BETHESDA, Md. — While much of Maryland allowed businesses to fully reopen Friday with no or fewer capacity restrictions, the state’s largest county will not quite go that far.
Montgomery County will increase capacities at restaurants, religious and leisure facilities, with some changes beginning now, and others in two weeks.
Here is what Montgomery County will be changing, according to a newly issued executive order in the county:
- Remove all local restrictions on childcare facilities (and therefore require them to follow state requirements)
- Changes maximum capacity to align with fire or other occupancy permit
- Increase outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 50 persons (including sports)
- Increase indoor gatherings to a maximum of 25 persons (including sports)
- Remove the 1 person per 200 square feet of space limits
- Remove the alcohol limits on food service facilities
- Remove the restriction on buffet service for food service facilities
- Remove outdoor structure requirements for food service facilities
- Permit food courts in malls to operate in the same manner as other food service facilities
- Retail and businesses, such as fitness centers, hair and nail salons, as well as museums and art galleries, can operate at 25% capacity
- Increase capacity for religious facilities to 50%
- On March 26, 2021:
- Permit arts and entertainment facilities such as theaters, social clubs and amusement parks to open at 25% capacity provided they do not sell or permit food for consumption in the facility
- The capacity limits for indoor dining at food service facilities, fitness centers, bowling alleys, escape rooms, museums and art galleries, personal services facilities, pools, retail establishments, and recreation centers increases from 25% to 50%
Both Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services said they were surprised by Hogan’s Tuesday announcement.
Late Thursday, Elrich released a letter criticizing the state’s newest health guidance.
“It almost felt as though spring fever clouded some good judgment,” he wrote.
Elrich went on to write that he did not want to place faith in the decision-making of Maryland’s newest senior public health advisor, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield.
“I am not inclined to follow the guidance of the governor’s newly appointed health adviser, who was an integral part of the Trump administration’s COVID response team,” Elrich said in the letter.
In a video, Elrich would also comment that now would not be the time to abandon all caution in Montgomery County.
While Elrich appears to oppose reopening on the scale Hogan has proposed, he does not have the final say as to what rules Montgomery County will follow.
At 1:30 p.m. Friday, the Montgomery County Council sat at the county’s Board of Health to hear and vote on the final plan.
Councilmember Will Jawando tweeted he does not support Hogan’s plan. Councilmember Hans Riemer said he is in favor of rolling back restrictions in Montgomery County, but not to the extent the governor has proposed.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said her county would follow a “measured approach” to the state’s guidance Thursday. All other Maryland counties in the greater D.C. region say they will align with Maryland’s guidance.
Montgomery County Councilmember Sidney Katz pointed out that if surrounding counties follow the state's guidance, it's hard to enforce stricter capacity limits if the county's residents will simply travel to nearby Prince George's or another county and possibly bring back exposure to the disease.
Some Montgomery County businesses say the time is now to reopen. They include Silver Spring restaurant and bar Fire Station 1 on Georgia Avenue.
“Montgomery County, in particular, has been a little bit hard on the restaurant industry in general,” Fire Station 1 General Manager Mike Edwards said.
He said he does not appreciate Montgomery County as one of the last jurisdictions in Maryland to decide whether it will follow the state’s new guidance. Edwards said it is hard for businesses like his to schedule staff on short notice.
“I would like a definitive yes or no so we can go ahead and formulate plans on how we're going to move forward,” he said.
However, some Montgomery County residents, like Aaron Lewis, say they would prefer for the state to take a gradual approach to reopen instead of allowing businesses to operate at 100% altogether.
“I think I’d feel more comfortable once more people had the chance to get the vaccine,” he said.