LOS ANGELES Los Angeles' City Council is scheduled this fall to consider a two-year moratorium on the development of quick-service restaurants in certain neighborhoods where the incidence of obesity-related illnesses appears to be particularly high.
The proposal, introduced in June by council member Jan Perry, would suspend the opening of fast-food restaurants in South and Central Los Angeles while city officials look for ways to encourage a more diverse mix of dining options.
Perry also is developing an incentive program designed to draw more grocery stores and full-service restaurants into the area. Market research has shown that several of the underprivileged area's neighborhoods, including Baldwin Hills, West Adams and Leimert Park, have the economic potential to support such businesses, said Eva Kandarpa, Perry's spokeswoman.
"People tell us, 'The only option we have is eating fast food, and we don't have any grocery stores in our neighborhood,'" Kandarpa said. "We want to give people more options."
ALos Angeles Times study of 8,200 restaurants found that the area commonly known as South Central has the city's highest concentration of quick-service dining options. But the paper also determined that South Central has fewer eating establishments overall per capita than such neighborhoods as Hollywood or downtown.
Public health officials estimate that 30 percent of adults and 29 percent of children in South Central are obese, compared with 20.9 percent of adults and 23.3 percent of children in Los Angeles County overall. South Central residents also have higher rates of diabetes.
Kearsten Shepherd, director of communications for the California Restaurant Association, said placing restrictions on fast-food restaurants is not the answer to the complex problem of obesity.
"Generally, when you put restrictions on businesses it affects the entire local economy," Shepherd said. "Those restaurants are there because there is a market to support them."