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The city council of Albuquerque is set to consider an ordinance, similar to one recently enacted in Las Cruces, that would make possession of a shopping cart illegal and penalize businesses that fail to keep carts on their property.
The Las Cruces ordinance was passed in August, making shopping cart possession a crime and forcing businesses to submit plans demonstrating how they would prevent carts from leaving their property.
The ordinance was supported by Las Cruces’ business community and panned by civil rights advocates and those who administered homelessness services.
Albuquerque’s ordinance would allow the city to take shopping carts, presumably from unhoused residents, and use them to ferry belongings and hold them for up to 30 days. People caught with carts could be guilty of a crime, but a judge could sentence the person to community service. Businesses, per the bill's language, would have seven days to pick up their carts for a $25 fee and $5 for every day after.
The ordinance is part of a package that would also ban camping in public parks. It’s unclear when the Albuquerque City Council will vote on the ordinances, but they are expected to be presented to the council on Nov. 18.
