Camarillo, California – The City of Camarillo is temporarily relaxing the City Council Policy on outdoor retail displays, for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, in an effort to help alleviate the hardship for retailers who are required to maintain social distancing standards in order to conduct business.
On June 10, 2020, the City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to cease enforcement of City Council Policy 7.05, Sidewalk Sales and Displays (Policy), effective immediately. This means that the City will temporarily allow retailers to display items in front of their stores, seven days a week during business hours, for the duration of the Covid-19 public health emergency.
“We are very pleased that our City Council supports efforts to help businesses in anyway we can with recovery from Covid-19 closures; these seemingly little details make a big difference for retailers by providing greater flexibility to reopen businesses while providing physical distancing for customers,” said Joe Vacca, Camarillo’s Director of Community Development.
The temporary relaxation of this policy during Covid-19 will allow retailers to maximize social distancing in-store, while also creating an environment that may restore consumer confidence. The proposed modifications would not alter any of the other requirements that currently apply to sidewalk sales and displays.
Once the local state of emergency due to Covid-19 is no longer in effect, the schedule for sidewalk sales and displays is expected to return to the standards that existed prior to the public health emergency declaration, which allow for outdoor sidewalk sales and displays Wednesday afternoon to Sunday evening, including holidays which may fall on a Monday.
Wow, how generous of the city council to allow citizens to scratch their way back from the abyss!