{"id":1319958,"date":"2020-05-14T19:16:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T01:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996458"},"modified":"2020-05-14T21:31:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T03:31:09","slug":"in-continued-defiance-of-health-orders-shooters-grill-takes-dining-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-continued-defiance-of-health-orders-shooters-grill-takes-dining-outside\/","title":{"rendered":"In continued defiance of health orders, Shooters Grill takes dining outside"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"782\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-1024x782.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-1024x782.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-768x586.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-1536x1173.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-1-2048x1564.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grille in Rifle, checks on a few of her customers Thursday morning. After opening her restaurant last week to dine-in customers Boebert was issued a cease and desist order Tuesday, which was followed by a court restraining order Wednesday. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent)<\/strong><br \/><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>After a cease and desist letter, a temporary restraining order and being told by Garfield County Public Health not to serve&nbsp;customers on the premise, Shooters Grill owner Lauren Beobert decided to take it outside.<\/p>\n<p>Dining, that is.<\/p>\n<p>With most businesses continuing to adhere to public health orders from local and state governments and minimal vehicle traffic on Third Street Thursday morning, Boebert set up tables on the sidewalk and parking spaces outside of her downtown Rifle restaurant and began serving breakfast to customers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been patient, followed all of the proper channels, and provided service in a safe and responsible manner using the same guidelines as neighboring Mesa County restaurants. When that wasn\u2019t good enough for our local officials, they issued a cease and desist,\u201d Boebert said in a statement Thursday. \u201cThe fact remains that my staff needs their paychecks, so this morning I moved my tables out onto the city street and opened back up for business.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>State and local orders prohibit restaurants from offering food or beverages for on-premises consumption, as well as movement in and out of restaurants by the public until May 27.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-1024x687.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-996460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-1024x687.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-1536x1031.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-2-2048x1374.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>In defiance of a cease and desist letter and temporary court-issued restraining order Shooters Grill in Rifle was open for business Thursday, serving customers outside the Third Street business. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent)<\/strong><br \/><em>Shooters-gpi-051520-2<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Boebert was openly defiant about reopening against state health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic when speaking before the county commissioners on Monday. She said she was operating at 30% of her normal capacity, same as Mesa County restaurants are being allowed to do under a state-granted variance, and taking other health precautions to ensure social distancing.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday&nbsp;Garfield County officials obtained the temporary restraining order from the district court against Shooters Grill and owner Lauren Boebert, after she continued to operate her restaurant against public health orders and after she was contacted by law enforcement to shut down. The restraining order was issued after Boebert had been served with a cease and desist letter Tuesday afternoon by law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n<p>Amid warm weather, blue skies, and sunshine, a steady flow of customers dined throughout the day. At one point, a small line formed of people waiting for open tables.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have no authority over restaurant matters,\u201d Rifle Mayor Barb Clifton said. \u201cIt is a weirdly layered issue, obviously the state and Garfield County create and enforce the Safer at Home laws for businesses, what they can and can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1024x660.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-996461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1024x660.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1536x990.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-2048x1320.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Matthew Palomvi talks with his mother Sandra, who is visiting from Minnesota, after they breakfast Thursday morning at Shooters Grill in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooters owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to serving customers outside. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent)<\/strong><br \/><em>Shooters-gpi-051520-3<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Clifton said Rifle Police Chief Tommy Klein was on the scene early and talked with Boebert and had her fill out the necessary right-of-way permit, and asked them to move the tables from the street onto the sidewalk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose permits are available to any business, if a retail store wants to have a sidewalk sale that\u2019s what they get,\u201d Clifton said. \u201cThose right-of-way permits are, however, subject to all health orders of the county. This is really the county\u2019s public health deal in terms of what their next move is with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garfield County commissioners are actively working to petition Gov. Jared Polis to allow more local businesses to reopen, \u201cin a staged and safe manner,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioners sent a letter Monday afternoon to Polis pointing to the number of local COVID-19 cases (112 to date), and the compliance that the construction industry, grocery and convenience stores and other essential businesses have met locally under the former Stay and Home and the current Safer at Home orders.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-1024x600.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-996462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-1024x600.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-768x450.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-1536x900.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-4-2048x1199.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Laney Kirkpatrick, a Shooter Grill waitress, serves customers outside of the Restaurant Thursday in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooters owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to customers outside. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent)<\/strong><br \/><em>Shooters-gpi-051520-4<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The county is requesting that restaurants be allowed to open at 30% capacity with inside and outside dining. In addition to food establishments, the commissioners have asked that other businesses be allowed to reopen with monitoring by Public Health.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The county commissioners had hoped that the state could grant the variance for an earlier opening as soon as Thursday. However, the county is continuing to formalize its variance request to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, so that is not likely.<\/p>\n<p>On her way to submitting paperwork for the right-of-way permit, Boebert said she hopes to inspire other businesses to follow suit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want everybody open, I don\u2019t want to have a monopoly,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s my goal and if I need to pioneer the way for that I\u2019m fine with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:kmills@postindependent.com\">kmills@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/in-continued-defiance-of-health-orders-shooters-grill-takes-dining-outside\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grille in Rifle, checks on a few of her customers Thursday morning. After opening her restaurant last week to dine-in customers Boebert was issued a cease and desist order Tuesday, which was followed by a court restraining order Wednesday. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent) After a cease and desist letter, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 05:41:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319962,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319958\/revisions\/1319962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}