LOS ANGELES A proposal to suspend development of quick-service restaurants in South Los Angeles moved closer to passage yesterday when a city council committee approved the plan. The measure now moves to the full council.
If approved, the legislation would prohibit new QSRs from opening within a 32-square-mile area for at least one year.
Councilmember Jan Perry introduced the moratorium as a way to reduce diabetes and obesity within the economically depressed region. According to a study released earlier this year by the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, 30 percent of South Los Angeles adults are obese and 11.7 percent have diabetes, compared with countywide rates of 21 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.
In addition, a Los Angeles Times analysis earlier this year found that South Los Angeles has more fast-food restaurants per capita than other heavily populated sections of the city.
Perry’s stated goal is to encourage more full-service restaurants and grocery stores to open in the neighborhoods, which include West Adams, Baldwin Village and Leimert Park. Incentives to draw such businesses include the tax credits, utility discounts and expedited permitting.
According to the Times, Perry’s proposal defines fast-food restaurants as places that dispense food for consumption on or off premises; have a limited menu; sell food that is prepared in advance or prepared and heated quickly; have no table service; and serve food in disposable wrappers or containers.
The proposal was amended to allow an exemption for fast-casual concepts, which were characterized as preparing food to customers’ specifications and not having heat lamps or drive-thrus.