City shopping for cart retriever

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Discarded shopping carts, considered eyesores, will

be retrieved from streets at city expense starting in January, a city

official said.

On a daily basis, about 30 carts can be found along the streets, said

senior planner Mike Strange said. Most come from markets that hire

private companies for retrieval, but they take too long, sometimes five

days, to pick them up, he said.

Meanwhile, residents call City Hall to complain.

City Councilman Ralph Bauer said the city should follow the lead of Santa

Ana and Westminster and adopt its own program.

“As you drive around, you notice them here and there,” he said. “Let’s

get rid of them. It’s just a matter of making the city look a little

nicer, that’s all.”

The city sent out requests for bids from companies last month, Strange

said. It’s looking for a company that will be available eight hours a

day, seven days a week, that could pick up the carts within 24 hours and

return them to their owners, he said. The city probably will spend less

than $10,000 annually for the service.

Many of the carts are found near the economically depressed Oak View

area, near Slater Avenue and Beach Boulevard, he said.

Residents there leave the markets with the carts because they can’t

afford cars to haul their groceries, he said. Another cart-congested spot

is the neighborhood around the Newland Center near Utica Avenue and Beach

Boulevard, he said.

Question:

CARTED OFF

Do you think the city should pick up abandoned shopping carts?

Leave us your thoughts on our Readers Hotline at 965-7175, fax us at

965-7174 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Please include your name and

city where you live.