REAL ESTATE LAW UPDATE
November 2009
THE ‘LET’S BAN ANY LAND USE THAT ALLOWS UNHEALTHY FOOD’ PEOPLE ARE BACK AGAIN
By Nathan Hannah
The politicians just can’t get off the “let’s use land use law to make people stop doing what might be bad for them by keeping it away from them” bandwagon (see the July, 2006, and July, 2008, Updates). The Los Angeles Times reported on October 12 that the politicians in Los Angeles, following on the heels of their ban of new fast- food restaurants in South Los Angeles, are now moving to limit convenience stores there.
Jan Perry, a member of the Los Angeles City Council who represents South Los Angeles and who was a chief proponent of the fast-food restaurant ban enacted last year, is now pushing legislation that would prohibit new convenience stores from locating less than one-half mile from existing ones in her District unless they sell fresh fruits and vegetables. Why? According to the Times story, a study by the Rand Corporation concluded that “calories from snacks were a likely culprit of higher obesity rates in South Los Angeles.”
Wait, I thought it was the fast food restaurants that were causing the high obesity rate. Was Ms. Perry wrong about that? What if there are just more sedentary people in South Los Angeles than elsewhere? How, exactly, could the Rand Corporation isolate “snacks” as the “likely culprit” as opposed to all the other variables that can contribute to obesity? And what, exactly, is included in the definition of “snacks?”
Councilwoman Perry, whose unassailable logic in promoting the fast-food restaurant ban was that people had “no other choices,” is quoted this time as calling the convenience store ban “a carrot and stick approach.” She at least deserves some credit for showing a sense of humor this time around. Her logic has not improved, however.
I’ll ask it again: are there no grocery stores in her district? 7-Eleven doesn’t sell any fresh fruits or vegetables? Not one single sit-down restaurant in South L.A.? No fast-food restaurants that serve salads or fruit?
Since there obviously are too many convenience stores in her district for Ms. Perry’s liking, in addition to too many fast food establishments, her solution is to try to employ land use law as a tool to change the business conditions there. Does she actually think it will work? If the obesity rate among her constituents is still too high, I guess that means that her fast-food ban didn’t achieve the intended result, doesn’t it?
It seems obvious to me that, like with the fast- food joints, the convenience store operators like to be in high-density areas because they tend to get lots of customers in those areas. And could that be just because people want to patronize those establishments?
Since when did land use regulation become a tool to keep certain businesses away from people who want to patronize them? Since our elected representatives decided that what we want isn’t what they think is good for us?
WHAT EXACTLY IS RAISIN BREAD?
While we’re talking about lawmakers who seem preoccupied with controlling things, here, for your edification, is the definition of raisin bread, as contained in the Code of Federal Regulations (I became aware of this via a web site I recently discovered, http://www.clubforgrowth.org/news/dumblaws/):
Subpart B_Requirements for Specific Standardized Bakery Products Sec. 136.160 Raisin bread, rolls, and buns.
(a) Each of the foods raisin bread, raisin rolls, and raisin buns conforms to the definition and standard of identity and is subject to the requirements for label statement of ingredients prescribed for bread, rolls or buns by Sec. 136.110, except that:
(1) Not less than 50 parts by weight of seeded or seedless raisins are used for each 100 parts by weight of flour used.
(2) Water extract of raisins may be used, but not to replace raisins.
(3) The baked units may bear icing or frosting.
(4) The limitation prescribed by Sec. 136.110(c)(6) on the quantity and composition of milk and/or other dairy products does not apply.
(5) The total solids are determined by the method prescribed in Sec. 136.110
(d), except that section 14.091(b) of “Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists,”' 13th Ed. (1980), which is incorporated by reference, will apply. Copies may be obtained from the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International, 481 North Frederick Ave., suite 500, Gaithersburg, MD 20877-2504, or may be examined at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/code-of-federal--regulations/ibr-locations.html.
(b) The name of the food is “raisin bread”, “raisin rolls”, “raisin buns”, as applicable. When the food contains not less than 2.56 percent by weight of whole egg solids, the name of the food may be “raisin and egg bread”, “raisin and egg rolls”, or “raisin and egg buns”, as applicable, accompanied by the statement “Contains medium-sized egg(s) per pound” in the manner prescribed by Sec. 102.5(c)(3) of this chapter, the blank to be filled in with the number which represents the whole egg content of the food expressed to the nearest one-fifth egg but not greater than the amount actually present. For purposes of this regulation, whole egg solids are the edible contents of eggs calculated on a moisture-free basis and exclusive of any non-egg solids which may be present in standardized and other commercial egg products. One medium-sized egg is equivalent to 0.41 ounce of whole egg solids.
They also have definitions for bread, enriched bread, milk bread, and whole wheat bread. Your tax dollars at work!.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Man is what he eats.
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) Philosopher
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