In its latest fight against banning outdoor dining, more than 50 restaurants, wineries and related businesses in Napa and Sonoma counties filed a lawsuit against Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. They argue that state restrictions on open-air dining – while allowing other companies, such as retail stores and outdoor gyms, to continue operating – violate the equal protection clause and due process of the California Constitution .
The lawsuit filed at the Superior Court in Napa County calls the ban on outdoor dining “arbitrary, irrational and unfair” and argues that there is no scientific evidence to support the restrictions. It is similar to a lawsuit that the California Restaurant Association opened against Los Angeles County in November, which will have its next hearing in February. Tomás Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health, is also cited in the lawsuit.
Collectively suing a group called the Wine Country Coalition for Safe Reopening, companies began to organize in December, just before Newsom announced its last home stay request. Many have expressed frustration at not being able to operate outdoors when closed shopping malls can continue, and some infectious disease experts have agreed that there is no evidence to link outdoor dining with the spread of COVID-19 when masking, detachment and other measures of security are in place, put. Business owners hope that their legal challenge will allow them to reopen their external courtyards as soon as possible.
“We all collectively spend so much money to spin and spin and spin to operate safely according to the guidelines,” said Cynthia Ariosta, director of operations at Pizzeria Tra Vigne restaurant in Santa Helena, which is part of the process. “We really just want to be reopened and bring our employees back to work.”
Coalition members include Fumé Bistro, which openly challenged the ban on eating in December; Amizetta Winery; Costeaux French Bakery; Filippi’s Pizza Grotto; and Olabisi Wines. Restaurant sales fell by up to 75% due to the ban on outdoor dining, after coalition members spent millions to build or cool outdoor dining spaces, according to the lawsuit.
Pizzeria Tra Vigne, for example, spent $ 18,000 to rent a tent for six months and then $ 4,000 for a second tent to maximize outdoor space, in addition to thousands of dollars in heaters and $ 1,500 a month in safety equipment such as face shields and thermometers. Some of these ongoing costs continued during the shutdown, as the restaurant remains open for delivery. Although the restaurant generally held 50 employees at a time, there are now eight, said Ariosta.
The California Department of Public Health has declared that a ban on eating outdoors is necessary to prevent families from mixing at a time when the coronavirus is so widespread.
“It is not a question of which sector is more risky than another sector, it is about the fact that any mixture between families poses a risk of disease transmission,” the department wrote in an email this month.
Still, the lawsuit argues that more Wine Country restaurants and wineries will close if the ban on outdoor dining is not reversed soon – and that the restrictions are undermining public confidence in the industry without a sufficient scientific basis.
“As our government and public health officials say it is safe to get on a plane but not dine out, there is a percentage of the public who believe that we are dangerous,” said coalition member Carl Dene, who is not sure how long his Calistoga coffee, Sam’s General Store, can last. “Every day I see the bank account getting closer to zero. The 20-30% of sales I’m making now, compared to when there was outdoor dining, are not going to sustain us. “
This is the latest action in the increasingly public struggle against the ban on outdoor dining in California. On the Peninsula, Pacifica Brewery organized an 80-person protest in late December, while Marin County’s restaurant, Guesthouse, attracted more than 5,500 signatures to its online petition to lift the ban.
The lawsuits take time and it is possible that the Bay Area will reach the state benchmark of 15% availability of ICU to reopen outdoor meals before the Wine Country process is resolved. That said, the state data forecast does not expect the Bay Area’s ICU capacity to improve until the week of February 7.
“We are filing the lawsuit now because we feel that time is of the essence and the more momentum, the more lawsuits – that will make the change,” said Dene. “I also want to make sure that we send a message clear enough that if (a ban on outdoor dining) comes back, we are ready to do it again.”
Janelle Bitker is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @janellebitker