Phoenix retailers are approaching a deadline to comply with a new ordinance aimed at preventing stray shopping carts.
The ordinance, enacted by city leaders in September, requires retailers to equip their shopping carts with locking devices or privately hire a cart-retrieval company. The stores now need to complete an annual online certification by Jan. 15, confirming they are in compliance with the new rule.
Phoenix leaders passed the ordinance in a unanimous vote, as residents voiced growing frustrations with blight and the eyesore caused by the stray carts. The city had also seen rising costs from retrieving lost carts that belonged to retailers…