City staff proposes shopping‑cart ordinance changes to allow higher retrieval fee and require cart containment

Jeff Reedman, a City of Visalia code‑enforcement officer, presented staff recommendations to revise Municipal Code chapter 8.7o (abandoned shopping carts). Reedman told council that state law (as amended by Senate Bill 753) increased the allowable cost recovery from $50 to $100 per abandoned cart, and staff recommended updating the local code and adding a requirement that new locations or businesses that undergo significant expansions install a physical cart‑containment system.

Reedman said code enforcement collected 1,630 shopping carts during calendar year 2025 and 843 carts from January through April 2026, underlining the staff burden for retrieval and storage. Council members asked whether the sweep team picks up carts (staff confirmed yes) and discussed how the requirement would apply to remodeled existing businesses (staff said anything over $50,000 in improvements triggers the containment requirement). Vice Mayor Wynne moved to approve the staff recommendation; the motion passed 5–0. Staff will return in 45–60 days with draft ordinance language and outreach to affected businesses.