FILE PHOTO

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

After a polarizing debate, Penticton city council has moved to impose a new bylaw regarding abandoned shopping carts.

The unhoused community in Penticton uses shopping carts to transport their possessions. The city says when the carts are abandoned they become a hazard to the public and an eyesore for the community.

Council was divided on whether the best course of action is to force businesses to take responsibility for their stolen carts, or to focus on working with community outreach organizations to make a better method for unhoused people to manage their possessions.

“This is not meant to be a burden on the businesses,” councillor Campbell Watt said at a meeting on Oct. 3. “Consulting with outreach organizations is where I should have started.”

Part of the city’s plan to deal with the shopping carts is to work with unspecified organizations to help unhoused people manage their belongings.

City council moved to implement the following policies: stores have to label their carts and register with the city, stores have to retrieve their carts from the city and accept the carts the city returns and stores have to pay a small storage fee for carts which are kept in the city yard.

Council decided not to force stores to have GPS trackers or other shopping cart protection devices. It also decided not to introduce fines for stores which have their carts taken.

Councillor Isaac Gilbert echoed Watt’s desire to emphasize community outreach rather than penalizing stores for having their property stolen.

“I want to focus on how we break the cycle and get people the help they need,” he said.

Councillor Konanz said businesses ought to be responsible for their own property.

“Yes, it ' going to cost them more money. But our community deserves this, it deserves not to have multiple carts all over our sidewalks. We’re a beautiful community and we need to keep it that way,” she said.

READ MORE: Penticton looking at ways to get shopping cart off city streets

Currently, Penticton manages abandoned carts by having city employees pick up carts when they see them and take them to the city yard, or by sending city employees to get carts when they receive daily calls about shopping carts.

City staff said managing these abandoned shopping carts takes up a significant amount of time and resources, but seems optimistic these measures will help with the problem.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023