Bar could face fine for violation of pandemic guidelines
Sonora officials are recommending a $250 fine for a downtown bar and gun shop over a celebration of life event for one of the owner’s relatives held last Saturday in violation of a regional COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
The city council on Monday will consider approving the proposed punishment for The Sportsman at 90 S. Washington St., as well as discuss the potential for allowing parking spaces along Washington Street to be used for outdoor dining and other
commercial purposes.
If the council approves fining The Sportsman, it would be the first time the city has done so against a business under an ordinance passed in April that established a set of fines as noncriminal penalties for violating COVID-19 restrictions.
Multiple complaints and photographs were received by the city regarding the Dec. 12 event hosted at The Sportsman, according to public documents released with the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
Photos of the event that circulated on social media showed the business packed with people when all bars that don’t serve food are supposed to be closed and restaurants are supposed to only offer take out and delivery under a stay-at-home order that was enacted on Dec. 6 for the San Joaquin Valley region, which includes Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.
The order was enacted due to the availability of intensive care unit beds in the region dropped below 15%. A state website showed the availability of ICU beds in the region was at 0% on Friday.
City officials allege that the bar sold beers to patrons for $2 each at the event and violated the city’s ordinance by allowing alcohol to be purchased and consumed where a meal was not also served, allowing patrons to participate in a private gathering indoors, and not requiring everyone to be masked and maintain physical distancing.
Colleen Leslie, co-owner of the bar, told The Union Democrat after the event that it was a memorial for her sister-in-law, Sarah Henson, who recently died at 44 due to a blood disorder and left behind four children.
“Sarah had to die alone. Her family and friends were not allowed to be with her,” Leslie said in a text message on Tuesday. “None of us left behind wanted to be alone. We needed to be together and celebrate her.”
Leslie also said the event lasted three hours, no business transactions were conducted during that time, and $2,000 was raised in Henson’s name for her children, who were in attendance and “so grateful to be surrounded by the people that loved them.”
In a text message sent Friday, Leslie reiterated that they weren’t selling anything during the event and that the community as a whole has been “beyond supportive” despite some negative comments from people hoping that the patrons who attended die or are denied medical coverage if one of them catches the virus.
Another local business has also offered to pay the $250 fine if imposed, Leslie noted, though she didn’t mention the business by name.
“I’ve read a post on Facebook from a woman claiming she was ashamed of The Sportsman for not following the state executive orders,” Leslie wrote on Friday. “Well, as a seventh generation Tuolumne County resident and with my husband and Sarah both being sixth generation, I can honestly state that this is the first time I can say I am ashamed of our city.”
The city noted that the business has also been referred to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, or ABC, though a spokesman for the agency said earlier this week that he could not comment on any pending complaints or investigation until a notice of violation is publicly issued.
Agents with ABC also reportedly visited 13 businesses in the county with licenses to sell alcohol over the past week and found that all were in compliance with COVID-19 regulations, but the names of them also could not be disclosed.
None of the nearly 150 businesses throughout the state that have received citations from ABC for violating COVID-19 orders are located in Tuolumne or Calaveras counties, according to data from the agency.
The Sportsman is notably the only business in the state that’s licensed to sell both beer and guns because of a grandfathered permit that dates back to 1947.
Also during the meeting on Monday, the council will discuss the possibility of allowing businesses to use parking spaces along Washington Street for commercial purposes under an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom that grants encroachment permits along state highways to expand options for retail and dining during the pandemic.
Washington Street is eligible as a portion of Highway 49 that runs through the city’s historic downtown shopping district, but officials are recommending that the council does not allow such activity due to being unable to meet the requirements for access under the Americans with Disabilities Act and potential risks.
The permit for using the highway would be issued to the city as opposed to the individual businesses, which officials say would greatly increase the city’s risk of being sued if someone were to get hurt while shopping or dining in one of the parking spaces.
Curbs in front of potential parklets that could be created in the parking spaces would have to be ramped or sloped under ADA requirements, but none of them are along Washington Street.