Shopping cart theft targeted

Hillsborough County is preparing an ordinance to discourage shoppers from taking home grocery carts and abandoning them.

By JANE BOKUN

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 31, 1999

TOWN 'N COUNTRY -- Abandoned shopping carts became so much of a nuisance this year along Hanley Road and Waters Avenue in Town 'N Country that the Hillsborough County Commission took notice.

And 2000 might be the year they take action.

"The board asked us to draft an ordinance aimed at shopping cart owners," said Adam Gormly, assistant county attorney. "We're in the process of trying to come up with one that's enforceable and one that would accomplish our goal without putting any extraordinary burden on the cart owners."

So far, Gormly said, attorneys are discussing solutions such as wheel locks which would activate sensory devices when an infrared beam was crossed as carts left the store area. They also are looking into charging for carts.

The sensory solution would be quite expensive, "but charging might work," Gormly said. "With some stores, you pay 50 cents when you enter and get your money back when you return the carts."

The carts, which Publix values at about $80 apiece, pile up in a field next to the Sunset Palms apartments on Hanley Road each week, forcing store managers to use employees' time and resources off site to claim them.

Publix spokesman Lee Brunson said there is a law on the books prohibiting people from taking the carts, and he thinks they should adhere to that law. But, he added, Publix would most likely not press for prosecution.

Gormly agreed that grocers are loath to seek prosecution for this misdemeanor. "They're more interested in keeping customers' good will than prosecuting them," he said.

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