Gyms fined for violating COVID-19 rules
Three gyms in Contra Costa County were cited and fined over the past month for violating the COVID-19 health order.
Diablo CrossFit in Pleasant Hill and two Fitness 19 locations in Danville and Concord were fined hundreds of dollars.
Of the businesses, Diablo CrossFit was the biggest offender, cited on three occasions at increasing amounts for a total of $1,750 in fines. The county issued the gym its latest citation Wednesday.
Two senior inspectors from the county’s code enforcement task force were sent to examine local business practices. They found the gyms had been going against health guidance by operating indoors.
“We have been working for many, many months with the owner of Diablo CrossFit to convey the importance of the health orders, how to comply with them and to educate them on why, ultimately, the health order is in effect,” Scott Alonso, a spokesman for the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office, said in an interview.
The county’s latest crackdown comes as COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed everywhere. There were 350 new cases reported Wednesday in Contra Costa County, its seventh-highest single- day total since the start of the pandemic.
Like most other California counties, Contra Costa spent the part of the past month in the most restrictive purple tier in the state’s reopening blueprint. The restrictions prevent gyms from operating indoors, which Alonso said all three businesses cited over the past month had ignored.
On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced new stay- at- home restrictions that any of five regions of California could enter if that region’s vacant ICU bed capacity falls below 15%. If a region does enter that tier, gyms can operate outdoors at only 50% capacity.
In an interview, Diablo CrossFit owner Craig Howard acknowledged his gym had been open indoors, but insisted that the facility’s high ceilings, rolled-up garage doors and large commercial fans produced the same airflow that an outdoor setup would.
“The county should have data that shows if people are getting (COVID-19) at gyms,” Howard said. “We go above and beyond with safety measures indoors. The risk of an outbreak in my business is not just the health of my members, but more so the longevity of my business.”
Small businesses around the county have found it difficult to keep up with changing guidance, said Howard, who independently owns the Pleasant Hill gym and affiliates with the larger CrossFit chain.
But A lonso said the county has received anonymous complaints against Diablo CrossFit and has issued fines only after exhaustive efforts to communicate with Howard.
“The vast, vast majority of businesses comply after we contact them,” Alonso said.
The fines will only continue to rise for businesses that don’t follow the health order, he added.
Bob Rodger, a member of Fitness 19’s senior management team, suggested in an interview that fitness has been “unfairly targeted” in the state’s restrictions.
“We understand everyone has a role to play in protecting their fellow citizens,” Rodger said. “We, as a business, have a role to play as well.”
Rodger cited Fitness 19’s various safety measures, such as temperature checks and social distancing enforcement, saying the state’s rules for gyms were “unlawful.”
If increasing fines do not stop a business from violating the health order, the District Attorney’s Office does have the power to pursue criminal charges against business owners, since each violation amounts to a misdemeanor.
Earlier this year, the owner of a sports bar in Pittsburg was charged with misdemeanors that included operating without a liquor license and staying open despite the COVID-19 health order at the time requiring bars to close.