Arlington leaders want to make it easier to get healthy food and harder to build dollar stores
3 min read
Patricia Sinel, a principal planner with the metropolis, claims suppliers like Dollar Typical and Relatives Dollar choose earnings absent from nearby grocery shops and jeopardize growth of new supermarkets.
“If a dollar retailer will come into a food desert, a grocery retail outlet is unwilling to come in,” Sinel mentioned.
A lot more than 40,000 Arlington residents reside in locations regarded foods deserts, according to a 2019 U.S. Section of Agriculture examine. The agency considers census tracts “minimal income and low entry” parts if 20% of citizens reside in poverty and 33% live far more than a mile away from supermarkets.
Places indicated in the research include things like UT Arilngton campus parts of north Arlington bordering Texas Freeway 360 and a stretch of neighborhoods concerning South Cooper Road, Pioneer Parkway and Interstate 20.
The ordinance necessitates new outlets to build at minimum 1 and a half miles from other suppliers and confines new suppliers to retail centers. The town also developed parameters for discount suppliers, like that they need to be concerning 5,000 and 15,000 square feet, dedicate more than 20% of their flooring area to fresh or clean frozen food or incorporate a prescription pharmacy. The ordinance does not have an affect on present shops.
Council members accepted the ordinance 5-1. District 3 council member Nikkie Hunter voted in opposition to the ordinance, and council associates Bowie Hogg and Barbara Odom-Wesley were being absent from the assembly.
Town Council has to vote yet again June 28 for the plan to go into outcome.
The vote Tuesday follows months of discussion about dollar retailers and a broader dialogue of Arlington-space food stuff deserts. The city’s Unity Council, a metropolis-appointed group tasked with recommending remedies to socioeconomic disparities, advised getting foodstuff desert alternatives.
Odom-Wesley, who chairs the committee that drafted the suggestion, mentioned in a Jan. 11 council session that greenback outlets can hurt access. Greenback shops compete to rule markets by shopping for land, she additional.
“I seriously want to see a dedication to attempting to decrease the immediate advancement of these (outlets),” Odom-Wesley stated.
Richard Weber, who spoke during public remark, states he noticed that most of the 34 greenback and price reduction stores ended up exterior the food stuff desert regions, which scatter throughout the city’s north and central areas.
“It appears to be like the answer is not to limit the small box shops, but to in fact motivate them to create more fruit or new generate,” he suggests.
Sinel says firms looking to open up retailers in town are seldom fascinated in which include refreshing meals and, if they are, cannot provide an estimate of how a lot of their store house will be focused to develop, and couple standing merchants supply fresh options.
Raul Gonzalez, District 2 council member, suggests he would like residents to know the city is conscious of meals deserts.
“We’re heading to have a strategy of motion, but this is just just one way to at least get the ball rolling,” he claims.
Received a suggestion? E-mail Kailey Broussard at [email protected] You can adhere to Kailey on Twitter @KaileyBroussard.
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