A law that would bar fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles for at least a year sailed through the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday. The council approved the fast-food moratorium unanimously, despite complaints from representatives of McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr. and other companies, who said they were being unfairly targeted. Councilwoman Jan Perry, who has pushed for a moratorium for six years, said the initiative would give the city time to craft measures to lure sit-down restaurants serving healthier food to a part of the city that desperately wants more of them. “I believe this is a victory for the people of South and southeast Los Angeles, for them to have greater food options,” she said. The ban covers a 32-square-mile area for one year, with two possible six-month extensions.
The area contains about 500,000 residents, including those who live in West Adams, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park. The law defines fast-food restaurants as “any establishment which dispenses food for consumption on or off the premises, and which has the following characteristics: a limited menu, items prepared in advance or prepared or heated quickly, no table orders and food served in disposable wrapping or containers.” A report released last year by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health found 30% of children in South L.A. were obese, compared with 25% of all children in the city.
I have lived in areas where zoning prohibited fast food restaurants from operating, but it was mostly for aesthetic reasons, and no one complained.
No big deal, just means more business for the existing fast food restaurants in that area. Not like people will take their 99 cent cheeseburger money and run to a $15.00 seafood salad at a sit down restaurant.
This is another example of a stupid law.
So no more fast food places can be established. So what? All this means is the existing fast food places get more business.
“said the initiative would give the city time to craft measures to lure sit-down restaurants serving healthier food to a part of the city that desperately wants more of them.”
That’s a laugh. The reason fast food is king in poor neighborhoods is because it’s fast and cheap! Sit down restaurants are neither. After all, most people living in poor neighborhoods live their because they’re POOR! Not very many poor people spend money they don’t have eating in expensive sit down restaurants…
Just watch. Every sit down restaurant established this year will be a McDonalds or Burger King next year.
Rats, Shenzhov beat me to it.
But it does make you realize just how little common sense these city counsel members have.
good for them. one year can’t hurt and might just help
Just another stupid law to try and force the public to do what they don’t want to do.
No fast food joints huh? For “health” reasons? Good for the government to look outside itself and restrict other people and “the free market.”
Why not impose on themselves a requirement for exercise in schools? Expanded park activities? Co-op grown your own food projects? etc.
Government offers few solutions. Sure wish there was an alternative.
a shame… while they were at it the should have eliminated the drive through….. at least get up off your big fat unhealthy butt and get your unhealthy food, and stop using overpriced fuel……………….
#7 a shame… while they were at it the should have eliminated the drive through….. at least get up off your big fat unhealthy butt and get your unhealthy food, and stop using overpriced fuel……………….
Amen! I rarely use the drive through. Usually you get faster service by going inside anyway. That way I have time to stuff a couple of extra sliders in my face!
Don
Good old big-brother/ paternalism / nanny-state.
So the gangstas and welfare queens will start going to the west side beach cities for their fast food fixes. That will teach these them the laws of unintended consequences. What happened during prohibition. Gangstas, Canadians, and Cubans got rich.
Are $9.95 hamburgers at a sit-down restaurant better for your health than a Whopper or a Big Mac?
I’m confused.
I agree with Mr. Mustard’s confusion. Where are these businessmen who want to open up low-price sit down restaurants with healthy menus? Is McDonalds really stopping them?
More confusion. It’s odd that you use an El Pollo Loco logo in that post. Their food is about as healthy as fast food can get, and tastes great.
#11 “Are $9.95 hamburgers at a sit-down restaurant better for your health than a Whopper or a Big Mac? I’m confused.”
Yes, because the poor people who live in the effected area will less because they can’t afford it.
Thus, they will lose weight and live longer. 😉
#13. Aesthetics, that was more about ugly-ass signs than about tasty fried chicken. Signs like that are stomach churning. I don’t know if the chicken is or not.
Communities don’t need so many fast food restaurants and if we didn’t have “Nanny States” we would have chaos.
Anyone heard of a slow-food restaurant?
Why do some people get the seemingly uncontrollable urge to screw with other peoples lives and where do they get the arrogance to be so sure of their actions?
#16
True / False/ Unrelated
When is that lame ass state going to fall into the ocean ?
Maybe they suspect that rat-bag fast-food restaurants are a plague inflicted upon LA (and many other cities).
Perhaps they’re hoping that at a later date Anglicans realize that the last thing they need is another fast-food joint.
#21 – Raster Man
>>Perhaps they’re hoping that at a later date
>>Anglicans realize that the last thing they
>>need is another fast-food joint.
Then they might want to wait until the “Anglicans” make that determination, eh?
So now, instead of getting an affordable salad at McDonald’s or a grilled chicken sandwich at Wendy’s or an 89-cent bean burrito at Taco Bell, locals can get a 1,200 calorie megaburger at TGIF or Applebee’s for ten times the price? This is progress?
build condos
A moratorium today is better than being stuck with an uncontrolled mess down the road.
For anyone that thinks “fast food” is cheap should take a family of four to McDonald’s and look at the final tab.
If going to a sit down place is too expensive, maybe they shouldn’t be eating out anyway.
*
What most nimrods don’t realize is that we elect the City Council to run the city. That includes zoning. When you start calling this regulation function “Nanny State” you are really saying you wouldn’t mind if someone opened a 24 hour auto body shop right next door to your house, residential area be damned. If you object, then you are demonstrating how little you care about those who need their cars fixed.
Is controlling what people eat “Nanny State”? Geeze, how many people didn’t care about all the salmonella cases recently? How many people don’t care about rat droppings on their pork chops. How many people don’t care about the poisoned Chinese dog food?
#24,
It might be a little early, but so far no one has voiced any objections to the rat droppings on their pork chops.
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