Updates About Outdoor Dining and Retail Stores Opening
In 10 days, Cranford restaurants, cafes, and food establishments will be permitted to offer outdoor dining, and retail shops can once again welcome customers into their businesses. There are restrictions for health and safety reasons similar to those already in place at essential businesses like supermarkets and pharmacies.
The Township is working with business owners to provide opportunities, such as use of public spaces and expedited review and approval for expanded outdoor dining areas, during this transition period until they can resume normal service. The Downtown Management Office will continue to share important information about shopping and dining.
Here are some things you need to know as a customer. Enjoy shopping and dining but follow these safety rules and exercise patience while owners and their staff work these new protocols.
Outdoor Dining
·
Patrons are prohibited from entering indoor sections except to walk through when entering or exiting or to use the restroom.
·
Require customers to wear face coverings only when inside the building (unless there is a medical reason for not doing so or if the patron is under 2 years).
·
Require employees to wear face coverings and gloves when in contact with customers and when handing food, utensils, and other items.
·
Prohibit smoking in areas where people are drinking and eating.
·
Disinfect tables, chairs, and other shared items and frequently sanitize high-touch areas, like credit-card machines.
·
Recommend customers wait in their cars or away from the establishment while waiting for a table if outdoor wait areas do not allow for proper social
·
Provide tape, signs, and other guides on floors, sidewalks, and walls to make sure patrons stay six feet apart while going to the restroom or waiting for a table.
·
Install physical barriers, partitions at cash registers, bars, and host stands.
·
Provide hand sanitizer for customers.
·
Encourage reservations to help control customer volume and require customers provide a phone number if making a reservation in case of the need for contact tracing.
Shopping in Stores
·
Stores can open with 50% of normal occupancy level
·
Provide special shopping hours for customers considered in the vulnerable population such as the elderly or immune compromised
·
Regular sanitizing of common areas and high touch areas, like credit card machines
·
Install barriers or partitions where customers pay and mark floor to keep customers six feet apart
