Miami-Dade plans to reopen economy with COVID-19 rules
Closing parks across Miami-Dade required police tape and locked gates. Reopening will bring a new corps of social-distancing enforcers.
Hundreds of private security guards previously assigned to Hard Rock Stadium are being hired by
Miami-Dade’s Parks Department to oversee next week’s planned easing of the two-page order Mayor Carlos Gimenez signed March 19 closing all recreational areas, including city and county parks.
Rules Gimenez’s office has circulated for reopening parks are too cumbersome for existing parks staff to enforce. They include banning full-court basketball games but allowing people to shoot baskets, and mandating singledirection walking paths, for example. So the county is rushing to hire at least 400 security guards to keep watch over parkgoers and their conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Yes, we are serious about enforcement,” Gimenez said in an online press conference Friday. “There are some activities that will be allowed. And there will be some activities that will not be allowed.”
The tentative plan to ease closure orders for parks, marinas and golf courses promises to be a test run for the delicate and far more complicated task
of unwinding orders that shuttered hotels, beaches, shops and office buildings across Miami-Dade in an unprecedented effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
ECONOMIC RESTORATION
Through a string of private teleconferences with dozens of business owners, Gimenez this week presided over discussions on how to reopen much of the local economy paralyzed by his emergency orders. His office hasn’t released the names of the approximately 100 members of his “Economic Restoration” working group.
Participants said recommendations from the team were due to the mayor Saturday and would cover what regulations the county should require for different businesses to reopen.
“We’re just trying to get a set of guidelines that everybody can live with,” said Jim Flanigan, CEO of the popular casual dining chain that bears his family’s name. “It’s in our best interest to make the public comfortable.”
Flanigan is a member of the mayor’s restaurant group and said the panel is looking at capacity restrictions that would require bars and dining rooms to cut seating in half.
One sticking point: Should outdoor spaces have looser rules? He’s expecting to pay staff for extensive cleaning of tables and flat surfaces once restaurants can reopen beyond takeout. He may post people to prevent customers from having to open front doors themselves.
“It’s the new normal,” he said. “It’s going to be challenging.”
Customers are already required to wear face coverings when entering grocery stores and restaurants for carry-out food, and that rule is expected to continue as more retail operations are allowed to open.
‘ARE YOU GOING TO WEAR A MASK AND EAT YOUR FOOD?’
Also on the list of possible recommendations: fever checks for employees and special filters for air-conditioning units.
“The big issue for me is face masks and restaurants,“said Jackie Soffer, CEO of Turnberry, which owns the Aventura Mall. She’s a member of the mayor’s retail group. “Are you going to wear a mask and eat your food? I don’t have an answer to that.”
The planned reopening of recreational areas will offer a test run of public reaction to looser rules. “The mayor is wanting very strict enforcement of these things,” said Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino, a member of the economy group. “We’re going to do the open spaces. We’ll be able to learn and adapt.”
Miami-Dade hasn’t announced a start date for the relaxed rules for parks and recreational areas, but Gimenez said Wednesday he expected the change to come this week. The mayors of Key Biscayne and Miami Beach said in video addresses Friday they expect Gimenez to reopen parks then.
“Next week you can expect some lessening of restrictions around parks, marinas and golf courses,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. “This is not a slackening of social distancing. But, rather, providing more opportunities for exercise.”
The county’s draft rules for reopening recreational areas say park visits should be limited to two hours or less, with visitors wearing masks in compliance with federal guidelines. Some facilities will be open, including basketball and tennis courts, but with limits on how they can be used. Singles tennis is allowed, but not doubles. Basketball courts would be limited to shot practice. Closures would be ordered for playgrounds, picnic areas and domino tables.
The plan also sets requirements for regular cleaning of park bathrooms and posting restroom attendants to monitor the number of people inside. Parks would also be required to cap parking capacity for some locations. That could mean extra staffing costs for cities to comply with the county order for reopening, or they could choose to keep some or all of their parks closed.
‘THE BUFFET IS DEAD’
While parks are already monitored by county and city staff, reopening MiamiDade’s tourism industry will largely rely on businesses implementing new rules. Robert Finvarb, an owner of Marriott hotels and a member of the mayor’s hospitality group, said he’d rather see businesses figure out the best methods to avoid COVID-19 spread in their establishments than follow government restrictions.
He said his properties have already built sneeze guards at the front desk to separate clerks and guests, have staff wearing masks and gloves, and are reworking how to serve food and drinks.
“The buffet is dead,” Finvarb said.
“It’s incumbent on me to prove to the market my hotel is safe for the consumer,” he said.
“Are you going to have code enforcement checking to see you have two people standing away from each other in a bathroom? Come on.”