Gloucester shopping cart ordinance heads to the full council with a 50 cart exemption and a Nov. 24 hearing

Gloucester's proposed shopping cart ordinance is moving to the full City Council. The council's Ordinances and Administration Committee voted Monday to send a rewritten version forward with a public hearing set for Nov. 24. The committee had sent the first version back to its sponsor on Oct. 19.

What happened

• The committee voted 2 in favor, 1 against, from the meeting video, to send council order CC#2026-017 to the full council with a public hearing on Nov. 24.
• The rewrite exempts any store with fewer than 50 carts.
• Stores with 50 or more carts would have six months after the ordinance takes effect to tag every cart and put a wheel lock system on carts used in parking lots.
• The sponsor, Ward 2 Councilor Dylan Benson, said he will notify the stores again before the hearing and hopes their managers come to speak.

What changed since Oct. 19

On Oct. 19 the committee asked Benson to exempt small stores, make noncompliance a single violation and show that the stores had been told. Benson came back with a new draft worked out with the city solicitor's office. He said the problem is stores with hundreds of carts, not a shop with 25.

As read into the record by Councilor Marjorie Grace, the new text says:

• Tags. Six months after the ordinance takes effect, every cart must carry a tag with the owner's name, local address and phone number.
• Wheel locks. In the same six months, a store that supplies carts for use in a parking lot must install and keep up a system that stops carts from leaving the property, using a locking device on every cart.
• Exemption. A store with fewer than 50 carts is exempt.
• Fines. The first offense is a written warning. After that, a missing tag is a $10 fine and a missing locking device is a $300 fine, with each cart and each day counted as a separate offense.
• Who enforces it. The building commissioner or a designee, or any police officer, through the noncriminal ticket process in state law (Chapter 40, Section 21D).

Benson said he expects enforcement to work the way the city checked compliance with its bag ordinance: after the six months, which he said is really seven because an ordinance takes effect 30 days after passage, the building commissioner would check whether the stores with 50 or more carts have tags and locks. The ordinance does not deal with carts found off the property, he said; it only requires the tags and the locks.

What members asked

Grace said she agrees carts are a problem, naming carts in the marsh, along Maplewood Avenue and on Sargent Street. Her worry is cost being passed on to shoppers. Benson said grocery prices in the cities and towns that already have these rules are no higher than Gloucester's, and that missing carts are already a loss for the stores. Grace asked that the supermarket managers come to the public hearing, in person or in writing, so the council hears from the people who would have to comply. She also asked that the stores get notice before the hearing. Benson said he would call them, bring them the agenda or a notice in person and post it on social media.

A member on Zoom said his main concern is enforcement, and asked what would stop someone from taking a cart from a small, exempt store. Benson said the size of the carts would, and that enforcement after hours would fall to the building department or police.

Benson said he reached out to the owners of Gloucester Crossing, Shaw's, Stop & Shop and Dollar General, and that the responses were limited. If the supermarkets bring alternatives to the hearing, he said, he is open to continuing the matter or withdrawing it.

What was decided

• CC#2026-017, shopping cart regulations, as revised, to the full City Council with a public hearing Nov. 24: 2 in favor, 1 against, from the meeting video.

What happens next

• The City Council holds a public hearing on the ordinance on Nov. 24, 2026. Store managers and residents can speak then or send comments to the council in writing.
• The 50 cart exemption and the six month deadlines can still change before a final vote.

Where to find the records

• Committee agenda, Nov. 2
• Committee packet, Oct. 19, with the ordinance as first filed and the general counsel's memo
• November 2026 Past Meetings, the city's page with the recording

Earlier coverage: Gloucester shopping cart rules go back for rewrite (Oct. 21), the committee's first look, and Monday on Cape Ann (Oct. 30), 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.