{"id":89666,"date":"2020-03-31T20:09:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T02:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/why-are-nonessential-businesses-still-open-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:05:41","slug":"why-are-nonessential-businesses-still-open-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/why-are-nonessential-businesses-still-open-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are nonessential businesses still open in Durango?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Most
Most businesses are closed on Main Avenue in downtown Durango as a result of the coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak, including Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar at 601 Main Ave. Efforts to enforce Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 order to close nonessential businesses is ramping up.<\/span>Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Local health officials and law enforcement are starting to clamp down on nonessential businesses still operating despite Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 executive order last week shuttering certain stores to slow the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Since the order was put in place, the Durango Police Department has responded to two complaints, though Cmdr. Ray Shupe did not immediately have the names of the businesses.<\/p>\n

People who see a business that doesn\u2019t meet the criteria for an essential business are encouraged to report the activity to San Juan Basin Public Health or fill out the Police Department\u2019s online reporting form at https:\/\/bit.ly\/3bRsS79<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 order includes a long list of exempt workplaces, including health care, certain infrastructure operations, manufacturing, critical retail and services, construction, public safety and some professional services like legal.<\/p>\n

But if businesses don\u2019t meet this criteria, it is illegal to continue operations, and if reported, owners face a $5,000 fine and mandatory shutdown.<\/p>\n

Liane Jollon, executive director of San Juan Basin Public Health, said health officials are awaiting clearer definitions of what\u2019s essential and what\u2019s not, which is expected to come from Polis\u2019 office this week.<\/p>\n

Then, it is likely health officials and law enforcement will become more aggressive in ensuring compliance from nonessential businesses still open.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to understand it\u2019s our collective action as individuals who have the ability to slow the spread,\u201d Jollon said. \u201cIf you\u2019re nonessential, you shouldn\u2019t be doing business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shupe said once a complaint is filed, Durango officers will first visit a business and try to get voluntary compliance. But if that doesn\u2019t work, and officers have to come back a second time, owners face civil and criminal penalties.<\/p>\n

La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith said his department is also awaiting clearer guidelines from the state. But, he said he hopes businesses take it upon themselves to close for the health of the community. His department has fielded two complaints to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s very concerning (staying open),\u201d he said. \u201cThe longer people don\u2019t do that, the longer it\u2019s going on and we\u2019ll have this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith added that if businesses don\u2019t comply, and as a result, the virus spreads more quickly and more widespread, it may force even more stringent restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t force us to be the bad guys in this situation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to protect everyone, but we need people to be smart and do their part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Businesses deemed essential must follow social-distancing requirements and are encouraged to let employees work remotely or on staggered schedules when possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sacrifices that Coloradans are making will pay off in the long run,\u201d Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a statement. \u201cIt will take everyone acting together to slow the spread of the illness to a level that our health care systems can absorb, but countless lives will be saved through these measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Complaints trickle in about stores operating in violation of statewide order<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,1065,28,1901,686,2636],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-89666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-durango-police-department","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-sheriff","tag-san-juan-basin-health-department","tag-sean-smith"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89666","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=89666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89667,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89666\/revisions\/89667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89666"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=89666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}