{"id":2458409,"date":"2020-05-13T22:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-restaurant-openings-wont-come-next-week-pitkin-county-works-on-new-exemption\/"},"modified":"2020-05-14T07:31:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T13:31:11","slug":"aspen-restaurant-openings-wont-come-next-week-pitkin-county-works-on-new-exemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-restaurant-openings-wont-come-next-week-pitkin-county-works-on-new-exemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen restaurant openings won\u2019t come next week; Pitkin County works on new exemption"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/cheapeats-atd-102013-2-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/cheapeats-atd-102013-2-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/cheapeats-atd-102013-2-1-325x197.jpg 325w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Customers fill the dining room at the Hickory House in Aspen.<\/strong><br \/><em>Leigh Vogel\/The Aspen Times |<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Restaurants in Aspen and Pitkin County will not open next Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Members of Aspen Valley Hospital\u2019s Board hinted Monday they thought May 20 was too soon to allow in-house diners, even at 30% capacity, and Pitkin County commissioners left no doubt Wednesday where they stand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSafety of the public is the No. 1 concern,\u201d Commissioner Greg Poschman said. \u201cI think the 20th is probably not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury said the decision about whether to apply to the state for an exemption from the current safer-at-home public health order \u2014 a path <a id=\"N0x2b28910N0x2b223d0:N0x2b28910N0x2a86888\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-pitkin-county-seek-to-open-restaurants-as-early-as-may-20-lodging-a-week-later\/\">approved by the county\u2019s Board of Health<\/a> last week \u2014 \u201chas kept me up at night.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-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 class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She said she understood the need to provide hope and support to the restaurant community, but that getting out ahead of case data and documented virus infection rates is not the way to do so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHope can\u2019t be a mirage,\u201d McNicholas Kury said. \u201cHeeding science is the fairest thing we can do. It is blind to whatever person, whatever sector is at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioners, however, did not abandon restaurants and bars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They decided to direct county staff to put together an application to the state\u2019s public health department asking for an exemption to whatever the state public health order will become after May 27, in favor of Pitkin County\u2019s \u201cRoadmap to Reopening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Essentially, commissioners said they wanted local control to make local decisions based on local conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis allows flexibility,\u201d Commissioner George Newman said, \u201cbut we will base it on the roadmap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gov. Jared Polis has indicated that he will provide direction May 25 on what will happen with restaurants when his current order expires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County\u2019s Roadmap to Reopening \u2014 <a id=\"N0x2b28910N0x2b22430:N0x2b28910N0x2a86d98\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/u\/1\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSC7IP5TQHcA1f-FibfLPZfQv-tmaRYS4OyQBSxhf7dXGRPDydH1IENc8wQEgxdLCRAOT67ahnnYWck\/pubhtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">available at pitkincounty.com<\/a> \u00ad \u2014 is a three-phased approach to opening businesses, restaurants and hotels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Moving to each phase depends on five criteria: a drop in COVID-19 cases for at least 14 days; the number of hospital patients remains manageable; testing is available to all with virus symptoms; contact tracing and quarantine monitoring is available; and social distancing protocols are clear and in place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Public health officials have said each phase will take at least four weeks \u00ad\u2014 which incorporates two generations of virus infection \u2014 before a decision can be made to move on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County is currently able to meet those five criteria, which is why p<a id=\"N0x2b28910N0x2b22490:N0x2b28910N0x2a86fd8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-phase-1-reopening-questions-and-answers-on-what-to-expect-saturday\/\">hase 1 began Saturday<\/a> with the opening of \u201cnon-essential\u201d retail businesses, increasing group size from five to 10 and other looser refinements to the order, County Manager Jon Peacock has said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Infection numbers have continued to remain low in the county \u2014 even since construction was allowed to begin April 23 \u2014 which is also why Pitkin County appears on track to implement phase 2 when the current public health order expires May 27, Peacock said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Through Tuesday there have been 54 confirmed cases in Pitkin County since March 8 and two deaths, according to <a id=\"N0x2b28910N0x2b224f0:N0x2b28910N0x2a87188\" href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\/case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">state data<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In fact, the numbers of coronavirus cases in the Roaring Fork Valley \u2014 Pitkin County, western Eagle County (562 cases and eight deaths, but it does not break out cases specific to Basalt and El Jebel) and Garfield County (112 cases, two deaths) \u2014 have remained low in recent weeks, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That is especially noteworthy considering that construction is bringing far more people to the Aspen area than opening retail businesses during offseason will, Peacock said. More than 350 construction safety plans have been filed in Pitkin County since construction site were allowed to begin activity again, he said. That number does not include landscaping plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re not seeing a big bump in (cases in) the valley,\u201d Peacock said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Applying to the state for an exemption based on the reopening roadmap allows the county flexibility depending on what the state decides to do, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Newman said he is far more concerned about opening lodging than he is about opening restaurants anyway. Because it\u2019s still offseason, restaurants will likely be used mainly by locals, he said. But opening lodging is a big step to the next level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThen it\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d Newman said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be bringing people in from around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen Mayor Torre, who proposed the May 20 exemption at last week\u2019s Board of Health meeting, said Wednesday after the county meeting he was supportive of the commissioners\u2019 comments and actions. He said he was never unilaterally set on May 20 as a restaurant opening date and supports a \u201cvery cautious approach\u201d to their opening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s not about being soon,\u201d he said in a phone interview, \u201cit\u2019s about being safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen Valley Hospital\u2019s board declined to weigh in on the economic question posed by the proposed exemption Monday. Instead, board members signaled their support for the county\u2019s reopening plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">County staff members will proceed with an application to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the exemption affirming Pitkin County\u2019s reopening roadmap, Peacock said. That application must be approved by the AVH Board, the Board of Health and county commissioners before it can be submitted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-restaurant-openings-wont-come-next-week-pitkin-county-works-on-new-exemption\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Customers fill the dining room at the Hickory House in Aspen.Leigh Vogel\/The Aspen Times | Restaurants in Aspen and Pitkin County will not open next Wednesday. Members of Aspen Valley Hospital\u2019s Board hinted Monday they thought May 20 was too soon to allow in-house diners, even at 30% capacity, and Pitkin County commissioners left no [&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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 16:33:53","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":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458427,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458409\/revisions\/2458427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}