in Toulouse, elected officials satisfied with the measures proposed to curb the phenomenon
At the beginning of the summer, the mayor of Toulouse and president of the Metropolis entrusted a handful of journalists to be “distraught” in the face of the phenomenon of dark stores. These stores with tinted windows designed as real warehouses in the heart of city centers are linked to platforms and websites that allow consumers to do their shopping almost 24 hours a day before coming to withdraw their purchases or have them delivered.”We lack the tools to regulate these practices“, had designated Jean-Luc Moudenc at the same time.
The “practice“Who poses a problem in the eyes of local elected officials? These new players take possession of commercial premises because they are legally marked as such. But in reality, their business is based more on logistics and the windows of traditional shops therefore sometimes leave smoked and opaque windows in or near shopping streets.
By chance, some will say, Toulouse currently only has two in its streets, located on boulevard de Suisse and allée Charles de Fitte. But in Bordeaux, Lyon or Paris, a few dozen dark stores have set up locally. The Pink City, which benefits from a lower population density than the cities mentioned above, is in fact slightly spared from the frenzy of dark stores.
An upcoming debate on the area on which dark stores will be banned
Requested several times by the elected officials of the cities concerned, to obtain answers and tools adapted to these new economic actors, the government brought together the associations of local elected officials on Tuesday, September 6.
“Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate in charge of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, Crafts and Tourism and Olivier Klein, Minister Delegate for Cities and Housing are pleased with the quality of the exchanges which have led to a solution adapted to these new activities and which is also respectful of the interests of cities and those who live there (…) There was a clear consensus among participants that the dark stores be treated as warehouses, even if they have a pick-up point”, namely Bercy by means of a press release at the end of this meeting.
On the side of the town hall of Toulouse, which had called the ministers concerned before the summer, this announcement is perceived as good news. “The government understood the problem this time. From now on, as the dark stores will be considered as warehouses, they will have to go through the town planning services to transform a commercial space into a warehouse and we, therefore, will have the upper hand by having the possibility of refusing this establishment.», explains Olivier Arsac, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of coordinating actions relating to economic life, employment, trade and crafts.This goes in the right direction because the dark stores are real warehouses even if they have a pseudo reception counter. This is a good first step in the fight against uberization and nuisances“, also reacted Maxime Le Texier, elected municipal and metropolitan in the opposition. A few months ago, the politician at the origin of the movement Archipel Citoyen had made a wish during a metropolitan council asking for the prohibition dark shops, which had been passed unanimously.
If the two men rejoice on the bottom, not sure that it is as much on the form. Toulouse Métropole is currently preparing a new PLUi-H (local urban plan on the scale of the 37 municipalities of the Métropole) and one of the challenges will be to define a perimeter in which these warehouses will be prohibited. “I am working on a new cartography which will be much more ambitious than currently. You don’t just have to protect the beautiful shopping streets of Toulouse, you have to go further...”, comments Olivier Arsac, who still remains unclear about his intentions. “We want to know the geographical intentions of the majority on the subject. We do not want a two-speed metropolis with a very gentrified and very protected city center and neglected suburbs and outlying areas“, warns Maxime Le Texier.
No question of evicting the dark stores and dark kitchens already installed in Toulouse
Whatever the contours of the future map, there is no question for the City of Toulouse or even the metropolis to exclude or move the two dark stores already installed. “We are not against it because it corresponds to a social demand“, justifies the deputy mayor. Same position for the two dark kitchens in the city center located on avenue Camille-Pujol and in the Chalets district, these ghost restaurants designed only for delivery by and take-out via known platforms. of all.
Nevertheless, regarding dark kitchens, discussions between associations of local elected officials and the government are continuing. “For this other type of trade, the discussions are not over. But with the government, we are moving towards the creation of a sub-category in the typology of businesses in order to allow us to ban them in certain streets as well.“, says the local elected majority also mayor of the district in Toulouse.
From now on, local elected officials are waiting for a order of the Minister Delegate for the City and Housing which “will therefore specify these new methods which will give effective and operational legal tools to mayors to regulate the dark stores and dark kitchens”, Bercy promises.