restrictive covenants; grocery stores

HB 2848 invalidates restrictive covenants that prevent grocery stores or supermarkets from operating on land designated for fresh food sales, directly affecting landowners with such covenants and grocery stores seeking to relocate. The bill allows these covenants to remain enforceable only if a grocery store relocates within one year to a similar-sized store within half a mile of its closed location, provided the original site was used for grocery sales within six months prior, and the covenant term ends within 18 months of closure. It does not apply to agreements signed before the law takes effect. The law aims to prevent landowners from blocking grocery store relocations that maintain food access in communities.