Dive Brief:
- Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee on Wednesday signed into law legislation that prohibits supermarket operators from adding restrictions to real estate contracts designed to prevent spaces they vacate from being used by other grocers.
- The new law, which took effect immediately, blocks a practice that state lawmakers said had led to the creation of food deserts and disproportionately impacted lower-income communities.
- The covenants prohibited for decades the sale of fresh food and other goods on real estate formerly occupied by grocery stores, according to a statement from McKee’s office.
Dive Insight:
McKee joined Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, the bill’s co-sponsors and others including Save A Lot store owner Alberto Duran for a ceremonial signing ceremony in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
State Rep. Stephen M. Casey, who co-sponsored the measure, indicated that he was motivated to introduce the measure by restrictive covenants causing supermarket closures in Woonsocket that he said left the city of about 43,000 residents with only one grocery store.
Woonsocket officials had tried for years to alleviate the supermarket shortage in the city but ran into obstacles posed by restrictive covenants imposed on several parcels of land appropriate for a grocery store, according to a Wednesday statement from the Rhode Island General Assembly.
“While this practice might be good for the bottom line of these multimillion-dollar companies, it leaves many residents — especially those with limited mobility or access to reliable transportation — without convenient access to the essential neighborhood resource that is a grocery store,” Casey said in a statement about the use of deed restrictions by large grocery chains. “Ending this practice will be a great benefit to Woonsocket and all the communities across Rhode Island that are suffering from the same situation.”
Rhode Island follows Washington state in enacting legislation that blocks grocers’ use of restrictive covenants. That state’s governor, Bob Ferguson, in March signed a bill outlawing agreements that restrict property from being used for a grocery store or pharmacy. The legislation went into effect in June.
