MADRAS, OR -- The city of Madras has a shopping cart problem, "Between October and December of 2023, we collected over 204 shopping carts throughout the community." Madras Community Development Director Nick Snead says those carts are taken from stores around the city. "There were over 50 shopping carts down in Willow Creek in this homeless camp," he tells KBND News, "They would just put trash in there, and in some cases, they were actually being used for - call it a cooking grate. They were literally creating a fire underneath the shopping cart, and using the bottom of the cart that you’d normally put your groceries in, and using that as a cooking grate." Snead says the Madras Safeway later transitioned to plastic carts to deter this practice.
Talks with stores about preventing cart theft have not resulted in improvements. Snead says he's seen people walk into the Safeway parking lot, take a cart or two and roll it down the street without ever entering the store. Safeway was asked to consider using carts that lock up when taken off property. But he says the city was told, "'The electronics to lock the wheels was requested but it wasn’t in the budget for this year,' and hopefully they could get that technology instituted next year." Snead says Madras can’t wait that long.
He’s invited the stores to an open house next week to discuss proposed regulations. A draft of the proposed regulation obtained by KBND News says stores would be required to "Post signs in sufficient number to give notice to members of the public entering onto or leaving the business premises that unauthorized appropriation of a shopping cart is a crime." The sign would also provide a local phone number people could call to report abandoned carts. The city would also be allowed to hold carts until the owner pays a $50 fine. Violating the code would result in a $100 penalty.
"We think that regulating the carts may be a solution, but that’s really the purpose of the open house for next week," says Snead, "One of the things we want to do at this open house is explain the problem, explain one solution and ask our retailers, ‘Does this make sense to you?’ Because, we have a problem. It’s affecting our community." He adds, "We want to ask the retailers at the open house, ‘what do you think is a solution? If these regulations aren’t wanted, how do you think we can solve this?’ And the intention would be to develop consensus."
Monday’s meeting is open to the public. It starts at 2 p.m. at City Hall.
