Gloucester shopping cart rules go back for rewrite, cannabis equity ordinance moves to council

Gloucester's proposed shopping cart ordinance is going back to its sponsor for another rewrite. The City Council's Ordinances and Administration Committee said Monday it wants small stores exempted and a penalty for people caught with a cart before it will vote. The committee did recommend a state required cannabis equity ordinance and a Fisheries Commission appointment.

What happened

• The shopping cart ordinance, CC#2026-017 from Ward 2 Councilor Dylan Benson, was continued about two weeks so Benson can rework it with the city solicitor.
• Members asked for an exemption for stores with fewer carts, a fine for anyone found with a cart off store property, proof that the stores were notified, and a single fine for not installing cart locks rather than a fine per cart.
• The committee voted 2 to 0, one member absent, to recommend an amendment to Chapter 28 of the city code that adopts the state's model cannabis equity rules.
• It voted 2 to 0 to recommend Angela Sanfilippo to the Fisheries Commission for a term ending Feb. 15, 2029.

Shopping carts: back for a cleanup

As filed in August, the ordinance would require every store to tag its carts with its name, address and phone number within 90 days, keep carts on its own property, and face fines after a written warning: $10 per cart for missing tags and $300 per cart for carts found off the premises, with each day counting as a new offense. The building commissioner or police would enforce it.

Benson told the committee he has since changed the approach. Stores would not be fined when a cart is stolen. Instead they would have six months after the ordinance takes effect to put locking systems on their carts, and the violation would be failing to do that. He said he reached out to the stores that use carts and got little response beyond managers saying they would send the ordinance to corporate offices. Residents have sent him photos of carts at Green Street Park, Burnham's Field and across three wards, he said, and about 20 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts have similar rules, including Somerville, Boston and Chelsea.

Committee members pushed back. One said he still does not agree with the ordinance, that fining a business for its own stolen property raises a bigger question, and that lock systems with electronics and batteries carry a cost that could land on shoppers already paying high grocery prices. He asked to see the emails showing which stores were told and how long they had to respond. Another said he shares the concern about penalizing a store for stolen property and worries about discouraging grocery stores, naming one he said has far less foot traffic than the others. He suggested a fine for not having the lock system in place rather than a fine for each cart that goes missing, and said the smaller carts at stores like CVS and Petco are not the problem.

The members and Benson agreed on the changes to work on: exempt stores with a small number of carts (50 was floated, and the chair said he would not put a number on it yet), add a penalty for a person found with a cart or refer it to police as larceny, make noncompliance a single violation, and share the notification emails with the committee. The city solicitor said the enforcement section, 14-49(b), is where that change would go, and that the ordinance could be written so it is enforced when a problem turns up rather than by sending out inspectors.

Benson said he can speak with the solicitor's office and come back in two weeks. Chair Sean Nolan said the matter is continued for two weeks.

Cannabis equity rules

The city solicitor said state law now requires every city and town to adopt rules that make its cannabis licensing process transparent and give a leg up to applicants from communities hurt by past marijuana enforcement. Gloucester is behind, she said, because the state Cannabis Control Commission itself was in flux for a while. The city would adopt the commission's model ordinance as a new article in Chapter 28, Marijuana Retail Establishments.

The new sections would require the city to publish its approval steps, fees, deadlines, the people involved and how applications are scored. When negotiating a host community agreement with a verified social equity business, the city would have to use a scoring form in which equity counts for at least 25 percent, hold at least two negotiating sessions, allow the applicant a lawyer and an interpreter, and negotiate in good faith. The city may waive fees for those applicants but is not required to. If the city ever adds licenses above its cap, at least half of the new ones would be reserved for equity applicants. The city would also have to publish a municipal equity plan at City Hall and online and notify the commission.

Gross asked why the draft has no definition of a verified social equity business. The solicitor said the definitions are in state law and regulations and could be added. He asked whether the city has its equity plan yet. It does not; the plan will follow the ordinance and track the commission's model. The committee voted 2 to 0, one absent, to recommend the amendment as presented.

Fisheries Commission

The mayor appointed Angela Sanfilippo to a three year seat representing the fishing industry, the packet shows. Nolan said she had been on the commission since it was reconstituted and only left it in February, so he treats the appointment like a reappointment. The committee recommended her 2 to 0.

What was decided

• Angela Sanfilippo, Fisheries Commission, term to Feb. 15, 2029: recommended, 2 in favor, 1 absent.
• CC#2026-017, shopping cart regulations: continued about two weeks for a rewrite.
• Chapter 28 amendment, cannabis equity standards: recommended as presented, 2 in favor, 1 absent.

What happens next

• The shopping cart ordinance returns to the committee in about two weeks with changes from Benson and the solicitor's office.
• The cannabis amendment and the Sanfilippo appointment go to the full City Council.

Where to find the records

• Committee agenda, Oct. 19
• Committee packet, Oct. 19, with the ordinance text and the general counsel's memo
• October 2026 Past Meetings, the city's page with the recording

Earlier coverage: Monday on Cape Ann (Oct. 16), the preview.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names against the agenda and the committee's roster on the city website. These are our meeting notes, not the city's minutes.