Santa Barbara County Reopening Committee is helping business owners reopen during phase two

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Reopening Committee is helping business owners who want to get their business up and running again under new state and county guidelines.

Last night, the state allowed some Santa Barbara County retail stores and restaurants to reopen outside of curbside pick up. Phase two of reopening is outlined by the county at RecoverySBC.org with the steps on how businesses can get permission to reopen.

“They first need to do a self-evaluation of their business,” said Santa Barbara County Reopening Committee member Jaime Flores.

The main mandates are centered around sanitation, protective gear, and social distancing.

“Determine what supplies are going to be needed for the reopening process,” said Flores.

The SB County Reopening Committee advises business owners to prepare for possible protective equipment shortages.

The Santa Maria Chamber of commerce has resources for where businesses can get protective equipment on their website.

“They will need to remap their business to accommodate certain things that are within the RISE plan,”said Flores.

Things like restricting customer capacity to adhere to social distancing mandates.

“Being able to put enough people in your location to make it a profitable scenario for some business owners will be a major concern,” said Flores.

The committee estimates most businesses will be permitted to accommodate around only 1/3 of their normal customer capacity.

“Everything else is self-determined based on the guidelines within the industry,” said Flores.

Once the business's plan is developed and implemented, the next step is to go to RecoverySBC.org and apply for a certificate to reopen.

“Verification of compliance with the COVID compliance will just be rolled into our normal inspection,” said Environmental Health Services Director Larry Fay.

The Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce says enforcement will be largely measured by customer complaints if they hear businesses are not complying.