Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued an opinion that municipal governments can’t force businesses to submit a shopping cart collection plan to the local government for approval.
Uthmeier published his three-page opinion following a request from Allan Weinthal, the Town Attorney for Davie in South Florida. Weinthal asked for an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office in March as the Davie Town Council was considering enacting a shopping cart retention ordinance.
Weinthal asked in a letter to the Attorney General’s Office if state law preempts municipalities from enacting such a law. He also wanted to know if local governments can impose monetary penalties on businesses that don’t submit a plan.
In his opinion, Uthmeier said local governments don’t have any authority to establish such ordinances and they don’t have the legal ability to generally impose fines.
Uthmeier cited Florida law that “expressly preempts municipal ordinances that allow a municipality to require a business owner to submit a shopping cart retention plan to the municipality (or) deny a shopping cart retention plan (and) impose a monetary penalty for failing to submit and adhere to a shopping cart retention plan.”
Uthmeier said he understands the questions from Davie’s Town Attorney since Florida precedent does provide some leeway to municipalities, as they are “given broad authority to enact ordinances under its municipal home rule powers.” But state law preempts any “fee, fine, or costs” from being assessed, according to Uthmeier’s opinion.
Uthmeier acknowledged that local governments can impose fines on retailers if their carts are found on public property if the carts were removed from the retail establishment by retailers themselves. In that case, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has upheld some fines.
