South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Coronavirus complaints place area businesses under a microscope
It reads like a Yelp review for pandemic times: No masks. No social distancing. No hand sanitizers. Bare minimum in the way of cleaning.
The complaints, made to Broward County’s 311 hotline, are posted for all to see on a new online dashboard launched this week to ferret out coronavirus rule breakers.
The hotline has received more than 1,273 substantiated complaints, with at least 768 waiting for inspections by code officers or police. In all, 34 citations had been issued as of Thursday and 395 warnings. A total of 174 complaints had been resolved.
The complaints illustrate how lax precautions continue to fuel the coronavirus as
it spreads through South Florida, despite government restrictions meant to hold it in check.
The violations also demonstrate that cities, issuing mostly warnings, are trying to balance business welfare with a deadly health threat.
Broward’s complaints stretch across every city from Deerfield Beach to Davie to Hallandale Beach, mostly restaurants but also stores, salons, gas stations and others.
Of 429 citations and warnings, 396 were issued for failing to following social distancing orders. A total of 227 were for businesses that
did not sanitize properly, and 130 went to businesses like bars that weren’t supposed to open in the first place.
Anonymous complaints can be made to the 311 hotline or online at MyBroward.Broward.org.
Casablanca Café, the popular spot that overlooks Fort Lauderdale beach, made the list of businesses that received citations.
A complaint came into the hotline June 23. Four days later, Fort Lauderdale code officers paid a surprise visit.
What they found — patrons eating and drinking at the bar, no social distancing and seating to in violation of the 50% capacity rule — led to a 24-hour shutdown and a $250 citation.
A manager at Casablanca Café who declined to give his full name defended the restaurant.
“It was not servicing to maximum capacity by any means,” he said. “We have taken out [some of ] our tables and chairs to get down to the 50% capacity. We have tons and tons of tables and chairs in a warehouse right now. We were not running business as normal by any stretch of the imagination.”
In Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County also has a hotline for the public to report businesses not following safety guidelines: 561-242-6843. An email can be sent to covidcompliance@pbc.gov.org.
To help ensure compliance, Palm Beach County formed a COVID Education and Compliance Team comprising city code officials, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office staff, health department officials, fire marshals and zoning board officials.
The team shows up unannounced to see whether businesses are following mask orders, social distancing rules and other guidelines.
Businesses caught breaking the rules can face fines, revoked licenses and even criminal prosecution.
In Boca Raton, code officers aren’t looking to crack down, but to inform and educate, city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said.
“We have not cited anyone or fined anyone,” she said. “If we get a complaint, we’ll go out and investigate. But we’re not there to cite on the spot.”
So far, Delray Beach has cited two spots for serving customers at the bar, said Enrique Fernandez, the city’s interim code enforcement administrator.
The Blue Anchor, at 804 E Atlantic Ave., was fined $4,000. And Wine House Social in Pineapple Grove netted a $3,000 fine.
“These two locations did not want to cooperate,” Fernandez said. “They were giving us pushback. We went back in an hour. The officers came back and there were still people sitting at the bar and they refused to make them sit at the
Hallandale Beach Code Enforcement officer Jose Campa talks with a manager at the La Hacienda Farmers Market to make sure it is complying with coronavirus rules Wednesday.
tables.”
Owners of the Blue Anchor and Wine House Social could not be reached for comment. But Dina Branham, owner of Wine House Social, has said she mistakenly thought she was following protocol.
Delray Beach code officers normally work weekdays until 5 p.m. That changed when the pandemic hit. Now they work seven days a week, until midnight on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends.
“If we find they are not following social distancing or wearing the masks, we tell them they have to fix it right away,” Fernandez said. “The code officers go back in 15 minutes to make sure it’s fixed. Every code officer is partnered with a police officer.”
Most of the time, they’re just issuing
warnings, he said.
“We’re not here to shut down businesses,” Fernandez added. “We’re here to educate them and let them know what needs to be done.”
Confusion or defiance?
In Hallandale Beach, many restaurant and business owners don’t seem to realize the consequences of violating safety guidelines, City Manager Greg Chavarria said.
“There’s a lot of confusion,” he said. “They don’t know how severe the new emergency order is. They don’t realize they can have their business shut down or that the fine can go up to $15,000.”
Piazza Italia in Fort Lauderdale got hit with a 24-hour shutdown order and a $15,000 fine on June 26 after code officers saw customers dining at high-top tables pushed up against the bar. Owner Frank Talerico said he planned to appeal the fine, declining to comment further.
Nick’s Bar & Grill in Hollywood landed on Broward’s list after getting a warning.
The complaint came into the hotline on June 24: “Not supposed to be open and certainly no social distancing or wearing of PPEs,” or personal protective equipment.
Nick’s temporarily closed its bar section but is still open for business. Owner Bob Ferro, 77, says he got a warning after code officers spotted patrons walking up to side windows from outside to order drinks.
“They don’t want them coming up to the windows to get a drink,” Ferro said. “They said it was considered a stand-up bar and not to use it. We said OK. We put up signs telling people do not come to the window. I have a million signs up. We do what we gotta do.”
Most places caught breaking the rules in Hallandale Beach have come into compliance right away, Chavarria said.
“We have not had to shut down any business yet,” Chavarria said. “They’ve already struggled enough and they know getting shut down will only hurt their business. So they are doing everything they can to cooperate.”