SPI says no restaurants cited for violating 25 percent occupancy rule

By Gaige Davila
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

No Island restaurants have been cited for violating the state-mandated 25 percent occupancy rule, according to the City of South Padre Island. Code enforcement officers and health inspectors with the city have not given citations for other regulations related to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s order to reopen Texas businesses either. 

The City of South Padre Island provided guidelines for restaurants in-kind with Abbott’s order, which allowed retail stores, malls, movie theaters and museums to reopen at 25 percent capacity, with further guidelines for each. 

The City of South Padre Island encouraged restaurants to follow the guidelines outlined by Abbott, sectioning off unused tables and chairs and, if applicable, seat patrons at every other booth, and to keep tables at least six feet away from each other. If a restaurant has a bar, customers cannot sit there: table seating only. Menus must be disposable, condiments single-use, hand sanitizer available at entrance and buffets with servers. 

Businesses are being regularly checked by patrolling by city staff, the city’s public information officer, Nikki Soto, said. 

Soto says people can report restaurants violating guidelines to the South Padre Island Police Department or the city’s Environmental Health Department.

“It is important that we work together as a community during these hard times and staff has provided great assistance with educating the restaurant owners/managers on these guidelines,” Soto said. 

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2020/05/15/spi-says-no-restaurants-cited-for-violating-25-percent-occupancy-rule/

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