Residents of Echo Park, a Los Angeles neighborhood, say their streets have been overrun with delivery drivers since the opening of a ghost kitchen in the fall of 2023.
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The Los Angeles Times recently spoke with disgruntled residents like Sandy Romero, who said, “The first day that they opened business it was chaotic, unorganized and it’s just such a nuisance now.”
The business is Echo Park Eats, a meal preparation hub for app-based delivery orders. It has contracts with 26 different food vendors and calls itself “a restaurant co-op that’s modernizing the traditional food hall experience.” There’s no seating and customers only have the option of takeout or delivery from the restaurants. The company that owns it is CloudKitchens, which is led by Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber Technologies.
According to the report, the neighborhood has been swamped with delivery drivers while they wait to pick up orders.
Ghost kitchens are commercial kitchens built to cater to delivery apps. By operating in areas with a lot of delivery demand, they help ensure faster and fresher deliveries. But, as this neighborhood has discovered, they can also result in traffic and congestion.
How is this impacting the neighborhood?
Residents report their streets are now clogged with drivers who take up parking spaces, idle in red zones, double park, speed on sidewalks on mopeds, argue loudly and play loud music.
Resident J.C. Arias, who lives across the street from the ghost kitchen, told the L.A. Times that last summer, delivery drivers would gather in front of his home, bringing their own chairs to sit under the shade of a tree and leaving behind trash. Frustrated, he eventually cut off the branches providing shade. The drivers moved on to another shaded spot down the street. Arias also believes the business has brought more crime to the area.
Erika Torres, who’s lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years, told the newspaper the ghost kitchen "does not belong in a residential area, especially not on a residential street.” She complained about the smell of cooked foods permeating her home.
Small steps have been taken to fix the issues, including instituting permitted parking and more parking enforcement officers. A neighbor said one officer was assaulted while trying to enforce the law in February.
Colin Sweeney, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, confirmed the LAPD is investigating an “alleged attack on a traffic officer during the course of his duties on February 8,” but declined to offer more details to the L.A. Times.
Echo Park Eats limited parking in its lot to five minutes, but neighbors said that only pushed drivers to idle on the streets or park mopeds on sidewalks.
One of the main challenges is that Echo Park Eats is classified as a catering business, allowing it to operate in a residential area, even though it functions more like a distribution hub.
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Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose district includes the neighborhood, plans to present two possible fixes to the City Council. One is changing the land-use rule for ghost kitchens. But that change would only apply to future facilities. The other option is implementing a geofence that would prevent delivery drivers from waiting within 1,000 feet of the kitchen.
“The theory behind this is that the traffic will sort of disperse or it’ll be a little more disaggregated because, right now, they’re literally hanging out feet from the [facility],” Soto-Martinez said to the L.A. Times.
But neighbors worry the geofence would just shift the problem elsewhere. “We feel bad because we don’t want to do that to anybody else,” said a resident to the newspaper.
What other options do residents have?
Echo Park residents have few tools at their disposal. They can call the city to report illegal parking and push for more patrolling. However, concerns like loitering, noise, traffic, or the overwhelming smell of food are harder to address.
Some neighbors are on an active email thread along with Soto-Martinez’s district staff and other city staff, discussing safety issues and solutions.
If you’re facing similar issues in your neighborhood, start by contacting your city council representative or local department of transportation to report traffic or parking violations. Document concerns with photos or videos, as this will help you as you push for action.
Consider organizing a petition with your neighbors or requesting a public meeting to advocate for zoning reviews or enforcement. Collective action can help bring attention to the problem and find solutions.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
