August 26, 2020
Restaurants may once again seat at bars, official says
The county’s ordinance prohibiting it is expired, ABC says
Restaurants may now seat customers at the bar. Kristen Wile/UP
Editor’s note: County officials tell Joe Bruno of WSOC-TV that Meck ABC is incorrect, and the bar seating ban has not expired despite language in the ordinance. We will continue to update this story.
Restaurants may once again seat customers at bars if they are following social distancing guidelines and limiting the amount customers are touching the bar, according to Mecklenburg County ABC. In fact, they have been able to do so since Aug. 7, when the Mecklenburg County ordinance prohibiting it was allowed to expire. Mecklenburg County tells WSOC’s Joe Bruno this is incorrect and that the order is still in place, though Meck ABC is one of the agencies that would have been enforcing the policy.
“Bar seating was not allowed under the local ordinance, but isn’t explicitly addressed in the Governor’s order other than being a commonly touched area,” says David McCoy, Executive Officer of the Mecklenburg County ABC Board Law Enforcement Division.
Sitting at a bar for dinner and drink service is okay, but repeated customers ordering drinks — making the space a commonly touched surface — is still not allowed.
“When we walk in we would look at how it’s being used, more than the fact of it being used,” McCoy says.
Restaurants were not given explicit notice that the ordinance had expired, though it is in the text of the ordinance. The ordinance states that “the duration of this Second Revised and Amendment Joint Proclamation shall continue in effect concurrent with the Governor’s Phase 2 reopening measures until 5 p.m. on August 7, 2020 unless sooner rescinded, revised, amended, or terminated by action of the parties hereto.” That statement was interpreted by many to believe that while we were in Phase 2, the ordinance would remain in effect. That is not the case.
McCoy says all three enforcement agencies are following the same enforcement when it comes to bar seating. We wrote on Friday that the confusion among the three agencies was unfair to restaurants. Today, McCoy shared that all three agencies responsible for enforcement — Meck ABC’s Law Enforcement Division, ALE, and CMPD’s ABC Unit — were getting together on Friday afternoon to release a joint Q&A offering restaurant and bar owners more clarification on what is allowed.
We’ll keep you posted on that.
