{"id":50238,"date":"2020-11-24T19:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T02:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-defiance-of-health-order-durango-restaurant-stays-open-to-in-person-dining\/"},"modified":"2020-11-25T02:00:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T02:00:34","slug":"in-defiance-of-health-order-durango-restaurant-stays-open-to-in-person-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-defiance-of-health-order-durango-restaurant-stays-open-to-in-person-dining\/","title":{"rendered":"In defiance of health order, Durango restaurant stays open to in-person dining"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Madisen
Madisen Hardy with CJ\u2019s Diner picks up an order Tuesday to serve to customers at tables in the restaurant. The diner has chosen to stay open to in-person dining despite a public health order that limits restaurants to delivery and takeout operations.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In defiance of public health orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, a local Durango diner has chosen to remain open to indoor dining, with its owner saying he cannot survive anymore restrictions on operating.<\/p>\n

Because of a significant surge in positive cases, La Plata County on Nov. 20 moved into the \u201cLevel Red\u201d safer-at-home public health order, which limits restaurants to takeout, delivery and outdoor seating. No in-person dining is permitted.<\/p>\n

Jerry Martinez, owner of CJ\u2019s Diner, said his restaurant would not be able to survive another shutdown to indoor seating, and has chosen to remain open to keep his business afloat and his staff members employed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done everything they asked us to do,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cAnd to me, at some point, I\u2019m going to sit here and lay down? I\u2019m done with that. It\u2019s the only way I can stay alive and employed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez said the longtime diner at 810 East College Drive was forced to completely shut down at the onset of the pandemic when restaurants were last limited to takeout and delivery, saying those two options lost his restaurant money.<\/p>\n

Summer business was strong, Martinez said, but the diner continued to lose significant revenue from the loss of caterings, which account for 50% of sales. Out of 49 weddings, he said 38 were canceled.<\/p>\n

As a result, Martinez estimated his diner has lost about $220,000 this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about that in a small business,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve done everything they asked us to do. \u2026 Since March, we\u2019ve walked through this thing losing money left and right and questioning how do we make our business work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez argued liquor stores and dispensaries have been allowed to remain open, but the virus can spread in those businesses just as it can in restaurants. He said the public health orders don\u2019t consider business owners and employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re concerned about COVID and people getting sick and all that, but you\u2019re not concerned about the livelihood of people\u2019s lives?\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI want them to come tell our 15 employees they don\u2019t have a job right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, the Colorado Restaurant Association reported that statewide, an estimated 65% of restaurants could close within the next six months under current conditions and if no aid is received.<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic, several restaurants have closed permanently, at least in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Eno Cocktail Lounge and Wine Bar, the Palace Restaurant, the Irish Embassy Pub, Kassidy\u2019s Kitchen and Pura Vida in Vallecito.<\/p>\n

In an effort to keep his business afloat and his employees with jobs, Martinez said he made the decision to continue to serve people inside, despite the recently issued Level Red health order.<\/p>\n

At the La Plata County commissioners\u2019 meeting Tuesday, David Woodruff, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association\u2019s Durango chapter and general manager at El Moro Spirits and Tavern, asked that restaurants be allowed to operate at 25% capacity, at a minimum.<\/p>\n

And Sue Fusco, co-owner of Ken & Sue\u2019s, said it would be nice to know how long the restriction on in-person dining will be in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to make business decisions on the unknown,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Since the Level Red order went into effect Nov. 20, Martinez said business has been OK, with support coming from his loyal customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like people are supportive of us,\u201d he said of the diner, which has been around for 20 years. \u201cThey\u2019ve called us, they\u2019ve said, \u2018We\u2019ll stand with you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a handful of businesses have openly defied public health orders in recent months. Top That Frozen Yogurt in downtown Durango and Farmers Fresh in Ignacio, for instance, have chosen not to enforce the mandatory mask order.<\/p>\n

\"Jerry
Jerry Martinez, owner of CJ&#x2019;s Diner, cooks in the kitchen Tuesday with line cook Aly Alvarez for customers in the restaurant. Martinez said he has done everything health officials have asked during the coronavirus pandemic, but he&#x2019;s not willing to shut down a second time. &#x201c;I&#x2019;m done with that,&#x201d; he said.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Martinez said a coalition of about 15 restaurants plan to band together to announce they will continue to stay open for in-person dining, though he did not know the specifics of what restaurants and when the announcement would be made.<\/p>\n

The question of enforcement has also been a bit of an open-ended question since the pandemic started.<\/p>\n

San Juan Basin Public Health, La Plata County\u2019s health department, has the ability to enforce the orders, but the department has said it does not have the resources to take the lead on enforcement actions.<\/p>\n

Brian Devine with SJBPH said Tuesday there have been no formal complaints about CJ\u2019s Diner continuing to offer in-person dining in recent days.<\/p>\n

\u201cNonetheless, we are beginning an investigation and coordinating support from all appropriate jurisdictional authorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The city of Durango on Monday passed an emergency ordinance to increase its enforcement abilities, but the new order applies only to enforcing the mandatory mask ordinance, not staying open to indoor dining.<\/p>\n

City Manager Jos\u00e9 Madrigal declined to comment, saying the situation may turn into an investigation on the part of the city.<\/p>\n

Martinez said he is aware, and prepared, should the possibility of enforcement come. As president of the 100 Durango Club, which supports emergency personnel and first responders, he\u2019s already talked to police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sad thing is, those are the guys that are going to have to come say something to me,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m going to tell them I\u2019m not going to close. I\u2019m not going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018I\u2019m going to sit here and lay down? I\u2019m done with that\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,13,28,445,668,450,686],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-public-health","tag-restaurant-and-catering","tag-san-juan-basin-health-department"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50238"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}