San Diego-
The city’s proposal to ban new drive-through restaurants near San Diego’s public transport faces strong opposition from the restaurant industry and some community leaders.
Supporters say the plan is a logical and necessary step, as San Diego strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging people to abandon their cars in favor of public transport, cycling and walking. It states that it will be.
Drive-through restaurants are more distracting to drivers as they leave the drive-through, and long lines often spill into the lanes and sidewalks of the bike, so it’s better to use a car or truck to walk or ride a bike. They say they encourage people to make it dangerous.
However, opponents say the plan will discourage the opening of restaurants that rely on drive-through, especially in low-income areas. They also say that this policy will make life difficult for the elderly and disabled who need a car.
This proposal does not require closing an existing drive-through near the transit, but it does not allow you to open a new drive-through. Applies only to restaurants, not drive-through pharmacies and banks.
Opposition groups have persuaded city officials to delay approval of the new policy. Instead, authorities will meet with the local restaurant industry to discuss possible implications and study how such bans were dealt with in other cities such as Palm Springs and Long Beach.
This ban was opposed by a coalition of neighboring leaders called the City Planning Commission, the City Council Land Use and Housing Commission, and the Community Planning Commission.
The proposed drive-through ban can be characterized as San Diego’s next step after removing parking requirements for home developers in transit areas two years ago and clearing parking requirements for companies near transit last month.
This prohibition applies only to areas called “Transit Priority Areas”. This is an area within 0.5 miles of a trolley line, a high-speed bus transit station, or two high-frequency bus routes.
Policy changes are part of a larger campaign to make San Diego a more traffic-friendly metropolis with less reliance on cars, the largest producer of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. is.
“Automatic-oriented applications such as drive-throughs are inconsistent in areas where aggressive transportation and transportation applications are prioritized,” said city planning officials, forcing existing drive-throughs to shut down. I emphasized that there is no such thing. “The city needs to plan not only for transportation, but also for a lively and prosperous pedestrian environment and consistent land use.”
Andy Hanshaw, leader of the City Mobility Commission and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, said San Diego must make such a move to promote the use of bicycles and transportation.
“We need to think big and bold,” he said. “We need to reduce the car’s emissions and idling generated by drive-through.”
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce acknowledged that the ban could play a role in helping San Diego achieve its goals in the Climate Change Plan, but lobbyed against the ban anyway. rice field.
“We would like to further analyze how future restaurant drive-through and drive-in bans in transportation priority areas can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Chamber.
The California Restaurant Association said the proposal did not contain any data or evidence to support such a major change.
The American Retirement Association said it was important to study how such bans in other cities affected older people.
This proposal was one of the three dozen zoning and regulatory changes proposed by the city’s planning department as part of a radical package of reforms. However, the Land Use Commission voted on November 3 to remove it for further analysis.
Other proposals for this year’s package include incentives for new child care centers, deregulation of downtown veterinarians, and relaxation of storage space and balcony requirements for new apartments and condos.
The city council will vote for the package on Monday. If approved, the change will not take effect in the city’s coastal areas until it is reviewed by the California Coastal Commission next year.
City officials have not provided an estimate of the time it will take to analyze the proposed drive-through ban and probably submit it for congressional approval.
San Diego plan to ban new drive-thru restaurants near transit faces opposition Source link San Diego plan to ban new drive-thru restaurants near transit faces opposition