Central District Health Declines Bar Petition

This evening, the Central District Board of Health voted against a petition to open up bars which was presented by several downtown Boise bar owners.

In a world where it seems like EVERYTHING is up in the air, uncertain, and far from normal, Central District Health had a special meeting to discuss re-opening bars. Months ago, Central District Health ordered a mandate to shut them down after a spike in COVID-19 cases seemed to trace right back to the nightlife scene in downtown Boise.

Since the closure, a few bars have found ways to re-open. Mulligan's, who serves food, has been open for some time.  Humpin' Hannah's announced their re-opening and serving of pizza just last week and has been operational at 25% capacity. Amsterdam Lounge announced they too will be serving food and opening back up this weekend.

A petition, guided by legal counsel, was presented to Central District Health which represented 10 bars in downtown Boise. A special meeting held over this petition lasted just over an hour and the Board of Health covered a lot of possible outcomes from the motion.

Schools and bars...tied together? It was the outcome. After the board voted to DENY the petition which would have re-opened bars, a suggestion was made and approved which gave them a little more hope and clarity. One issue, lead by Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo, was that bars would be opening up before schools even have in-person learning.

The Board of Health ended things on agreeing that once schools are in the yellow zone, bars may be a part of that re-opening once plans are submitted and approved by said bars.

The next meeting, which will visit which zone schools are in (they're currently in the red zone) will be held on Tuesday, September 8th.