The restaurant industry has been hit hard by the health crisis and recession. Governments have showered billions of dollars on businesses to help them through the tough times. But the real solution in many cases is for governments to just get out of the way. For restaurants, that often means letting them put tables outside while the warm weather lasts.
A local news source profiled a restaurant near where I live. After the county government blocked two of the owner’s proposals for outside tables, the restaurant is losing thousands of dollars a month and may go under after decades serving the community.
After nearly 40 years, Joe Javidara said the future of his soccer‐themed bar Summers Restaurant in Courthouse hinges on a permit he said is being processed through Arlington County government.The restaurant announced on Monday that it was temporarily closed until it could get a permit for outdoor seating.Like many local restaurant owners with insufficient indoor seating to allow for social distancing, Javidara said getting one of the county’s temporary outdoor seating requests is crucial to ensuring that customers feel safe returning to local eateries.… It’s a process the county has worked to make easier over the last few months, but Javidara faces a critical snag: his sidewalk is too narrow. An earlier application in June was denied because staff found that putting the restaurant space on the sidewalk would not allow enough space for pedestrians to safely maneuver.… Javidara’s solution had been to utilize the on‐street parking area, removing four parking spaces to make way for tables with a cleared space on the sidewalk between the seating and the restaurant for pedestrians to pass through. It’s a move that’s been implemented in places like Clarendon and Shirlington, and in other jurisdictions like Alexandria, to the benefit of local restaurants.He tried that approach in June, arguing that no one was coming to work in the nearby buildings anyway, but was rejected.“We tried to open anyway, but we’re losing a lot of money and paying $20,000 in rent,” Javidara said. “And there’s no sports, so it feels like everything is against us.”
This is the sidewalk that local central planners in Arlington, Virginia claim is not wide enough to have outdoor dining during the COVID-19 panic.
RW note: With a problem like this the owner should hire an attorney that is close to the central planners. You need to be close to power when central planners are in control.
I spent years working in the Arlington restaurant scene during college. We got crushed during 2008 - 10. Looks much worse now. Sad to see that happen to Summers.
ReplyDeleteYour insider attorney needs to be ready to challenge the very existence of the alleged "emergency", including pointing out that the under 50 crowd is virtually invulnerable and that vitamins A, C and D plus HCQ or quercetin and zinc work as effective preventatives for old folks. And relentlessly note the suppression of this information by the government, media and Big Tech.
ReplyDeleteI have read most of the lawsuits challenging the lockdown. The BIG mistake that is always made is that the Plaintiff's lawyer always concedes in effect that Covid-19 is the second coming of Ebola. Since you have no fundamental right to run a business and the government needs merely a "rational basis" to shut you down, it's rational to shut you down to save us all from Ebola which the Plaintiff has already admitted is what we are facing.
If someone would directly and firmly challenge the B.S. government line, there would have to be a trial to determine factually just how dangerous the virus really is and the government would have the burden of proof. All medical records are hearsay and can only be admitted into evidence pursuant to a hearsay exception for written records. The most important factor in that analysis is a determination that the records are accurate which the government would not be able to do. This would at least provide a strong basis to appeal and would expose the government's lack of a true basis to destroy the economy.
Or maybe you could hire E. Manuel who is a source of fear mongering creating the hysterical lock-downs and now offers a consulting service to help business open under the new rules. Ain't Amerika great! www.covid19reopen.com/ezekiel-j-emanuel
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