Although some smaller Hill Country Galleria shops in Bee Cave have reduced their hours and are managing staff and customers to limit store occupancy to 10 people, larger corporate-owned retailers appear to be operating without regard to customer counts.
Orders adopted Tuesday by Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt prohibit any public or private gatherings of 10 or more individuals within the city and county effective at noon Tuesday through May 1. The regulations are aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19
However, as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, three large businesses—Barnes & Noble, Dillard’s, Inc., and Dick’s Sporting Goods—remained open to customers, a task that makes determining occupancy counts and spacing more difficult than in stores with a more intimate size.
City Manager Clint Garza said he requested Bee Cave Police Chief Gary Miller look into the store openings and will seek clarification from Austin or Travis County’s health department to ensure he’s not missing something in the ordinance. He said those experts may say that health inspectors are using their judgment at a site to determine whether people can stay six feet away from one another. If that’s the case, Garza said the city will follow the same practice.
“It seems like we’ve got 90-plus compliance out of everybody just from the order coming out from (Austin) Mayor Adler and the county judge,” he said “And that was just voluntary.”
Garza said some local retailers closed their shops following the announcement of the Travis County restrictive ordinance without the city even contacting them.
Dick’s Sporting Goods administrative assistant Clifford Ketchum said the store was closing to customers this evening and switching to curbside pickup Wednesday.
Karen, a Dillard’s representative in the company’s Arkansas corporate office who declined to provide her last name, said the store is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
A Barnes & Noble staffer said the store is waiting for a corporate directive on proceeding in light of COVID-19 but isn’t currently measuring how many people are inside. Additionally, she said the seats have been removed in the cafe, with customers able to order and take their food away or drink a beverage while shopping in the bookstore.
“We haven’t gotten direction as to that (10 person limitation yet),” the staffer said. “We are open to the public with no restrictions to the people coming in.”
Representatives of other local Hill Country Galleria stores, such as Adorn Boutique Bee Cave and Anthony’s Patio Too, said their facilities are small enough so staff can monitor the number of people inside.
Garza advised residents who observe a situation that they believe may not be in compliance with the new regulations to contact either the Austin Public Health department that has an interlocal agreement with Bee Cave for health inspections, the Bee Cave Police Department or Travis County.
“They can make the phone call and we can check it out,” he said.
Credit: Source link
