City of Las Cruces, NM
04/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2024 16:07
City Council Special Work Session Recap
Las Cruces City Council will continue consideration of the development of a proposed ordinance and modification of an existing City ordinance aimed at enhancing public safety, reducing blight, and improving the quality of life of Las Cruces residents, businesses and visitors.
City Council's informal consensus to proceed came at the end of a Special Work Session focusing on solicitation and shopping cart ordinances on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St.
City Council reviewed and discussed a proposed Shopping Cart Containment and Retrieval Ordinance as well as a current City ordinance regarding prohibited solicitations. It was emphasized during the work session that the goals of the proposed shopping cart ordinance and changes to the Prohibited Solicitations Ordinance would be to help offenders obtain services for mental health or homelessness as well as to provide rehabilitation.
The City has received a growing number of reports of prohibited solicitations, particularly in aggressive manners outside of some city businesses and at city intersections. Those actions are in violation of Chapter 21, Article III of the Las Cruces Municipal Code.
The purpose of an update to the Prohibited Solicitations Ordinance would be to remove potentially unconstitutional language and to narrow the focus of the ordinance to a public safety interest. City ordinances restricting solicitation in public places must meet certain requirements, including they must be neutral in content; be narrowly tailored; leave open ample alternative channels of communication; and serve a significant government interest that is pressing and legitimate.
The proposed Shopping Cart Ordinance would establish several requirements for retail businesses that utilize shopping carts, including affixing an identifying sign or engraving marker with certain information, and submitting a shopping cart plan every two years to the City's Community Development Department for approval. Businesses using shopping carts could apply for an exemption.
If enacted, violations of the proposed Shopping Cart Ordinance would be a petty misdemeanor.
Details of a Shopping Cart Project conducted April 23, 2024, were presented to the Council. In two hours of the project, 162 abandoned shopping carts were recovered throughout the city. The City's Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments have spent many hours, and have often needed large crews, to dispose of debris left in abandoned shopping carts.
City Council will further address the proposed Shopping Cart Ordinance and modifications to the Prohibited Solicitations Ordinance at a future meeting.