(Bloomberg)—Amazon.com Inc. has stopped work on a new warehouse in San Francisco after the city’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to implement a moratorium on new parcel delivery services there.
The incident is the latest flashpoint between Amazon and some of the communities where it’s setting up shop amid a rapid expansion of its urban presence. The world’s largest online retailer in recent years has established hundreds of delivery stations in cities large and small across the U.S.
These facilities receive packaged items from larger warehouses and hand them off to drivers for the “last-mile” trip to customer doorsteps. Residents in 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 brings an 18-month halt to new parcel delivery services in the city. Amazon isn’t mentioned by name in the ordinance, but unions that rallied in support of the measure have criticized the company’s expansion and hostility to organized labor.
Glenn Kuper, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that the company had paused work on 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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