But there was a method to his madness. Rivera, 28, who at age 22 became the youngest elected official in city history, says that introducing that drastic measure more than a year ago was a way of bringing a much larger issue to the table.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t eat at McDonald’s,” he says, adding that the proposal was the impetus in addressing obesity in New York City, where more than half of adults are overweight or obese. “We wanted to do something shocking to get some attention, and we got a lot of people to start focusing on the issue.”
While the ban never came to pass, the proposal led to several health initiatives that were developed by city and restaurant officials to help consumers make dietary and healthier choices.
“It led to a trans fat ban, an obesity prevention initiative as well as menu labeling with calorie counting,” says Rivera, who also chairs the city’s Health Committee.
Perry noted an analysis by The Los Angeles Times, which indicated that 30 percent of adults in South Los Angeles are obese. In addition, the study also indicated that out of the city’s some 8,200 restaurants, South Los Angeles had the highest concentration of quick-serve eateries.
“More than 40 percent of them are in south L.A. There are more than enough fast-food restaurants there now,” she says, adding that more full-service restaurants and grocery stores are needed. “This ordinance is an opportunity to have some control of that. We have an opportunity to preserve the land or attract businesses that we want to come to the community.”
The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on the issue at the beginning of November. Perry says she is confident it will pass.
“I’ve been called a communist, but the negative feedback comes from people who haven’t read the ordinance. It’s not a ban, and we have met with the California Restaurant Association, and they are engaged in the process and they want to work with us and help us.”
If voters in Ogunquit approve, the town will be the second community in York County, Maine, to ban quick-serve and other chain restaurants. The town of York approved a similar zoning ordinance in 2004.
The proposed ordinance for Ogunquit defines a quick-serve or “formula restaurant” as one that has “standardized features which cause the restaurant to be substantially identical to another restaurant regardless of ownership or location.”
Bans or limits on quick-serves, however, are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, the verbiage in the Ogunquit proposal is virtually identical to a measure that Calistoga, California, passed in 1996 that banned “formula restaurants.” Section 17.22.020(D)(2) of the Calistoga municipal code defines a formula restaurant as one that has uniform names, menus, appearances, and logos identical to another restaurant located elsewhere.
Along with Calistoga and York, Detroit has upheld a zoning ordinance that prohibits quick-serves within 500 feet of a school for more than 20 years, while drive-thru and quick-serve restaurants have been banned from Concord, Massachusetts, since 1981.
The number of quick-serves restaurants in Arcata, California, is limited to nine, while a neighborhood in Berkeley restricts the number to seven.