Pasadena To Enact More Outdoor Dining Restrictions As Pandemic Surges
PASADENA (CBSLA) -- After deciding to continue to allow outdoor dining, the city of Pasadena is tightening its restrictions in an attempt to combat an influx of people coming from surrounding areas to dine out in the week since L.A. County forced all other restaurants to close.
Last week, the city implemented a reservation-only policy. Now, there will be even more rules.
Starting at midnight, only members of the same household will be allowed to sit together — which will not be enforced but, rather, done through the honor system — and tables will have a six-person limit.
"The tables of six will limit this to, hopefully, immediate families," said Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian. "We don't want people co-mingling."
Pasadena restaurants have been seeing the most business they've had in months, because restaurants across the rest of L.A. County have been forced to close for in-person dining for at least three weeks.
MORE: LA County Sees Record-High COVID-19 Daily Cases, Hospitalizations Again
Ramiro Plascencia drove from Lincoln Heights to have lunch outside in Pasadena on Tuesday.
"Everywhere else is takeout, but we wanted to get some fresh air," Plascencia said. "Pasadena is the place to be right now."
Jason Cavala also ventured to Pasadena to dine out on Tuesday. He said that, while he feels safe dining out, he understands the need to be responsible.
"We're wearing a mask in public, and in our communities," he said. "We want to protect our communities, as well as others."
On Monday, Pasadena announced that it would be enforcing stricter health guidelines across the board in order to curb the spread of COVID-19, starting with telling about 75 runners at the Rose Bowl loop trail they needed to wear face coverings over the weekend.
"We're not asking or suggesting, we're telling them you need to wear a mask," Lisa Derderian, city spokesperson, said. "A lot of people are cooperating, some ran away from us the other day at the Rose Bowl when they were asked to do that."
Code enforcement officers also shut down other local events — including soccer games at Victory Park and a car meet and motorcycle show, which had 50 attendees each.
