Every time I've been to the Autonation Nissan Arapahoe dealer, they've always had three or four LEAFs parked in front of all the charging spots. The spots are marked "Customer Use Only", but these were never customer cars, but LEAFs with dealer stickers on them. Sometimes the charger(s) were in use, sometimes not. I suppose that if you went inside and asked if you could use a charger that someone might move cars around for you, but its definitely not "public friendly".
Leaving the charging cable on the ground is akin to leaving a gasoline filling hose on the ground. I'm surprised that anyone would leave a charging cable loose.
--Andre Hut