What do people think of Anna Maria’s new mask mandate? They had plenty to say on a beach day

Anna Maria’s emergency order on Thursday night requiring the wearing of face masks inside buildings went into effect Saturday morning — and though the order caught some off guard, people are taking it in stride.

“Our staff has been wearing them since we reopened and even before that,” said Lauren Collins, owner of Island Charms at 501 Pine Ave. in Anna Maria. “I’m definitely satisfied with the city’s decision. If it helps one person, then it’s all for the good.”

Collins said the word got around quickly in the small island city, and she said visitors who entered her business were wearing masks.

“Most businesses are posting it on their doors,” Collins said. “I think everyone knows, and I even saw it going around on Instagram. I think most people are taking it in stride and I’ve been seeing more and more people wearing the masks before the order as the numbers were going up again.”

The city’s order came just hours before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday that state was suspending the sale of alcohol at bars due to surging new cases of COVID-19. Bar owners and employees were initially shut down on March 17 with a promise that they could reopen at the end of March.

That order kept getting extended through April. Bars in the state have been reopened for less than a month. The announcement of another shutdown caught bars completely by surprise and, “now, we are in deep, deep trouble,” Joe Harris, co-owner of Papa Joe’s Sports Bar, told the Bradenton Herald on Friday.

Jeremy Mack booked his vacation to Florida over a month ago from Kentucky. It’s not the first time Florida has let him down.

“The last time I was supposed to come here on vacation was right before [Hurricane] Irma,” Mack said. “I don’t have a problem with wearing mask, but don’t really care to. You want to have fun on vacation and we like to go out for drinks and have fun just like anyone else. So now we can’t go to a bar and yet crowds of people are all over the beach? Makes no sense to me.”

Mack said there are no three-strike rules for vacations, and after being let down a second time, will likely look elsewhere for his family vacations.

Even so, the beaches were crowded Saturday along the Gulf of Mexico. Social distancing wasn’t exactly a priority, but there were some gaps between groups.

Elise Beasley and Sarah Arenas found a spot far enough from others and were enjoying the sun and surf on a hot Saturday morning. Both said the decision to shut down bars didn’t bother them because neither one drinks.

They had mixed feelings about the city’s mask requirement.

Beasley said it was “not a good decision.”

Arenas said she has family that works in the medical field who have told here they are seeing more and more people get other ailments from wearing a mask all the time.

“I won’t wear one unless I’m told to,” Arenas said.

The friends are vacationing from Nashville, and Arenas said a lot more people in Florida are wearing masks as opposed to Tennessee. She has asthma and can’t cover her nose with a mask. Aware that some places were beginning to require masks, she carries a doctor’s note with her at all times.

Anna Maria’s emergency order exempts those who suffer from ailments where face masks would be detrimental to their health.

On Pine Avenue, Jessica Leseberg was helping serve morning customers at Waffle Express. It’s a walk-up business so the emergency order doesn’t necessarily apply to her customers. But inside, Leseberg and her staff are inside and cannot social distance in a small space.

Leseberg, who manages the restaurant, said masks for her employees have been optional until now.

“I think it just makes people feel safer,” Leseberg said. “That’s important for restaurants because you want people to feel safe and comfortable.”

Leseberg, too, said she has noticed more and more people wearing masks since the numbers started going up again.

Not so much for Nick Graham, who manages properties in the Historic Green Village off of Pine Avenue and owns Graham Slam Fishing Charters.

Graham said the peak hours for the businesses in the village are in the evening and he seldom sees the later crowd wear masks or practice social distancing.

“Some of them are not respecting it,” Graham said. “It’s hard to keep everyone out of the businesses and on the deck when there is a rush of people after sunset. We separate the chairs and tables but it gets kind of hard managing all those people. There are a lot of people on the island right now and a lot are angry and think it’s unnecessary, but we have to do what they tell us and try to help to stop the spread.”

Graham said he thinks it was a necessary decision made by the city.

Anna Maria opted for an emergency order under its current state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic instead of an emergency ordinance. The unanimous vote to enact the order will be revisited by the City Commission each week.

Holmes Beach adopted an emergency ordinance on Thursday under its state of emergency. To do so, it required a super majority and the vote was unanimous. That ordinance will be in effect for 60 days before it can be revisited, and goes into effect at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Both Anna Maria’s order and Holmes Beach’s ordinance require the public to wear masks inside of buildings and public buildings. The rules apply to customers, as well as business owners and employees.

Anna Maria’s order does not apply to outside spaces, children under age 2 or office spaces where social distancing is possible. The order also does not apply to anyone who can prove they have an existing health condition that would make wearing masks detrimental to their health.

Anna Maria will charge $50 for anyone violating the emergency order. Holmes Beach has enacted a $250 fine for a first offense and $500 for any subsequent violations.

There have been no discussions yet in the island’s third city of Bradenton Beach. However, the city meets every Tuesday morning to extend its state of emergency amid the pandemic.

Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie said while no discussions on requiring masks have taken place, any city commissioner can bring up the subject at those meetings.

Manatee County, in the meantime, failed to garner enough votes to enact a similar mandate on two occasions earlier this week.

This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 3:40 PM.