SLO fines 4 businesses total of $16,000 for COVID violations. This one is fighting back
Four businesses in San Luis Obispo have collectively been fined $16,000 for violations of COVID-19 regulations, according to city officials.
The city has been taking complaints about businesses that may be out of compliance with the regional stay-at-home order, and issuing fines to businesses they confirm violate the current laws on a case-by-case basis, according to its website.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s top priority has been the health and safety of our community,” San Luis Obispo officials said in a statement. “With the city and county of San Luis Obispo currently in the state’s regional stay-at-home order, the city will continue to educate community members and businesses regarding the order and take necessary enforcement action as appropriate.”
The stay-at-home order, which went into just before midnight Dec. 6., will remain in place for at least three weeks.
Under the order, local retail stores are limited to 20% capacity inside. Restaurants are closed to indoor and outdoor dining, and bars, wineries and hair salons are required to close. In addition, places of worship will only be allowed to have outdoor services.
San Luis Obispo businesses that violate the stay-at-home order are fined $1,000 each.
Citations were grouped during the last two weeks, said Michael Codron, the city’s community development manager.
According to a list tallied by the city, the following San Luis Obispo businesses were fined for violations:
▪ Kennedy Club Fitness: $10,000 in fines
▪ Club 24: $4,000
▪ F. McLintocks Saloon and Dining House: $1,000
▪ Buffalo Pub and Grill: $1,000
Kennedy Club Fitness and Club 24 have faced multiple citations, while Buffalo Pub and F. McLintocks have one citation each. Club 24 received two citations assessed to the business and two to the property owner.
Despite the economic impacts of coronavirus-related closures, the city of San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County Public Health Officer Penny Borenstein have urged businesses to comply with the stay-at-home order.
“I ask the public to comply, I expect the public to comply,” Borenstein said at a Dec. 9 press conference. “This is the law of the land. We are in a dangerous stage. ... My request to the public is to comply with the rules.”
At a news conference Wednesday, Borenstein said that public compliance, through reduced gatherings, will help businesses get back to normal.
She noted that there have been more than 300,000 coronavirus deaths nationwide since March.
“We need to continue to double down to drive down the daily onslaught of new cases,” Borenstein said. “That will also help our businesses get back to business if we can get our disease under control.”
Kennedy Club Fitness contests SLO citations
Kennedy Club Fitness is choosing to contest the city citations through an administrative hearing. California State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham is acting as the business’s attorney.
The local gym chain, which has a total of four locations in San Luis Obispo County, has openly opposed the stay-at-home order, vowing to remain open as a way to stay financially viable and help people maintain their exercise routines. Kennedy Club Fitness asserts that working out builds up immunity to fight against the virus.
The administrative hearing will only be to either uphold or dismiss the citation. No hearing date has been set yet, said Brett Weaver, Kennedy Club Fitness’s managing partner.
“It’s unfortunate the city of SLO fines businesses who are following proper guidelines to service their customers,” Weaver said. “It seems like surrounding communities maybe a little more understanding.”
The business has started a GoFundMe fundraiser — “Help Kennedy Clubs Keep Our Community Healthy” — seeking support.
“As with many small businesses in our area, we are now fighting to continue to provide that space to our loyal community and members,” a statement on the GoFundMe page reads. We are now facing government imposed fines and legal fees for providing health and fitness to our community.”
As of Thursday morning, Kennedy Club Fitness had raised more than $9,400 toward its $30,000 goal.
“We are grateful for those who support us, and in this moment, that support is critical,” the gym wrote on GoFundMe.com. “We are committed to serving our members and community, and we need help from that community in order to fight the unnecessary charges against us.”
Will SLO County enforce COVID-19 rules?
San Luis Obispo County code enforcement officials have responded to thousands of complaints about businesses that violate coronavirus restrictions. But county law enforcement officials say they won’t criminalize residents who don’t stick to the regulations.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and county District Attorney Dan Dow said in separate statements on Dec. 8 that they will not criminalize residents who don’t stick to the regulations.
“We will not be responding to calls for service based solely on non-compliance with the new order,” San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson wrote in a Dec. 8 statement, adding that his agency “will take appropriate action on large gatherings which flaunt the order.”
In response to questions from The Tribune about local gyms and fitness centers banding together to defy coronavirus restrictions and stay open, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow that “the city must show that they have exhausted all civil remedies against the business prior to this office considering issuing a criminal charge.”
“If the city is truly interested in ensuring compliance by Kennedy Club Fitness or any other business for violating coronavirus restrictions, they have ample effective methods to do so administratively without asking my office to punish the business as a criminal,” Dow wrote in a Dec. 8 statement.
Borenstein said Wednesday that the county hasn’t issued any citations and “doesn’t have the wherewithal to issue administrative citations.”
County officials have the ability to issue a “directed order,” which tells a business that it must modify its operations because it is in violation of state public health orders, according to county Public Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Shoresman.
“These are enforceable by fine, imprisonment or both,” Shoresman wrote in an email in November. “We have issued some of these directive orders, but the county has not instituted anything beyond those.”
Economic relief in store for businesses
San Luis Obispo city and San Luis Obispo County officials say that, while they urge compliance, they are empathize with businesses and the challenges COVID-19 shutdowns have brought.
San Luis Obispo will be open the application period next week for an additional $500,000 in business relief grants, which will provide $5,000 grants to 100 businesses, according to city officials. The city previously awarded $260,000 in grants.
That grant money is part of a $3.4 million economic stimulus package the San Luis Obispo City Council passed on Dec. 8. The stimulus package includes $200,000 for gift cards; shoppers who provide $100 in receipts from purchases at businesses within the city receive $20 gift cards to spend on participating businesses, including gyms, restaurants and retail stores.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Nov. 30 that businesses Impacted by COVID-19 will be eligible for temporary tax relief and $500 million in grants, including a three-month tax extension for those filing less than $1 million in sales tax, among other measures.
The grants will award grants of up to $25,000 to underserved micro and small businesses throughout the state by early 2021.
However, U.S. Congress has yet to pass a new round of stimulus packaging to aid local economies.
Vice President Elect Kamala Harris recently urged passage of new stimulus funding, saying people are living on the edge and need government support.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
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