JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday that he would like to see Jacksonville's bars reopened “in the near term.”
Bars were ordered to shut their doors as part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' stay-at-home order issued in March as Florida moved to limit large gatherings in confined spaces to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Even as the state begins to reopen some businesses, bars are not scheduled to reopen until phase two of DeSantis’ reopening plan. It’s unclear when the next phase will begin.
Bars that get more than 50% of their revenue from liquor sales are not permitted to reopen under phase one of the plan.
Those that serve enough food qualify as “restaurant establishments” and have been allowed to reopen to the 50% capacity.
Curry said he's had conversations with DeSantis about allowing bars to reopen “in a safe and responsible way” with capacity restrictions.
“Making sure that people are not shoulder-to-shoulder, for example, standing at a bar,” Curry said. “I would expect additional announcements hopefully sometime within the next week given the downward trend (in positive cases) we’ve experienced in Duval County.”
Dozens of owners, bartenders and customers packed the parking lot at Rascal’s bar Saturday on the Westside of Jacksonville to protest having to remain closed
The protestors said Memorial Day weekend is usually one of their busiest times of the year and they missed out on all that revenue after they already missed other big spring events like Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day and spring break.
But some worry that bar patrons under the influence won't be practicing safe distancing.
The co-owner of Pete’s Bar, the oldest bar in Neptune Beach, has sent letters to DeSantis asking him to allow bars to reopen.