Local leaders want Gov. Phil Murphy to take a regional approach to reopening the Jersey Shore soon, in recognition of both the smaller number of cases in South Jersey and the special needs of seasonal businesses here.
At his news conference Monday, Murphy outlined a six-step plan to slowly reopen the entire state, and hinted that it may be possible to have some businesses reopen by Memorial Day — but there are no guarantees.
Atlantic County Freeholder Chairman Frank Formica said county officials in Atlantic and Cape May counties are working together on a regional reopening plan to get shore businesses open sooner. They hope the governor will support it.
“We are trying to bipartisanly put together a plan for opening that makes it clear that South Jersey — especially the Cape Atlantic — is completely different and has to be under completely different criteria than the rest of the state,” Formica said.
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The plan will keep in mind safety concerns, he said, but quick action is needed. Formica said he’s spoken to food and beverage distributors who tell him that half of their customers won’t be able to reopen if they don’t do it soon.
“I’m 68 years old — I’m at risk,” Formica said, “but if we don’t have a reasonable plan to reopen the economy, the quality of life will be unrecognizable.”
Longport Mayor Nick Russo said he feels the state is not focusing enough on cases and deaths in nursing home and assisted living facilities, where about 40% of the state’s deaths and about half of the deaths in Atlantic and Cape May counties are occurring.
“I’m frustrated because I have no control of what’s happening in these nursing homes,” Russo said. “The public is being unfairly punished for statistics that we have no control over.”
Russo said the state needs to focus more on controlling the spread at those facilities, and allowing other aspects of life to reopen.
Longport usually has a Memorial Day Parade, which will not happen this year, Russo said.
But the beach will be ready to reopen on time.
At 75 feet to 100 feet wide, he said the beach is big enough for family groups to practice social distancing from other groups.
“I personally want to see us open as a state — do what’s prudent but open as soon as possible,” Russo said. “We already have a high gas tax, the highest property taxes, our sales tax is up with other states. How do we make up the taxes lost? I have no idea. That’s what I wanted to hear the governor talking about.”
The governor could immediately address unfairness in the business closing rules that has harmed smaller retailers, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said.
Stores that sell even small amounts of groceries have been allowed to stay open, while those that don’t sell food or pharmaceuticals have been forced to close.
“If you had a card shop, you could not open. But you can buy cards at CVS or in the Acme,” Levinson said. “If you are selling furniture like La-Z-Boy or Raymour & Flanigan, you can’t sell. But (people) can buy furniture at Walmart.”
Levinson said he gets dozens of calls a day from business owners complaining about unfairness.
The rules have greatly benefited large national chains like Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target, he said, and disadvantaged small boutiques.
“If you limited them (to a small number of people in the store at a time) and get them open immediately, you don’t need a task force to do this,” Levinson said. “People are going to go into bankruptcy and may never reopen.”
He also believes counties should be able to decide whether or not to open their parks.
“The state allowed the Boardwalk in Atlantic City to be open, but I have a 1,700-acre park in Estell Manor they made me close,” Levinson said. “People could go hiking, birding, riding bikes. There is great room for separation.”
Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio said there will be a Memorial Day — it just may have to happen later than usual.
“Whenever we have Memorial Day, if it’s delayed two weeks, one week, that will be our Memorial Day — when we kick off the summer,” Desiderio said. “I think that in a couple of weeks we will have a better understanding of where we are going.”
While he is naturally optimistic, he said there’s a great deal of uneasiness in the shore’s business community, because the COVID-19 pandemic and health crisis is like nothing that has ever happened before.
“When there are storms, we know how to react. If there is damage, we know what we have to do after the storm passes,” he said. “This is something we don’t know anything about. It changes almost on a daily basis.”
Whenever opening happens, the summer will be like no other, Desiderio said, with social distancing changing the way people visit the beach, restaurants and other public places.
