly 60% of carts are returned to retailers through that partnership; the remainder are recycled as scrap metal where possible or disposed of as garbage — about 40% in his estimate. He and other staff stressed that collection and processing is staff- and equipment-intensive and poses safety risks for employees and the public.

Police Chief Steve Skinner told councilors the department is relying on Oregon criminal statutes — Chapter 164 (theft) and the possession-of-stolen-property provisions — to investigate and, where appropriate, cite or return carts to businesses. Skinner said the department’s housing support officers (HSOs) are the primary resource handling many of these contacts, and he urged that HSOs continue focusing on trespass and related public-space issues so patrol officers can remain available for emergency response. Skinner discussed ORS provisions that specifically address shopping carts and retailers’ responsibilities, mentioning ORS 98.5xx provisions (as cited in the meeting) that govern retailer signage, toll-free numbers and collection responsibilities.

Councilors asked whether the city should adopt an explicit prohibition on shopping carts in parks. Floyd said staff had considered administratively adding a parks rule but that removing carts from parks can simply shift the issue to sidewalks and adjacent properties; he urged a holistic approach coordinated with Eugene Police Department. Skinner and several councilors suggested a focused enforcement effort by HSOs for a trial period before creating new local rules.

Councilor Emily Groves (author of the council poll that prompted the discussion) said she was comfortable piloting a stepped approach using existing law and increased HSO focus and asked staff to report back in approximately six months on progress. Other councilors, including Claire Leach and Sarah Keating, raised concerns about displacement of harm, accessibility and the need to link enforcement with services for unhoused people.

The presentation emphasized staff safety and operational burden, described the Roosevelt Yard processing workflow, and named Glide Rite Incorporated as the private partner that recovers carts from the yard for retailers.

Staff did not present a formal ordinance to adopt at the meeting; councilors asked for continued monitoring and updates on enforcement outcomes and impacts to parks, sidewalks and waterways.

The city manager and staff said they would provide follow-up information over time, including discussion of retailer engagement, whether retailers will more frequently identify themselves as victims for prosecution, and performance of the HSO-focused enforcement approach.

The discussion concluded without a formal vote on new park rules or ordinances; councilors and staff agreed to monitor results of stepped enforcement, retail engagement and cart-return processes and reassess after the follow-up period.