Barricades that closed off portions of certain streets in downtown Upland, accommodating outdoor dining in parking lots and sidewalks during the coronavirus pandemic, will be removed in the next few weeks.
The City Council on Monday, Jan. 11, rejected a staff report to continue the closures, saying keeping the barricades would encourage violations of the governor’s ban on outdoor dining, in effect in Southern California since Dec. 3.
Council members said the city must obey the governor’s orders, which kicked in when ICU bed capacity in San Bernardino County started to drop well below 15% and is now at 0% at many hospitals, as coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations surge.
Many feared that outdoor dining and, in some cases, indoor activities at bars were continuing at certain establishments in downtown Upland, despite the order by the governor.
Five restaurants hold outdoor dining permits issued by the city, while two were using sidewalk space for dining. Those permits were suspended in December by the city after the governor’s modified stay-at-home order was put in place, according to city staff.
The program was successful during the summer and fall. The council had extended the outdoor dining barricades through Jan. 2 and city staff had recommended keeping it in place as a wait-and-see approach should the governor’s orders become less restrictive in the near future.
“I can’t support the extension of our street closures when we have a raging pandemic that has filled our hospitals and morgues beyond capacity,” Councilwoman Janice Elliott said during the meeting.
Councilman Carlos Garcia said the issue hit home since his sister died from COVID-19. Yet he expressed sympathy for restaurant owners who would have to pay to remove and store tents and equipment once the streets were reopened.
“This is an order from the governor. So these folks with the permits — do they have immunity? It is the law. What message are we sending out there to allow some of this,” Garcia said.
As of Jan. 14, San Bernardino County had 241,523 confirmed virus cases with 438 daily new cases per 100,000 residents the week of Dec. 27, 2020 to Jan. 2, 2021. Upland has 8,737 total cases per 100,000 residents and 65 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.
Upland restaurant owner Neil Voskeritchian told the council that outdoor dining saved his restaurant from going under. If barricades were removed, he’d have to remove tents and other structures.
“There was so much work to put those things up, and now to put them in storage. It would be detrimental to businesses like ours,” he said.
The city’s cost to continue the barricades and pay for monthly security in the downtown area on Second Avenue between C and A streets would have equaled about $10,000 a month.
It’s unclear whether the city will move forward with permanent street closures that would help accommodate festivals and possibly outdoor dining in the future.
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January 15, 2021 at 07:11AM
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Upland discontinues downtown street closures, prepares to remove barricades - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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