The reopening of Longmont and its businesses during the coronavirus crisis has proven even more difficult than the initial challenge of shutting everything down, said City Manager Harold Dominguez at Tuesday night’s Longmont City Council meeting.
Though the state is allowing restaurants to offer dine-in service again, they’re allowed to host only 50 percent of their maximum capacity and tables must be six feet apart. That’s posing a problem for many restaurants in Longmont, which tend to be in small buildings.
To help those smaller restaurants, city officials are setting up procedures to allow variances that would allow businesses to host more patrons on sidewalks, alleyways and other outside options that have not previously been available. For restaurants on private property, such as restaurants at the Village at the Peaks, approval to expand must go through the property owner, not the city. Those seeking an expansion of their liquor licenses to accommodate outdoor dining will have to go through an approval process with a municipal judge.
Those approvals are being streamlined so that restaurants can more easily become operational and expand capacity, said Dominguez.
As officials try to make it easier for Longmont businesses like restaurants to reopen, they’re keeping an eye on Longmont’s case rates.
Executive Director of Boulder County Public Health Jeff Zayach said that there has been a decrease in the number of Boulder County residents testing positive for COVID-19 over the last month. But he said Boulder County has been upping its ability to test more people, which is expected to drive those numbers up.
In the meantime, local hospitals will be able to handle the current load of patients and needed ventilators, he said.
Within the county, Longmont is the city with the highest confirmed case rate at 452.1 in per 100,000 people. Zayach said he assumed the case rate was largely due to people sharing the virus within a household, outbreaks in long-term care facilities, the spread that originated to the Walmart on 119 in Weld County and Longmont’s high Latinx population, which has been disproportionately impacted by the virus.
He said Boulder County is focusing on those areas to help minimize the spread of the virus and the City of Longmont is working with community groups to assist Longmont’s Latinx community through the Community Resources Department.
As safer-at-home orders continue to change, Zayach reminded people that rules mandating that people maintain a distance of at least six feet from others and wear facial coverings when you leave your home are still in effect in Boulder County through June 30.
Follow the City of Longmont website for up-to-date information on business openings and resources in Longmont.
