Richmond council directs staff to mirror Contra Costa HOPS ordinance and seek county enforcement

The Richmond City Council directed staff to align Richmond’s draft Healthy Options at Point of Sale (HOPS) ordinance with Contra Costa County’s ordinance so the county can administer enforcement on the city’s behalf.

Economic development staff and the environmental manager summarized earlier drafts and explained that Richmond lacks the code‑enforcement capacity to administer a HOPS program on its own. Aligning the city ordinance to the county’s existing rules—most notably the county’s 2,000‑square‑foot threshold for covered retailers—would allow county environmental‑health staff to conduct complaint‑based inspections and pursue voluntary compliance. City staff emphasized education and outreach as a first step and said enforcement activity would be billed to noncompliant operators.

A representative of the California Grocers Association, Tim James, cautioned the council that the county ordinance’s size threshold and requirements could unintentionally burden full‑service grocery retailers and urged staff to craft exemptions or alternatives. “Including full service grocers who sell tens of thousands of healthy options throughout their footprint is too much,” he said, asking for tailored alternatives.

Youth advocates and environmental justice groups who had supported the ordinance urged the council to proceed; council members asked staff to check whether the city should add language about products containing certain red dyes—two dyes are already moving toward state restrictions—and to return with a final ordinance and a draft interagency agreement for county enforcement.

The council voted to move forward with county alignment and to direct the city manager to negotiate an interagency agreement, with staff returning to council with a final ordinance for adoption and a year of education and outreach planned before enforcement.