UPDATE: Proposed Columbia mask law could have fines up to $500 for repeat offenders
Columbia City Council is set to discuss a measure that could significantly ramp up penalties for violations of the city’s mask ordinance related to COVID-19, especially for repeat offenders, with fines stretching up to $500.
The would-be ordinance also might be more specific as to how the city could eventually suspend or revoke the business licenses of businesses that have multiple violations of the law.
An expanded mask ordinance was set for a vote from Council on Tuesday, according to the agenda that was initially sent out Friday. However, late Sunday afternoon, the city sent out a revised meeting agenda that withdrew the ordinance from the list of items that council is scheduled to vote on, and moved it to a closed-door executive session. Council cannot vote on items while in an executive session.
As in past iterations of the mask ordinance, the proposed measure that was initially in the agenda sent out Friday would require residents to wear masks in public places, including at businesses in the city and “in situations where distances between individuals change frequently such as a busy sidewalk, waiting area, or popular outdoor area where it is impractical or impossible to maintain six feet of distance at all times.”
The law up for discussion Tuesday also says city businesses “shall require that their agents and employees wear a face covering which covers the nose and mouth at all times while having face-to-face interaction with the public.”
The city has had a mask ordinance in place since June and has extended it several times. Initially, the fine for an individual was $25. Then, in November, City Council cranked it up to $100. Now, they will consider a measure that would escalate fines for repeat offenders.
According to the city paperwork that was initially released Friday afternoon the proposal says a first mask offense for an individual would still be $100. A second offense would be a fine of $200, and third and any subsequent offenses would carry a $500 fine.
The proposed ordinance also says that a business owner, manager or supervisor could be hit with fines if they fail to ensure their employees wear their face masks. Those also would be escalating fines, starting at $100 for a first offense, $200 for the second offense and $500 for the third offense and beyond.
The would-be law also would levy the escalating fines on business owners or managers if they fail to ensure masks are worn by customers in or on the business’ premises.
And the proposed ordinance says that if there are three or more mask violations at a business within a period of seven days or less, the city could declare the business a public nuisance. There are a number of penalties that could come under nuisance laws, including the suspension or revocation of a business license, though the ordinance notes there could be “other legal and equitable remedies” to the situation.
While previous iterations of the city’s mask ordinance left room for the suspension or revocation of business licenses, they did not include the specificity of three or more violations in the period of a week.
Second-term City Councilman Howard Duvall on Saturday was quick to say that the beefed-up mask ordinance proposal is not set in stone and likely will be rigorously debated by City Council on Tuesday.
“The ordinance that comes out of it may not be exactly like (what is currently proposed),” Duvall said. “It may be rewritten by the council. We have added an hour to the start of our proposed agenda so that we, as a council, collaboratively can go through this and make sure we are unified in making these changes to the ordinance.”
Council will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, rather than its customary 2 p.m.
“Our intent is to get the attention of some businesses in the city that are not taking this mask ordinance seriously and enforcing it either on the employees or the customers that come into their businesses,” Duvall said. “The public has lost patience with businesses that have not seen fit to enforce public health regulations on their employees or on their patrons. This gives us more tools in the toolbox to get their attention to make sure they enforce it in the future,”
The city’s potentially revised mask ordinance comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are still significant across South Carolina, though the numbers have been easing. On Saturday, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 1,561 new cases of the coronavirus and 13 more deaths. More than 7,000 people have died from COVID-19 in South Carolina in the last year.
COVID-related hospitalizations have dropped dramatically in South Carolina in the last month. As of Saturday, DHEC was reporting 1,302 patients in state hospital beds with COVID, down from more than 2,400 a month ago. More than 600,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been given in South Carolina.
City mask violations are considered a civil offense, not a criminal violation. City fire marshals have been tasked with issuing mask tickets and have written more than 360 of them since June
This story has been updated.
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 1:52 PM.
