City Council to consider emergency mask ordinance at Wednesday meeting

posted on: 11/17/2020

The Dover City Council will consider an emergency ordinance at its Wednesday, Nov. 18 meeting that would require face coverings in most indoor or outdoor settings where six feet of distance cannot be maintained between people not from the same household.

The draft ordinance was added to the Council’s agenda Tuesday morning and is available online to read.

The proposed emergency ordinance comes as the state and region have seen increased positive COVID-19 tests. According to background material provided with the draft emergency ordinance, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Strafford County was 73 between Sept. 29 to Oct. 13. Between Oct. 28 to Nov. 10, the number of positive tests rose to 286, a 292 percent increase. With colder weather and upcoming holidays, there is an expectation of increased indoor social interaction.

As drafted, the ordinance would be in effect for 60 days after passage. It would require people to use material to cover at least their mouth, nose and areas of the lower face in the following settings: 

• Any indoor or outdoor space accessible to others or open to the public, in which a physical distancing of six feet between people who are not members of the same household cannot be maintained;
• Upon entering or queued to enter, remaining in, or exiting from any business, including outdoor areas, work sites or government buildings;
• Entering or queued to enter a restaurant or establishment serving alcoholic beverages to pick up food or beverage for takeout or other purposes;
• Employees of all businesses shall wear a face covering when interacting with the public and whenever they are within six feet of a co-worker.

The draft emergency ordinance states that “no owner, manager supervisor or employee of any business or property shall provide goods or services to any person not complying” with the above face-covering requirements. It further states, “No business or property owner, and no employee of any business, shall permit a person to remain on its premises in violation of these requirements.” Employers, event organizers and social hosts would be responsible for ensuring that employees and guests comply with the emergency ordinance.

The draft emergency ordinance provides a limited number of exceptions to the face-covering requirements, which include:

• Children under two;
• Those with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask;
• People dining indoors or outdoors at a restaurant, provided they are at their table;
• People receiving personal care services, such as haircuts, may remove the mask for any limited period where the face-covering interferes with the performance of the service;
• People at places of amusement, such as bingo halls and bowling alleys, where food and drink are served, may remove face coverings while eating or drinking, but not other times;
• People utilizing gym equipment may remove their face covering when using the equipment, provided that a six-foot physical distance from any other person is maintained;
• When in a business if obtaining a service or product that requires verification of identity or age.

The emergency ordinance states that if it conflicts with stricter state or federal requirements, the more stringent requirements supersede the ordinance.

As drafted, any person in violation of the proposed ordinance could be fined by the provisions of Chapter 89 – Health and Sanitation of City of Dover’s codes. The Dover Police Department would enforce the ordinance if passed as drafted. Proposed fines are $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, and $250 for subsequent offenses. Although violating the ordinance can result in fines, as with any new ordinance or law, the Police Department will focus on voluntary compliance through public awareness and education, including those who may be in violation of the ordinance.

The ordinance background material provides information about independent studies that confirm “that widespread wearing of face coverings helps drastically reduce transmission of the virus to others,” and Center for Disease Control information that many infected with COVID-19 “are either asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, yet can readily transmit the virus to others unknowingly.”

The City Council will hold their meeting in the Council Conference Room at City Hall at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18. The public is welcome to attend, provided they wear a face covering. The meeting will also be televised live on Channel 22 and online at https://dovernh.viebit.com/index.php.