Board votes 3-2 to realign with state emergency order
Restaurants can continue operating at 50% capacity
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
January 12, 2021
The Black Mountain Board of Aldermen in a 3-2 vote, Jan. 11, chose to allow local restaurants to continue operating at 50% capacity. Photo by Fred McCormick
Black Mountain restaurants can continue to operate at 50% capacity, following a 3-2 vote by the board of aldermen in its Jan. 11 regular monthly meeting.
The decision to align with the state’s order, as opposed to the 30% capacity limit implemented by Buncombe County, came less than two weeks after elected officials voted unanimously to tighten the COVID-19 restrictions.
The board met for a special called meeting, Dec. 29, voting unanimously to adopt the county’s order in the weeks following the holiday season. Restaurants in town limits were allowed to operate at 30% capacity from Jan. 2 - 8.
The decision to end the increased restrictions was made due to the belief that the county order would expire Jan. 8, although it was later determined that the Buncombe directive will remain in place until repealed, replaced or rescinded. Aldermen also indicated in the December meeting that they would like to revisit the decision within two weeks.
Before the board discussed the matter Monday night, town manager Josh Harrold read many public comments expressing opinions on the restrictions. Many of the citizens asked to continue the tighter restrictions, while others, including a comment from the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the town to align with the state mandate of 50%.
“Black Mountain retail and dining diminish dramatically in January, even in normal years,” Chamber Executive Director Sharon Tabor stated in her emailed comment. “Frustrating and adding additional restrictions to the challenges of restaurant survival adds fuel to their stresses. It’s like closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out.”
Doug Hay, who expressed concerns in December about the recent surge of the virus, reiterated those points.
“There seems to be a surge we’re experiencing here, locally,” he said. “That said, I appreciate the feedback we received from the chamber of commerce, restaurant owners and workers.”
He added that the occupancy rates of restaurants in town is determined differently than other parts of the county.
“As a reminder, Biltmore Forest, Woodfin and Weaverville, the municipalities other than Asheville, are not following the county’s order,” said Mayor Larry Harris, who stated in December that he chose not to tighten the restrictions and remain aligned with the governor’s order. The state of emergency declared by the Town in March gives the mayor the authority to amend local regulations, but he chose to defer to the board.
Pam King added that the situation was “frustrating, because everyone wants this pandemic to be over.”
“It’s just a question of which numbers you’re looking at, and what’s the best approach,” she said. “It’s a little frustrating to me because I feel like there are a bunch of people following the guidelines and doing everything they can to keep people safe. But there are other people who don’t feel like it’s necessary to follow the guidelines.”
That contrast made it hard to tell which group was making the greatest impact, King added, so it was difficult to focus solely on the restaurants.
Archie Pertiller, Jr. said he normally dines at local restaurants, and his observation has indicated that dining capacity is “not an issue” during winter months.
“I don’t want to feel like we’re punishing the restaurants for the behavior of others,” he said. “That’s what I’ve come to in the last couple of weeks.”
The original decision to reduce capacity to 30% was not an easy one, according to Tim Raines, but it served as a method of limiting the spread in the weeks after the holiday season. However, he agreed with Pertiller that continuing the increased restrictions would be unfair to restaurant owners.
“I don’t feel like it’s right for us to do that,” he said. “It’s not just the owners, it’s also their employees. They could have to cut back on employees, and hope to rehire them when restrictions are decreased. If we go back to 50% capacity, we’re not talking about a lot of people frequenting these restaurants.”
Ryan Stone, who made the motion to align with the county’s order two weeks ago, cited data on the Department of Health and Human Services website in support of continuing the 30% limitation.
“You look at all of Western North Carolina and everyone, except for two counties, is in the critical stage,” he said. “I think that shows the graveness of the situation. Like everyone here, I don’t like singling out the restaurant industry, and I’m not placing blame on them.”
He added that he was not suggesting dining in restaurants is tied to the surge in cases, but that the unique nature of the industry requires diners to remove their masks indoors for extended periods of time.
“It creates risk,” Stone said. “Not just to the business itself, but to the individuals.”
He expressed concerns about the long-term damage associated with COVID-19 before making a motion to align with the county’s order.
Stone and King added that the impact on restaurants could be mitigated by an effort from the community to order take-out.
Pertiller, Raines and Hay voted against the motion to reduce the allowed restaurant capacity for a week, while Stone and King voted in favor.
In his communication to the board in the final minutes of the meeting, Harrold said the Town is discussing the possibility of designating curbside parking spots downtown to assist merchants through the pandemic.
Harrold also announced that HealthRidge Pharmacy has reached out to the Town to inquire about the availability of the Lakeview Senior Center at Lake Tomahawk to distribute COVID-19 vaccines. While nothing has been finalized, he anticipates an announcement of the agreement in the near future.
“I think anything we can do to help that happen would be very good,” Harrold said. “We’re not having any services in Lakeview right now, we moved our meal site to Black Mountain Avenue.”