ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Two restaurants in St. Charles County are taking county and city leaders to court over a COVID-19 restriction they called “bizarre and non-sensical.”
The owners of Tony’s on Main Street and Shamrocks Pub & Grill filed a lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order to allow late-night hours. The suit names St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer and St. Charles County Director of Public Health Demetrius Cianci-Chapman.
The public health emergency order that started in the county on Nov. 25 mandates all bars, restaurants and establishments that serve alcohol must close by 11 p.m.
In their lawsuit, the restaurant owners criticized the order, forcing their businesses to close at “the magical hour of 11 p.m.”, while allowing other restaurants that don’t serve alcohol to stay open 24 hours a day. They said the health order is “flawed, and has no factual or scientific basis.”
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann defended the decision by Chapman to enact the health order, saying the order wasn’t meant to keep people out of bars and restaurants but to keep people from outside jurisdictions – like St. Louis County, where indoor dining is banned altogether – from flocking to St. Charles County.
“We need to make certain that St. Charles County is not a magnet for those who want to stay out late and party in groups,” Ehlmann said in an emailed statement to 5 On Your Side Tuesday.
The lawsuit called that notion “equally absurd and wholly unsubstantiated."
The restaurant owners also accused county and city leaders of not having the authority to enact the public health order to begin with. They said some Missouri statutes that don’t apply to the county were used to put the order into effect. They also said Chapman used a state regulation that gives him the authority to implement the order, but that he has failed to follow through with the obligations that come with it.
Ehlmann said Chapman was “well within his authority to execute this order.”
The lawsuit also states the city doesn’t have authority to legally enforce the county health order but has done so at several establishments – sometimes involving police – while allowing the casino to continue selling alcohol after 11 p.m.
5 On Your Side emailed city officials for a response to the lawsuit. They sent back a one-sentence reply.
“Since this is a matter of legal action the city will refrain from discussing it until such a time as it is ordered and solved,” city communications spokesperson Beth Norviel wrote.
The restaurant owners asserted the health order has caused them to lose good will, revenue and potentially employees who might need to be let go over lost revenue. They want the courts to issue them a temporary restraining order so they can stay open past 11 p.m. – and they also want a judge to declare the order unlawful.
Below is the full statement from St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann:
“The Director of Public Health is well within his authority to execute this order. Its purpose is not to keep people out of bars and restaurants entirely, as other jurisdictions have ordered, but is to keep them from flocking to St. Charles County after they are barred from other areas. We are doing this for the health of the community in order to stop the spread of this horrible virus.
“Normally, this situation would be great for business, but in the midst of this pandemic, it is extremely bad for health. We need to make certain that St. Charles County is not a magnet for those who want to stay out late and party in groups.
“As I have said before, the economy, education and the health of our citizens are all important as we make decisions regarding COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions. St. Charles County is working hard to keep our businesses open, keep our kids in school, and keep all of us out of the hospital. We need everyone’s help to stop the rise of positive cases.”
You can read the full lawsuit in the file below.