Sussex Co. Officials, Restaurateurs Fed Up With Murphy's Delay

NEWTON, NJ – As Sussex County restaurateurs await a decision from Gov. Phil Murphy when eateries across the state can begin to offer indoor dining to local residents, county officials have joined the cast of many that are frustrated with continued delays.

Murphy had initially decided that outdoor dining in New Jersey would be permitted last week but announced on June 29 that allowing restaurants to begin to serve customers for in-house dining was being delayed indefinitely.

In doing so, Murphy cited restaurant owners and operators that had allowed outdoor dining spaces to be overcrowded and pointed to a lack of social distancing and customers not wearing face coverings.

But local officials in Sussex County have attempted to convince state leaders that such decisions should be made at the community level rather than having mandates being handed down from Trenton without knowing what is happening in local municipalities across the state.

“Our local restaurants have endured so much already, but to allow them to prepare and finance a reopening, only to have the rug ripped out from underneath them at the last minute is cruel,” Sussex County Freeholder Joshua Hertzberg said in a news release issued by the board on Tuesday. “I completely understand the need to make concessions for the health of the public, but there is a better way. One size does not fit all.”

Hertzberg is among local government officials who believe local communities should have the right to govern themselves when it comes to determining when and how eateries should be permitted to reopen. He suggested that local officials should be able to provide area restaurants with safety guidelines that must be adhered to if they wish to offer indoor dining. Handling the matter locally, he said, allows restaurateurs to begin to reopen and attempt to remain in business after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tammie Horsfield, president of the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Partnership, said in preparation for the potential to reopen for indoor dining, she witnessed a “new energy and hope for future success” from restaurant owners, since the start of the pandemic.

These business owners, she said, made significant fiscal investments in food and beverage purchases and have made preparations for the return of their staff members. But now, without a clear finish line in sight when restaurants can begin to consider what reopening and a return to some sense of normalcy can begin, local business owners are again facing great uncertainty.

“Many of our restaurant owners shared how important it was to have at least 25 percent of indoor dining to help them survive,” Horsfield said in the news release “Unfortunately, when our Governor pulled the plug on indoor dining, two days before the opening, our businesses were left literally holding the bag. I hope our restaurant owners can hang on a little longer with the hope that they are able to open up indoor dining soon.”