Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman signed an executive order on Wednesday to lift a ban on indoor dining that had been challenged in circuit court.
Under the new rules, indoor dining in the county is allowed at 25% capacity.
The change came after Titan Hospitality Group had filed a lawsuit over Mr. Pittman’s initial order that barred indoor dining from Dec. 16 to Jan. 13. The plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit in lieu of the new order.
Circuit Judge William Mulford temporarily had blocked the ban this month and allowed eateries to continue to operate at the 50% capacity limit set by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
The judge heard testimony this week from restaurateurs, health experts and officials.
“I believe we demonstrated to the court that the county’s decision was based on our strong desire to save lives and protect public health and was neither arbitrary nor capricious,” Mr. Pittman said in a press release. “However, the prospect of a sudden and disruptive closure of indoor dining prompted me to evaluate the best course of action at this time.”
Restaurant owner Brian Bolter said the prohibition was put in place “under the veil that ’we want to protect and save lives.’”
“Restaurants, continually, are getting scapegoated through all of this,” Mr. Bolter said. “[T]he judicial system has continually rolled over and actually acquiesced to the executive power without actually looking at the data, looking at the numbers, and saying, ’Is this an industry that we want to scapegoat, throw under the bus, and potentially drive to extinction over a hunch or a whim?’”
Mr. Pittman said that “much has changed” since he initially proposed the ban on Dec. 10, and that his reversal was made in “recognition of the progress our residents have made holding our numbers down in the last two weeks.”
“Catastrophic hospitalization projections, rising case rates, rising death rates, and restrictions put in effect by the state and the county have altered public behavior,” he said, adding that case rates “dropped slightly” and “hospitalization projections have been adjusted downward.”
Mr. Bolter said he did not believe that was true.
“If we had been closed, I guarantee you the county would have said, ’It’s because we closed restaurants that the numbers are going down,’” he said.
Still, the restaurateur said he was “more than surprised” by the county executive’s new order and he is happy about it.
James King, CEO of Titan Hospitality Group, also said he was “extremely pleased.”
DOCUMENT: Statement from Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, Dec. 30, 2020
“We understand that he is in a difficult position of balancing the health and safety of the residents of Anne Arundel County while juggling the need for businesses to remain open and operating so our employees can continue to earn a living,” Mr. King said.
The new order also restricts third-party food delivery service fees to 15% of the online order sale price.
Anne Arundel County Department of Health data show 24,045 total coronavirus cases and 349 deaths as of Wednesday. Additionally, 137 residents infected with the virus are currently hospitalized, and more than 87% of available ICU beds are occupied.
Anne Arundel has a population of more than 579,000 residents, and the fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases statewide.
Last week, judges in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and the city of Baltimore upheld coronavirus restrictions on dining that dozens of restaurants and eateries had opposed.
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