Arrested, PLU… The town hall wants to complicate the affairs of “darkstores”, these ghost supermarkets in the city center

Courier services are definitely in the sights of the town hall of Nice. After having regulated the parking of two-wheelers on meal delivery platforms, since December 15 in certain districts, it announces “measures of supervision and control” of “darkstores”.

She accuses these warehouses which are set up in several city centers in France, and from where you can have daily groceries delivered via an app, of “weakening traditional commerce”, and adding nuisances. “The comings and goings are constant. It hits us on the system, ”confirms a resident of Boulevard Risso, where Gorillas, one of the leaders of this new market, set up shop last summer.

The PLU modified to no longer accommodate them?

These grievances and those of associations of traders, who fear seeing them abound, have encouraged the town hall to react. She announced the taking of measures from “the next city council” scheduled for June. As with meal delivery services, a decree prohibiting the presence of couriers between 11:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on a specific perimeter would be on the program.

“We are working on tightening the provisions of the local urban plan [PLU], in order to prohibit premises intended for warehouses in the ground floors and basements of residential buildings”, specifies Mayor Christian Estrosi. In the meantime, he says, on the subject of the nuisances generated by the delivery people, the presence of the municipal police has been “reinforced”.

Flink in the starting blocks

The expectation of “strong measures” is high among the managers of traditional stores, while Flink, another player in the sector has planned its establishment directly on Avenue Jean-Médecin, at number 58, according to the commercial register. Recruitments have also been launched.

“The phenomenon is already impacting us. Neighborhood convenience stores can no longer cope. We entered into a logic of impoverishment of the hearts of the city ”, plague Christophe Brémard. And the president of the association of Nice center right-bank traders is ready to take up the “problem” himself, “if the provisions of the municipality did not go fast enough and not far enough”. “We are waiting to see what will actually be put in place. At the same time, we are in the process of forming a large association of professionals and local residents with the assistance of a lawyer,” he explains.

Contacted by 20 minutes, the management of Gorillas indicates that everything is done “with local elected officials and the various ministries” to “build a framework allowing the development of this new form of trade”. It also specifies that “if nuisances are reported, measures are immediately taken”. In her premises in Nice, “following an acoustic problem raised by the neighborhood, a specific floor is being put in place to reduce the sound”, she assures.