After agreeing to continue allowing outdoor dining, Pasadena is pushing ahead with coronavirus regulations and could consider new restrictions amid new cases and a statewide surge in hospital admissions.
The city, which is one of the few in Los Angeles County with its own health department, decided not to comply with the county ban on eating in private at restaurants. Its city council has this week chosen to allow rest restaurants rent to remain open for outdoor service, if they take proper precautions. Pasadena city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said the council did not vote on the move, which came after an extensive discussion and public comment, but decided to reconsider the situation on a daily basis, said Pasadena city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian.
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2:54 pm, Nov. 28, 2020An earlier version of the article said that the City Council of Pasadena voted this week to allow restaurateurs to remain open for outdoor service. He did not vote on the matter.
“The city has invested a lot of money and the restaurants have invested a lot of money in their heaters and their tents so we are working very hard to work with them,” Derdarian said.
But compliance has been mixed. He said health inspectors visited about 60 sites on Wednesday and Thursday and more than 40 – most rest restaurants were violating rent rules.
“The most common violations do not include facial ield, tables properly spaced and closed dining area,” he said.
On Friday, a follow-up investigation found that five restaurants had not taken basic steps to rectify the breach, and those locations were closed for face-to-face meals and takeout and delivery services, Derderian said. Restaurants must go through a hearing and re-inspection before they can reopen, a process that is expected to take several days, he said.
“Each restaurant has maybe 30 to 40 employees who are affected by this now, so it affects many by not following simple rules,” Derderian said.
The city’s management team plans to hold a meeting with its health officer and hospital officials on Monday to determine whether it is necessary to change the existing health order by ending outdoor dining.
“I hope we don’t get to that point, but it’s a possibility,” Derderian said. “This is where we all really need to pay attention to their daily activities and find each other because if a few bad apples spoil the whole amount it will affect a larger audience.”
However, he said city officials believe that rest restaurants rent “a small percentage of the big picture when it comes to large numbers.”
“Large gatherings, especially in the city’s numerous parks and outlying areas, are a nuisance,” Derderian said.
This weekend, he said, the city is dispatching teams of health inspectors and code compliance officers to the parks and the Rose Bowl Loop to break up gatherings and write quotes if necessary.
“Police officers will only be involved as a last resort if it turns into compliance or any kind of confrontation,” he said.
“We want people to come out for their mental and physical well-being, but where we see these softball and soccer games going on, families cheering their kids on while playing, not wearing masks, it’s forbidden,” “Derderian said. “So unfortunately we will break those activities.”
