Appearances of an eyesore have been on the rise in Federal Way for the last few years. More stolen shopping carts have been popping up on the sides of roads and other public places. Mayor Jim Ferrell says that the most recent yearly tally is 2,000.
"We will no longer tolerate the blight of shopping carts littering our streets," said Ferrell.
The city has been using it's Parks and Facilities crews to pick up rogue carts and has hired a part-time employee to help pick them up.
On December 4, an ordinance was signed into law to help mitigate what the city describes as the financial and physical strain of picking up the carts.
Starting on January 7, Federal Way will charge the owner of found carts $25. After 14 days, if the retailer has not picked up the cart from the recovery location, another $25 will be charged for the disposal of the carts.
"This is about trying to influence the business communities to seek another way of doing this," said Ferrell.
Joe Gilliam, president of the NW Grocers Association which represents larger grocery chains like Safeway and Fred Meyer, is not on board with the idea. Over the phone, he said that his organization was not contacted before the passage of the ordinance.
Gilliam also went on to say that when it goes into effect the found shopping cart charges will be reflected in higher prices on goods and that consumers would be paying the expense.
The city says that, on average, 300 carts were recovered either by volunteers or city workers every year for eight years, saving retailers approximately $2.25 million in lost cart costs.
Ferrell says he hopes the new law will inspire retailers to invest in shopping carts that lock up once they leave the property.
"They also need to be vigilant about making sure our streets are not littered with their carts," Ferrell said.