COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Columbia City Council meets at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16, one of the items to be taken up in executive session will be a measure to update the face mask ordinance to allow an increase of the fines for not wearing a face mask to up to $500 for repeat offenders. This comes days after the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in South Carolina rose to over 7,000.
Initially planned as an action item on the agenda, council will now confer in private after making some changes and the update should be back on the agenda for council's first meeting in March.
Council had extended the initial face mask ordinance during the last meeting on February 2, making it a requirement for masks to be worn in public places throughout the city through early April. At that time, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said that council was looking at new penalties for individuals and businesses.
"I can't say I would believe the businesses that have not been complying are getting any better. I think they are going in the opposite direction," said Columbia City Councilman At-Large, Howard Duvall. "These businesses that are attracting crowds and completely disregarding the mask ordinance or even attempting to ask their crowds to wear their mask properly need to have a wake up call. This ordinance would be that wakeup call."
The draft of the new proposal would set fines for individuals as follows:
- first violation, a fine not exceeding $100
- second violation, a fine not exceeding $200
- a fine not exceeding $500 for each additional violation
Note that each violation of the ordinance is considered a separate and distinct offense, subject to a fine.
Business owners, managers and supervisors would be subject to the same set of fines if the business' employees and customers are in violation of the face mask ordinance while those employees or customers remain on or within the premises subject to the business' control.
In addition to the fines, businesses can also be declared to be a public nuisance if three (3) or more violations of the ordinance occur on or within the premises within a period of seven (7) days, allowing the city to suspend or revoke city-issued permits and licenses.
The city's mask ordinance first went into effect on June 26, 2020, and fines for violating the ordinance increased from $25 to $100 in November.
"It's the attitude of a lot of people that, 'Ok, I'll put [the mask] on outside, but once I get on the inside, I'm good to go'. That's just not the case," said Columbia Fire Chief, Aubrey D. Jenkins.
The Columbia Fire Department works to educate residents about the mask ordinance by responding to citizen complaints and patrolling the community.
Since the Fall of 2020, Jenkins and other city officials began issuing citations to businesses and individuals who don't follow the mask ordinance. Beginning next weekend, along with monitoring the lines outside of local bars and restaurants, the Columbia Fire Department will also take their efforts inside.
"What we find is that people are just standing around in bars not eating, not drinking," said Jenkins. "They're mostly socializing and not having any mask on, so we're gonna start enforcing that pretty good."
Jenkins says the department issued 8 citations Friday and 15 Saturday, all in the Five Points area.
Under the existing ordinance, anyone over the age of 10 must wear a face covering while:
- inside a building open to the public
- waiting to enter a building open to the public
- interacting with other people in outdoor spaces, including but not limited to curbside pickup, delivery and service calls
- engaging in business activities in private space
- utilizing public or private transportation or
- walking in public where maintaining a distance of six (6) feet between members of the public at all times is not possible.
Face coverings are not required in the following circumstances:
- in personal vehicles
- when a person is alone in enclosed spaces, during outdoor physical activity, provided that the individual maintains a minimum of six (6) feet from other people at all times
- when a person is alone or only with other household members
- while drinking, eating or smoking
- when wearing a face covering causes or aggravates a health condition.
"The mask is one of the simplest things we can do to stop the spread of the virus," said Duvall. "We will not get our economy back until we get the health of the community back."
Individuals interested in watching or participating in a council meeting can go to the City of Columbia's web page and download the proposed agenda and find the instructions for joining the conference call.
