neighborhood associations are stepping up
Also called “ghost shops”, dark kitchens are the subject of debate in Toulouse. These are premises in which new restaurateurs prepare dishes for delivery. In the Chalets district, the dark kitchen Popafood opened its doors at the beginning of summer 2022. Since then, the neighborhood association “Chalets Roquelaine” has carried out several actions to better understand the possible nuisances linked to this new type of establishments.
Risk of nuisance
In Toulouse, three dark kitchens have opened: Foudie, Locafood and Popafood. If, at present, the phenomenon remains timid in the Pink City, the metropolises presenting a more developed activity have developed noise pollution and annoying parking problems for delivery people.
“In Toulouse, we are lucky to be late”, recognizes Marie-Laure Ichanjou, member of theassociation of the Chalets-Roquelaine district. She continues:
In Paris, Nantes or Marseille, there are entire streets where dark kitchens are installed. There are many problems there. Delivery people park on the sidewalks, which creates noise and pollution. You have delivery trucks that also generate noise. Odor nuisances have also been deplored with poor management of garbage cans. In addition, in Boulogne-Billancourt, some residents living near these establishments noticed the presence of rats”, explains Marie-Laure Ichanjou, questioned by The Independent Opinion.
However, in Toulouse, the situation is far from being similar. The second Toulouse black cuisine opened its doors last June in the Chalets district. The two project leaders have settled in a former restaurant of 400 m2, transformed into 12 industrial kitchens.
“For the moment, the dark kitchen in our neighborhood is not a problem, because it has recently opened and its activity has been deactivated, but it is better to be safe than sorry”, launches the local resident. An anticipation which was also shared by the Metropolis of Toulouse.
Limit the phenomenon of dark kitchens
On June 23, during the Council of the Metropolis, the opposition presented a wish aimed at limiting the rise of dark kitchens. A proposal voted unanimously by the Council. For the majority of elected officials, these companies settle on an uberization of the catering trade. An economic model that fuels the precariousness of workers and also promotes clandestine work.
There is unfair competition with restaurants and retail businesses. We would really like elected officials to legislate, so that at the level of the Local Intermunicipal Urban Plan – Habitat (PLUIH) there are areas with a zero dark kitchen and zero dark store tendency. We are not against this type of establishment, but we would like to avoid a concentration in the city center, just like dark stores, which are based on the click & collect model. There are suitable activity areas”, insists the representative of the association of the Chalets-Roquelaine district.
Moreover, this type of establishment benefits from a legal vacuum. The town hall then has little room for manoeuvre. Local residents are thus working to preserve their living environment by soliciting various local elected officials.
There has to be a legal framework, hence the interest of soliciting elected officials, with whom we were in touch during the Metropolitan Council last June. We also saw elected officials from the Departmental Council, Anne Boyer and Alain Gabrielli, who translated a wish to Bruno Le Maire. We met the former deputy for the first constituency of Haute-Garonne, Pierre Cabaré, who also translated a letter written to the government”, explains Marie-Laure Ichanjou.
In this letter, the elected representative proposed to Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse, but also Vice-president of urban France, to have a common action to stop a possible multiplication of dark kitchens.
“Defining the concept of trade”
Last March, a letter addressed to the government presented a draft decree which worries elected officials of “all tendencies” declared Marie-Laure Ichanjou. In this text, any point of sale can be considered as a business. However, residents and elected officials wish to present a precise definition of these establishments. “These are industrial and agri-food activities, but they are not businesses”, underlines the Toulousaine.
Now the ball is in the government’s court. Olivier Klein, Minister Delegate for Cities and Housing, is due to bring together all the players on September 6 to define what a business is. A first step that will allow mayors to define a local urban plan.
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