State tells Sacramento County to back off on allowing gatherings, fitness studios to open

It turns out Memorial Day weekend will not be quite the big economic and social reopening moment that Sacramento residents and businesses owners had hoped.

Sacramento County health chief Peter Beilenson on Thursday reversed his approval from earlier this week for fitness centers to reopen, saying state health officials had stepped in to tell him it’s too soon.

Beilenson said state health officials also told him to back off of his plans to allow groups of up to 10 get together, with social distancing, starting this weekend.

The county still intends to issue a revised coronavirus “stay home” directive on Friday that will immediately allow restaurants to reopen for both indoor and outdoor dining. Tables must be six feet apart. And, for now, people should only dine at the same table with members of their household.

That order, approved by the state, also will allow stores to reopen for in-store shopping. As of now, stores are allowed only to conduct sidewalk pickup of purchased items.

The state and the county issued initial stay-home orders in mid-March when the coronavirus was spreading rapidly in many parts of California, and have been revising those orders incrementally since then, leading to more business openings in recent weeks.

Sacramento’s coronavirus infection numbers have plateaued in that time, and the number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals has dropped to only a handful.

The revised Sacramento County order to be issued Friday also will allow shopping malls and strip malls to reopen for the first time in more than two months.

Officials at Arden Fair Mall, however, said they will not open their mall until after Memorial Day weekend because they want to make sure they understand and implement restrictions first.

“Arden Fair is waiting on the written order from Sacramento County to determine when we will be allowed to reopen,” Arden Fair marketing manager Nathan Spradlin said Thursday in an email. “As the order will not be released until Friday afternoon, we will not be opening for Memorial Day weekend and will announce our reopening date for in-mall shopping once the county has officially stated we are allowed to reopen the interior of the mall.”

Fitness studios angered by order

Several local fitness center owners have sued the state over its refusal to let them open. One of them called the state a “bully” on Thursday after hearing Sacramento County was being required to rescind its reopening approval.

Sean Covell, owner of the Fitness System gym in Land park as well as two others in Lodi and West Sacramento, said he had gotten the Land Park facility ready to reopen when he heard the news watching the health officer’s announcement on television Thursday.

“I think it’s terrible news for humanity,” Covell said. “I really think the state has made it clear that they intend on bullying businesses around and never letting go of the control they have on society.

“There’s only one way to deal with a bully and that’s to fight.”

Covell’s attorney, Brian Chavez, said his client will not reopen without proper permission and that he will continue with his current lawsuit, which names the state and San Joaquin County officials.

Chavez added that as that suit progresses he may add Sacramento County as a defendant.

N. Allen Sawyer, an attorney for Rio Linda Fitness owner Stephen Tresner, said he was disappointed in the about-face and would continue with the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court against the state and Sacramento County.

“We know we had a very safe plan,” Sawyer said. “A lot of effort and time was put into getting it right to open safely and there’s going to be no logic that results in a delay in when our client can reopen.”

Sawyer said the gym will not reopen without proper permission, and that his client is not disputing the danger of COVID-19.

”No one’s saying COVID-19 isn’t real,” he said. “We’re just saying we have to figure out how to operate as a society within this threat.”

The Rio Linda gym is a 35,000-square-foot facility that could easily accommodate physical distance between clients, he said, adding that the state and county are treating businesses with a broad brush rather than looking at the specifics of each case.

”This is a very large gym that can safely social distance just like restaurants are doing,” Sawyer said. “There’s no logic to how businesses are being treated.”

The reversal on Thursday is the second one this week in Sacramento. On Monday, the state told the county not to allow the Sacramento Zoo to reopen as planned next month.

Beilenson, the county health chief, said he has been attempting to allow businesses he thinks are safe to reopen with restrictions based on his interpretation of the governor’s health team edicts and what he feels is appropriate for Sacramento County.

The county’s initial fitness center reopening OK included several restrictions. There would need to be 250 square feet of space for each person in the room, not more than eight clients, no shared equipment and no use of bathrooms.

“The governor has been talking about allowing local flexibility,” Beilenson said. “We thought (reopening fitness centers) is an example of judicious local flexibility.

“It didn’t work, and that’s unfortunate for fitness owners who reopened.”

State health officials pointed out that gyms won’t be allowed to reopen until the state moves into the next phase of reduced restrictions.