Novi Times

Restaurant owners are urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to end indoor seating capacity limits, which were put into place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the sanctions are driving them out of business.

“If something doesn't change we will lose our restaurant,” Sue Wangler, owner of the Wangler's Wagon Wheel in West Bridge, told Bridge Michigan.

Wangler added that her 66-year-old husband should have been able to retire by now, but given the need to earn money so the restaurant can stay afloat, he has been forced to continue working as a trucker five or six days a week.

Wangler fought back tears as she testified on Feb. 18 before a Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing held to discuss the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the last year of operating the restaurant she bought with her husband using retirement money had a roller coaster ride of hope and then disappointment.

After being closed for seven weeks last spring, Wangler's Wagon Wheel initially began doing takeout only for three days a week and then, after being allowed to reopen for indoor dining at 50% capacity, the restaurant was closed down again from Nov. 18 to Feb. 1.

Meanwhile, the monthly bills for operating the restaurant did not stop coming. Wangler and her husband were forced to take out an additional loan to remain in business.

Other restaurant and hotel operators told state lawmakers in the Michigan Legislature that restrictions imposed by Whitmer were killing the food and hospitality industry in Michigan, which had employed approximately 1 million people before the pandemic. They urged Whitmer to ease the sanctions.

Whitmer countered with the argument her policies have helped to slow the spread of the coronavirus for five straight weeks, and only five states nationwide currently have lower positivity rates.

However, Wangler said a current state mandate allowing 25% dining capacity is not sustainable for the business to survive. “I’ve applied for every (government) loan out there, but I got zero,” she told Michigan lawmakers. “We've not gotten any help. These loans are like a lottery.”

Instead, restaurant owners recommended that restaurants be allowed to operate at 50% capacity with a COVID-19 positivity rate of 3.9% and operate without limits if the infection rate drops below 3%. The 25% capacity could be restored if the infection rate tops 10%, and indoor dining would end if it went above 15%.

Whitmer admitted that the pandemic has been particularly hard on restaurants, but she continued to defend what she said was the state’s “cautious approach” that had placed Michigan in a better position than many other states.

Since last March, there have been 581,403 cases of COVID-19 and 15,362 deaths in Michigan, as of Feb. 22, according to Michigan.gov.