New Restrictions in Place

• Requiring the closure of bars and nightclubs that do not serve food, gyms, fitness centers, movie and performance theaters, bowling alleys and arcades.
• Eliminating seated options at restaurants, but allows for restaurants to continue to serve food to customers via delivery, take-out or drive-thru.
• Exempting sites and situations where people obtain essential services and essential goods to meet their basic needs, such as:
  • Grocery stores or retail stores;
  • Pharmacies;
  • Places of transit (i.e. airports, metro stations, or bus stations);
  • Hospitals or health care facilities;
• Prohibiting gatherings of 50 people or more.

These restrictions will remain in place throughout the city's proclaimed state of emergency.

On Tuesday, March 17, the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance that expands and clarifies key portions of the LADPH order to address questions and concerns raised by the community. Among other actions, these expansions and clarifications include:

• Prohibiting non-essential retail businesses except for pick up, delivery and transactions by appointment. For essential businesses still operating that are authorized to operate under the Ordinance, businesses shall establish health and safety measures such as requiring employees to wear appropriate gloves and masks if employees come into physical contact with customers. 
• Prohibiting non-essential businesses such as: physical health and beauty services, including spas, hair salons, massage establishments, and nail salons, that do not provide medical care or services that supplement medical care as directed by medical professionals;
• Allowing seniors to continue to secure food within their housing facilities, if available;
• Permitting vehicles to deliver groceries to grocery stores;
• Restricting self-service unwrapped food items, such as buffets from operating;
• Temporarily increasing signage flexibility for restaurant businesses to better inform the public of their modified operations;
• Expanding short duration loading zones near restaurants to increase convenience for residents picking up togo orders at local restaurants.
• Clarifying and affirming that all gyms and fitness centers are to close, regardless of occupancy volume.

Certain essential businesses are exempted from the ordinance, including grocery stores, food banks, snack shops, banks, drug stores, car rentals, convenience stores, pharmacies, gas stations, car mechanics, pet supply stores, laundromats, hardware stores, dry cleaners, mailbox stores, package delivery businesses (such as Amazon, Fedex and UPS). The city may determine other exemptions.

The City Council took additional action to pass a resolution seeking that businesses implement social distancing policies, houses of worship suspend any programming that results in any group gatherings and member of the general public refrain from group activities short of small family gatherings.

“The City of Manhattan Beach has adopted the Los Angeles County Health Code and relies upon the experts at the county to provide guidance on a critical issue like the coronavirus. We know that Manhattan Beach’s business community will be significantly interrupted by this order, but it is more important that we take significant steps now to preserve the public’s health and fight the coronavirus,” said Mayor Richard Montgomery in a statement. “I urge our community to practice social distancing and encourage everyone to adhere to these requirements.”

Another element of the resolution called on the public to stop hoarding life essentials and called upon retailers to begin limiting the purchase volume of certain items to ensure they are more broadly available to the public. Food retailers have indicated there is no evidence of a food supply shortage in Southern California.

Easing License Tax Submittals, User Fee Deadlines

Additionally, the City Council has extended the deadline for annual business license tax submittals to June 30, 2020.

The City Council also postponed the activation of new user fees (community development related and others) until July 1, 2020.

Controlling Price Gouging, Evictions