Full capacity for many Hawaii businesses hamstrung by 6-foot distance rule

Thank you a little, but not a lot.

This sums up a good deal of the sentiment toward Gov. David Ige’s latest coronavirus safety rule change as it will apply to Hawaii restaurants, bars, gyms and social establishments late next week.

Ige announced Tuesday that he is easing patron capacity limits on the four industries starting Nov. 12 as long as customers show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours under a county requirement.

Yet for many such establishments, the change will help a little but not a lot.

“This is definitely a win for the industry, but it is not a complete win,” said Ryan Tanaka, incoming board chairman of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. “It doesn’t really move the needle for many restaurants.”

Ige’s latest executive order in part permits restaurants, bars, gyms and social establishments to increase their indoor customer capacity from a current 50% limit to 100% as long as separate groups of customers are no closer than 6 feet.

In many cases, the 6-foot social distancing caveat will prevent affected businesses from returning to 100% capacity or close to it.

The restaurant trade association on Wednesday sent a letter to Ige thanking him for the upcoming change but also asking him to reduce the 6-foot distance to 3 feet or nil.

“With the high number of ongoing restrictions during the pandemic’s first 19 months, Hawaii restaurants have probably been held to the highest standard of any industry in the country,” the letter said.

All restaurants, bars, gyms and social establishments subject to the relaxed rules effective Nov. 12 are on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Lanai given that only Honolulu and Maui counties have imposed a vaccination or negative test requirement.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced Wednesday that he intends to discuss the distancing limitation with Ige again in hopes of having it lifted because of the negative impact it has on many smaller restaurants and bars.

“Oahu has some of the best numbers in the country in terms of case counts, hospitalizations and vaccination rates and we have the extra security of the Safe Access Oahu program, thus ensuring safer environments,” Blangiardi said in a statement. “The state’s six-foot distancing requirement between tables still means restaurants and bars cannot possibly operate at full capacity.”

At the plate lunch eatery Loco Moco Drive Inn in Hawaii Kai, half the tables where customers used to sit are used to store take-out box inventory. The distancing rule will prevent the return of these tables for customer use despite Ige’s order allowing 100% capacity.

Sini Zhang, a cashier, said Loco Moco will have to stay at 50% dine-in capacity despite the relaxed rule next week and continue to endure a big drop in business that began early last year.

Tanaka anticipates that most restaurants affected by Ige’s relaxed rules will be able to add some seating back, but not to 100% capacity.

At Giovanni Pastrami in Waikiki, which Tanaka co-owns, normal capacity of 200 was cut to 100 to comply with the existing 50% limit. On Nov. 12, Tanaka figures that because of the 6-foot social distancing parameter, customers will be able to use 125 to 130 seats, or 65% capacity at most.

Likewise, capacity at YMCA of Honolulu fitness facilities won’t be able to return to 100% in many instances.

Lisa Ontai, a spokeswoman for the organization, said some fitness machines will still be off limits because of the spacing requirement even though customers are required to wear masks and show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours.

The mask requirement, Ontai added, has kept many regular gym members away because they aren’t comfortable exercising with the covering, and Y officials would like to see this mask rule lifted.

Overall though, more people will be able to use Y facilities, including exercise classes and especially in outdoor pool areas as of Nov. 12.

“We are going to be able to increase the number of people using our facilities,” Ontai said.

Another constraint on what some expected to be a return to 100% capacity as of Nov. 12 has to do with outdoor activity at restaurants, bars and social establishments no longer being subject to 6-foot distancing.

Some spaces that customers perceive as outdoor seating, such as covered lanais, are defined by the city as indoor seating.

Kona Brewing Co. in Hawaii Kai has front and back lanai dining areas where more seating can’t be added back as of Nov. 12.

“Technically, we are an indoor dining facility,” said manager Scott Alexander, who said customer capacity will have to remain at 50% under Ige’s relaxed rules.

Ige’s order doesn’t define indoor space, but city emergency orders define it as “any space with a roof or overhang that is enclosed by at least three walls” unless a structure is on a sidewalk or roadway with an entirely open side facing the sidewalk, or a structure is for individual parties and has adequate ventilation. What constitutes enclosed by three walls isn’t always clear.

One general manager at a Honolulu bar, who didn’t want to be identified out of fear of government reprisals, said problems exist with different government entities, such as the Honolulu Liquor Commission, interpreting emergency rules differently than other agencies.

“It’s very confusing,” the bar manager said. “There’s a bunch of gray areas. We’re all just frustrated to be honest.”

The restaurant association’s letter to Ige said allowing the industry to truly operate at 100% capacity is warranted given Hawaii’s high vaccination rates and low coronavirus hospitalization rates.

“Hawaii restaurants have been compliant and responsive; however, many are on the brink of closure and they’re financially desperate since this time they and their employees are without federal stimulus monies,” the letter said.