Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
RELAXING THE RULES
Broward, Miami-Dade can begin phased-in reopening Monday
Broward and MiamiDade counties will be back in business starting Monday with a phased-in reopening, two months after the new coronavirus shut down most of life.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the two counties can join the rest of the state in a partial reopening.
Unlike the rest of Florida — where stores and restaurants must limit customers to 25% of capacity — businesses in Broward and Miami-Dade can open at 50% capacity. DeSantis hinted that he could relax the rules in other parts of the state Friday.
“Today we take another very important step,” DeSantis said, joined at the announcement in Doral by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Broward County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness. “We’re going to get our mojo back
and get back to where we need to be.”
Beaches in South Florida will remain closed for now. The reopening also will not include spas, bars, gyms, movie theaters, bowling alleys or massage parlors.
In Broward, gyms within homeowners associations and apartment complexes will be allowed to reopen with some limitations.
Holness emphasized that beaches will not reopen until at least May 26.
A protester at the news conference held a sign reading “please open beaches.” She refused to identify herself but said, “I’m here for everybody in South Florida who wants to see the beaches open.”
In Palm Beach County, businesses began to reopen Monday at 25% capacity. County spokesman John Jameson said he had no information about what DeSantis would announce Friday.
“I do not expect him to have those counties leapfrog the rest of the state,” he said of Broward and Miami-Dade. “I also expect he will make that announcement tomorrow.”
Beaches in Palm Beach County are tentatively scheduled to reopen with some caveats starting Monday, although county commissioners plan to meet Friday to discuss the issues.
Under the tentative plan, all public, private and municipal beaches in the county could be open from sunrise to sundown, with groups of no more than 10 people and social-distancing guidelines in place.
The governor said the timing for the reopening in South Florida makes sense because the region has “progressed nicely in dealing with the epidemic.”
“The trends have been positive; the work has been effective,” he said of state data showing a declining number of infections and a lower ratio of positive tests.
But not all businesses and attractions are ready to fling open their doors. Several said it takes time to prepare new safety procedures.
Hours after the governor’s announcement, a spokeswoman for the Simon Property Group, which owns Coral Square mall in Coral Springs and the Sawgrass Mills shopping mall, said they were not ready to commit to a reopening day.
Melissa Milroy, the general manager for The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, said she was still checking with retailers to see who would be ready to open by Monday. By late Thursday, she said she could not commit to an reopening date.
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino also will not open Monday “because it’s quite a complicated process,” said spokesman Gary Bitner. “You can’t just open an operation like that on a dime, and you really want to do it right.”
The Margate thrift store that benefits Women in Distress isn’t ready to open until June 2 because more time is needed to get ready, which includes having a supply of face masks and new plans to take payment, said CEO Mary Riedel. “We can’t just open the gates,” she said.
And April Kirk, the director of the famed Stranahan House museum in Fort Lauderdale, said there is no date yet for reopening “as we are still cleaning and sanitizing the museum and reviewing policies to keep our guests, volunteers, and staff safe.”
At the Carvel in Coral Springs, owner Diana Basch said she will have to reconfigure her seating area to go from three tables seating 12 people to probably one table seating four people. “The seating inside our area is very small — if I let people sit down and people come in to take out, it’s going to be kind of crowded,” she said.
An she’s not sure she wants to dive in with inside seating Monday: “We will wait probably a couple weeks. It’s a slow process.”
For others, Monday can’t come fast enough.
The owner of Contour Day Spa in Plantation has been spending her time remodeling the building in preparation for the reopening.
Owner Fanit Panofsky said she’ll go from 18 hair stations down to 12 and separated the pedicure stations — all to make sure people stay at least 6 feet from one another.
Clients and employees will have their temperatures checked at the door, and the waiting room is gone. Clients must wait in their cars for their turn.
Panofsky said she expects the renovations to be permanent.
“This is going to be the new way of doing things,” she said. “There is no cure for this thing, so many question marks. I’m more comfortable knowing my customers’ well-being is not compromised.”
Monday’s openings also will include Gulfstream Park Village in Hallandale Beach, which is preparing its shops and restaurants for the crowds. A spokeswoman for Red Lobster said restaurants in both counties will be ready for the reopening.
Half the tables will remain empty when Taverna Opa, a Greek restaurant in Hollywood, opens Monday. “We’ve been cleaning, we’ve been sanitizing,” said manager Gabby Cabrera. “We’re ready to go. We really miss our customers.”
Broward officials have been concerned that businesses would not be profitable if allowed to open at only 25% capacity. They asked the governor to increase the limit to 50%.
“It’s going to be a long hard haul to revive the economy to where it was before,” Holness said
Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Steve Glassman also advocated for the 50% rule.
“Twenty-five percent indoor dining is almost not worth opening,” Glassman said. “That would be a money loser. That’s not sustainable.”
That said, Glassman is still concerned about possible spikes in cases if people don’t wear masks or follow social distancing guidelines.
“We need to do that or this is going to be a catastrophe,” he said. “I get calls daily about people behaving badly. People line up outside bars and restaurants. They hang out, they congregate. Not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he hopes the reopening will help bring people back to work and reduce any mental stress the stay-at-home orders caused.
“I’m disappointed they didn’t open up the gyms,” he said Thursday. “That’s become an important part of American culture. Let’s hope we can revive our communities. Let’s hope we can keep the illnesses at a low level and let’s just be safe. I think we can make it work.”
Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy said he backs the 50% capacity rule for restaurants as long as the tables are 6 feet apart.
“That’s the key, whether its 25% capacity or 50,” Levy said. “Restaurants would be losing money every day if they opened at just 25%. At least with 50% they can break even. We’ve heard that loud and clear from every chamber (of commerce) and every restaurateur.”