A request to ease lockdown rules that would’ve allowed larger gatherings and more business reopenings in Santa Clara County has been denied by the state, a county official said.
The request for a variance was made on July 2 and would’ve allowed all businesses to reopen except those considered high-risk that necessitate taking off a mask — such as smoking lounges and indoor bars — as well as mass gatherings such as theaters and music venues. Had the variance been approved, the county would’ve issued unique orders tailored for reopening nail salons, gyms, construction and more. That order will no longer go into effect.
The denial was confusing for Jeff Smith, Santa Clara County’s CEO, considering California has granted more leeway for other counties to reopen.
“They’ve granted variances to basically every other county that’s applied and they deny ours,” Smith said. “It makes no sense.”
The news comes as agents with California’s Alcoholic Beverage Control cast doubt on whether Santa Clara County’s order allowing outdoor dining — in effect since June 5 — has been in opposition to state orders. On Friday night, armed ABC agents visited several restaurants in Morgan Hill and Gilroy, informing them that they should shut down outdoor service on Saturday or risk a citation.
That news was met by frustration and confusion from business owners as well as the mayor, city manager and police chief in Morgan Hill, who said they had received no warning or guidance from California that their city might not be adhering to state orders. The issue, Smith said, is that the state’s health order doesn’t explicitly ban outdoor dining, which Santa Clara County took to mean they could allow it. The state, Smith said, seemed to disagree with that interpretation.
“If they felt that way, they certainly could’ve made a phone call,” he said. “I don’t think they needed to show up with armed agents.”
ABC agents visited businesses in the area to inform them of the state’s rules on Friday night, telling owners they could stay open the rest of that day but should only reopen for take-out service on Saturday, the agency said in a statement.
“Agents met with owners and explained that Santa Clara County had not received variance to open, and that they were technically in violation of California’s stay at home orders,” the statement said. “Agents did not issue any citations or notice of violations.”
Smith recommended businesses try to get clear guidance from the state, and the county has always said the strictest orders apply in any given situation, whether those are from the state or the county. Santa Clara County itself is seeking more information on why their variance was denied.
“Clarity from the state has always been something that’s difficult to get because they have such irregularities in one county they allow one thing and in a county next door they don’t allow the same thing,” he said.
For example in neighboring San Mateo County, indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters and hair salons have all been allowed to reopen by the state. San Mateo County has more cases adjusted for population size than Santa Clara County — 44.2 per 10,000 versus 24.6 per 1,000 — as well as more deaths — 1.4 per 10,000 in San Mateo and 0.81 per 10,000 in Santa Clara.
San Mateo County’s testing positivity rate is also higher at 4.9 percent, compared to a seven-day average positive testing rate of 2.6 percent in Santa Clara County.
For now, Smith said the county will seek more guidance from California on what they need to do to continue their reopening plans.
“We’ll have to try to get in touch with the state and find out what they’re doing,” he said.
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