Belleville restaurants can continue outdoor dining only if they follow COVID-19 rules
Portions of three streets in downtown Belleville will remain closed through Nov. 14 so restaurants and bars can continue with expanded outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic under a resolution passed by the City Council on Monday night.
But the city is going to get tougher on enforcement of rules, according to Mayor Mark Eckert, who has the authority to revoke the privilege of serving alcoholic beverages as liquor commissioner.
Those rules include the requirement that servers wear masks. In addition, restaurants and bars are prohibited from hosting concerts or promoting events that would draw large crowds or create a festival-like atmosphere.
“We just can’t have that,” Eckert said Monday afternoon. “We’ve had a few (restaurants and bars) that have certainly been innovative in trying to bring people back, and I understand what they’re doing, but they’ve got to be patient.
“We want them to bring back business and get stronger, but if we don’t do the right thing here, and we’re shut down totally again, then it’s just going to be that much harder to pick back up after the loss. We’re trying to remind them to use good judgment and be health-minded and work with us.”
Eckert was referring to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent warnings that city and county officials in the metro-east must take action to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19, or risk the state reversing course and re-closing businesses due to a persistent increase in positive test results.
Belleville City Council voted unanimously for the resolution Monday night. Eckert noted that outdoor dining is safer than indoor dining, and it may prove to be a lifeline.
“We are concerned about (the rise in) COVID numbers,” Eckert told aldermen. “I hope and pray we don’t lose any inside status, but if that were to happen, this would put us in place to keep the outside dining going longer and help the restaurants and bars as best we can.”
In late May, the City Council passed a resolution that closed portions of High, Jackson and Church streets in downtown Belleville for expanded outdoor dining through Aug. 30. It also allowed restaurants and bars in other parts of the city to set up tents or place tables and chairs on sidewalks and in parking lots as long as they keep patrons at least 6 feet apart.
The resolution coincided with the state’s move to Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan for restarting the economy on May 29, when restaurants and bars were allowed to re-open for outdoor dining only. Indoor dining returned on June 26 with limited capacities under Phase 4.
Belleville restaurants and bars that submitted plans for expanded outdoor dining agreed to a set of rules based on Restore Illinois guidelines. That included the requirement that servers wear masks.
“Most of our businesses are good about cooperating, but we have a couple who don’t seem to get it, and we’ve got to get their attention,” Eckert said. “We’re serious. This is a serious situation.”
It’s OK for restaurants and bars to offer dinner music with one or two musicians, but full bands with concert-like setups aren’t appropriate during a pandemic, even if they’re outside, Eckert said.
“I don’t want to see anybody lose business, but I don’t want to see anybody get sick or go to the hospital or die from COVID, either. ... We do not want to be on the news as an epicenter of a further outbreak or the place where extreme partying or big gatherings have occurred.”
Under the Restore Illinois plan, state officials evaluate the spread of coronavirus in each region by calculating “positivity rate,” which is the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive on average over a seven-day period.
The metro-east region consists of seven counties. If it reaches a collective 8% positivity rate for three consecutive days, the state will impose restrictions. The rate increased to 7.6% on July 26.
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 9:22 PM.
