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Lawton council adopts ordinance requiring retailers to play active role in recovering abandoned shopping carts
Summary
The council approved amendments to the nuisance and health code that add shopping-cart provisions, encourage retailer recovery of abandoned carts, and allow the city to set impoundment/fee rules through the fees committee; council emphasized retailer partnership and passed the ordinance 7–0.
Council considered an ordinance to add shopping-cart provisions to the city's nuisance and health code. Staff said the objective is to reduce public nuisance from abandoned carts while relying on retailer partnerships to recover carts, not to increase city enforcement burdens. Council members reported outreach to retailers and described technical solutions retailers already deploy (wheel-locking systems, cart-management trailers).
Councilmember-sponsors emphasized partnership with retailers and said the fees committee will return with recommended impoundment fees; staff noted an intent to minimize city operational workload by encouraging retailers to retrieve their carts. After title reading and discussion the council voted to adopt the ordinance 7–0.
Next steps: the item moves to the fees committee to set impoundment fees and implement procedures at a December meeting, after which the council will adopt final fee amounts if needed.
