Reopened barbershop facing shutdown
A Stonington barbershop that reopened Wednesday in defiance of Gov. Ned Lamont’s orders will be shut down by its regional health district on Thursday morning.
The decision to force Modern Barber and Shave to close highlights what local health officials said has been confusing and sometimes contradictory guidance from the state about how its new reopening rules will be enforced as COVID-19 restrictions slowly relax.
Cat Thibodeau’s Pawcatuck shop accepted its first customers in months on Wednesday morning and health officials said it met all of the state’s guidelines for reopening safely under the new hair salon rules — except that earlier this week Lamont delayed hair and nail salon reopenings until June 1.
Thibodeau knew barbershops’ reopening dates had been delayed from Wednesday, when they were supposed to be part of the first phase of reopening, along with some retail and outdoor dining options, but said she had to open to keep the business alive.
“The support has been overwhelming,” Thibodeau said. “It’s been great and I’m just gonna stick it out as long as I can, because we have to do this.”
That triggered the scrutiny of the Ledge Light Health District, the regional public health agency across the southeastern coast, but officials there were still unsure of exactly how to enforce the governor’s new executive order that was supposed to give local health directors the authority to enforce the new “sector rules” governing businesses reopening, Ledge Light Health Director Steve Mansfield said.
While district officials scrambled to check with the district’s attorneys, the governor’s office and the state Department of Public Health, Mansfield sent inspectors to the barbershop to check things out. They reported back that the barbershop was following all of the state’s coronavirus rules, they were just open too soon, Mansfield said.
“They passed with flying colors, they did a great job; a couple very small things,” Mansfield said. “So we were comfortable holding off on the interpretation of the governor’s mandate because we had assured the sanitary conditions at the facility.”
DPH officials clarified the new executive order in a conference call early Wednesday afternoon, though, and Mansfield said it has now been made clear Modern must close. The district will issue a public health notice to Thibodeau on Thursday morning to close until the governor’s executive order allows hair salons and barbershops to reopen, Mansfield said.
Thibodeau remained defiant Wednesday afternoon and suggested she still would not close.
“Even if they tell me we have to leave, they can’t physically remove me from my own business,” she said.
Thibodeau’s decision attracted the support of State Sen. Heather Somers and Stonington First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough, who both stopped by to see the operation when it opened. Somers lauded the adjustments to the shop, including PPE, temperature checks at the door, one customer at a time and customers waiting outside appropriately spaced out.
“If you walked through there, you felt like you were in a lab,” Somers said.
Somers said that the governor’s reversal at the last minute after salon owners like Thibodeau had spent two months and invested in equipment to prepare for a Wednesday reopening was disappointing.
“I think it is the wrong message, as the [COVID-19] numbers continue to decline, to pull the rug out from under these folks,” she said.
Asked what her reaction would be if Lamont ordered the state police to shut the salon down, Somers said “if that’s the way the governor wants to run the state, that’s his call.”
Lamont fired back during his daily coronavirus news briefing later in the afternoon, imploring business owners to follow the rules and residents to report anyone breaking them.
“Do the right thing. I can talk about enforcement, I can talk about municipal police, I can talk about citations, but do the right thing,” Lamont said. “It’s the right thing for your community. I didn’t really appreciate seeing elected officials egging people on to break the rules.”