City committee approves staff recommendations on delivery-app exclusion zones after public plea from Latino restaurant group

At a city committee meeting, members voted to adopt staff recommendations that include a policy establishing exclusion zones for app-based delivery services and related staffing and budget requirements. The decision followed public comment from Lidia Rocha, executive director of the Asociación Latino Restaurantes, who warned the proposal could harm Latino restaurant owners and delivery drivers.

Rocha told the committee in Spanish that the proposed exclusion zones “va a impactar negativamente a algunos de nuestros miembros, algunos de los cuales son propietarios de los restaurantes latinos,” and asked the council to resolve problems on the ground rather than “simplemente legislar.” Her remarks came during the public-comment portion of the meeting, where two members of the public spoke on agenda items.

The committee packet listed the item as a motion by Soto Martínez Hernández “relative to a policy that establishes exclusion zones for all app-based delivery services and the staff and budget necessary.” Committee staff recommended adopting the administrator’s recommendations for agenda items 2 and 3; the committee recorded a roll-call vote in favor. The clerk read the items onto the record before the vote.

Committee members recorded on the roll call included Concejal Hot (yes) and Concejal Park (yes); Concejal De was recorded as absent. The motion as recorded asked staff to proceed with the recommendations and to return further materials as necessary.

Supporters at the meeting emphasized operational impacts on small restaurants and on drivers who make deliveries across multiple neighborhoods; public testimony requested targeted enforcement or localized solutions rather than a citywide ban. The committee’s approval directs staff to incorporate policy language and return with implementation detail and budget implications in a later report.

The record shows the matter was considered alongside other administrative and code-related items on the agenda; the committee vote approved the recommendations for items 2 and 3 as described in the staff report.

The committee did not adopt specific enforcement language or a final map of exclusion zones at the meeting. Staff was directed to return with more detailed materials, including any draft language and budget implications, for a subsequent meeting.