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Richmond staff and youth advocates outline draft healthy‑checkout (HOPS) ordinance; council requests enforcement, business outreach plans
Summary
Richmond staff and youth advocates outlined a draft Healthy Options at Point of Sale ordinance and council directed staff to pursue county enforcement, set a 2,000‑square‑foot threshold for covered stores, adopt a Berkeley‑based healthy‑food definition and run a one‑year outreach period before enforcement.
City staff and Richmond youth advocates presented a draft Healthy Options at Point of Sale (HOPS) ordinance, designed to move impulse, unhealthy items out of checkout aisles and place healthier foods where consumers make last‑minute purchases. The Council gave staff guidance on enforcement, business thresholds and outreach strategy.
The draft ordinance is modeled on Berkeley’s 2020 healthy‑checkout ordinance and on a county draft. Staff highlighted four decision points for council: which agency will enforce the rule, how to define large businesses subject to the ordinance, how to define the set of permitted “healthy foods,” and what outreach and education to provide before penalties begin.
Because Richmond lacks a city public‑health inspection unit, staff recommended negotiating an enforcement partnership with Contra Costa County Environmental Health; the county is already considering a similar policy for unincorporated areas. Staff also recommended adopting the county/ Berkeley definitions for healthy foods and using 2,000 square feet as the threshold for a “large” retail store — the same threshold the county proposed — so the rule targets stores with capacity to stock alternatives.
Staff proposed a one‑year outreach and education period before active enforcement. The outreach plan would include workshops for retailers, signage templates, a public awareness campaign and direct technical assistance. Staff noted a Department of Justice grant opportunity that may help with enforcement funding and asked council if it wanted staff to pursue it.
Youth advocates and community members who developed the HOPS proposal testified in support, saying the policy is intended to reshuffle shelf placement rather than ban products and that local health data support efforts to make evidence‑based changes in checkout design.
Council took no binding vote but provided direction consistent with staff and the youth advocates’ recommendations: pursue a county enforcement partnership, use the 2,000‑square‑foot threshold for large stores, adopt the Berkeley/county healthy‑food definition and implement a one‑year education period prior to enforcement. Staff will return with a draft ordinance and implementation costs.
