(Bloomberg)—Amazon.com Inc. has stopped work on a new warehouse in San Francisco after the city’s board of supervisors unanimously voted to impose a moratorium on new parcel delivery services there.
The incident is the latest flashpoint between Amazon and some of the communities where it is setting up shop amid the rapid expansion of its urban presence. In recent years the world’s largest online retailer has set up hundreds of delivery stations in cities large and small across the US
These facilities receive packaged items from large warehouses and hand them over to drivers for a “last-mile” journey to customers’ doors. Residents of some cities where Amazon has opened delivery stations have complained about increased traffic, noise and air pollution.
San Francisco’s board of supervisors voted 10-0 on Tuesday to approve a measure that would put an 18-month moratorium on new parcel delivery services in the city. Amazon is not named in the ordinance, but unions mobilizing in support of the measure have criticized the company’s expansion and hostility to organized labor.
Amazon spokesman Glenn Kuper said in an emailed statement that the company had stopped work at a delivery station at 900 Seventh Street. “We will continue to evaluate our long-term use of the site, and in the short term we will work with our neighbors to look at ways to use the location to serve the community. Amazon remains a proud member of the San Francisco community. and is committed to continuing to serve our customers.”
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