April 30, 2020

Sioux Falls can start to ease some of the restrictions in place to control the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Paul TenHaken said.

A special City Council meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Friday to consider rescinding the current no-loitering ordinances which restrictions patrons to 10 in various businesses. A new ordinance would limit the number of patrons in an establishment. The earliest it could take effect is May 8.

For fitness centers, theaters and entertainment venues, occupancy can be expanded to 10 patrons or 50 percent of posted occupancy, whichever is greater.

“If you’re a bowling alley and your posted occupancy is 200 people in there, you can have 100 people in there,” TenHaken said.

Those businesses are still asked to follow social distancing guidelines.

“It’s not cram 100 people in your bowling alley into three lanes.”

Licensed bars and restaurants will be able to open at their regular capacity but must separate all parties by 6 feet or serve a maximum of 10 patrons at once,   whichever is greater.

If a restaurant can usually serve 100 people, it can adjust the setup of the seating area to have seating areas in 6-foot chunks.

“So we’re not going to be looking at the occupancy of bars and restaurants. We’re going to be looking at their seating setups,” TenHaken said.

“There’s buy-in from the restaurant community. They think they can do this. They need to operate in an entrepreneurial fashion to make this happen.”

The City Council will hear a first reading Friday. A second reading and vote are still required after that because the ordinance can be changed. The soonest the changes could take effect is May 8. It would be in effect indefinitely.

“If for some reason numbers would drastically swing we could call a special meeting of the council and reassess this,” TenHaken said, calling it phase one of a reopening plan.

Anyone not abiding by the rules of the new ordinance can still face up to a $500 fine, 30 days in jail and loss of a license for the business.

Playgrounds, dog parks, skate parks and basketball courts will be reopened today. Athletic fields will be opened to unorganized activities.

Park shelters, restrooms and drinking fountains will still be closed.

“You can go to the park. You can utilize the park,” the mayor said. “It’s still important the public use caution when they’re out.”

COVID-19 “can be transmitted easily” on park equipment, TenHaken said, urging parents to watch their kids.

The city hasn’t made a decision about its pools but needs about one month to get them ready to open once a determination is made.

The city is able to recommend easing restrictions because the health systems are “very confident and comfortable in meeting the demand we will see at the peak,” TenHaken said.

The city is projecting a peak in hospitalizations now will be in mid to late May and require fewer hospital beds than thought a couple weeks ago.

Because of that, the city is providing options for people with different risk tolerances knowing it has the capacity to serve people if they contract COVID-19 and need hospitalization, TenHaken said.

“If a restaurant is open … you don’t have to go there. You have to make the decision if you’re comfortable going there. If a park is open, you don’t have to go there,” he said.

“You need to decide what’s best for your family, what’s best for your business, what’s best for your situation.”

The city’s SOAR program to help businesses with COVID-19 best practices has been going for about a week and a half and is being led by Jeff Eckhoff, director of planning and development services.

The city proactively contacted about 100 businesses, he said. Others can reach out if they have questions or concerns.

“By and large what we found is people wanted to comply. They understood they had a responsibility to their employees,” he said, adding the program will continue working with businesses such as restaurants as they adjust their operations.