Despite a countywide prohibition of onsite-dining, which has been in effect since early December, City of San Diego-owned Belmont Park continues to host diners both inside and outside at some its restaurants.
Following reports from tipsters that Belmont Park was hosting diners both inside and out at its restaurants over at least the past week, we visited the amusement park on Monday, January 11, and witnessed diners eating and drinking at both Draft Mission Beach and The Beach House (previously The Wave House). Draft was even hosting diners inside the restaurant and had the NCAA College Football National Championship game playing on their 31 foot LED big screen. Although many San Diego eateries are defying the regional stay-at-home restrictions, Belmont Park is unique it that the property is owned by the City of San Diego. Since 2012, Pacifica Enterprises LLC leases the park and oversees most of the businesses.
In addition to onsite dining taking place at Belmont Park, we also noticed the arcade open, as was the The Plunge pool. We reached out for comment to Belmont Park General Manager Steve Thomas, as well as representatives of property manager Pacific Enterprises, Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilperson Jennifer Campbell, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, and others, but we did not receive responses prior to publication.
The regional stay-at-home order, which went into effect December 7 and was renewed indefinitely on December 29, restricts gatherings of people from different households, as well as indoor operations at restaurants, bars, wineries, distilleries, museums, hair salons, personal care services, movie theaters, zoos, family entertainment centers, and more. Retail establishments are limited to 20% capacity under the order, and hotels are allowed to open "for critical infrastructure support only,'' while faith-based services are restricted to outdoor only. The regional stay-at-home order is in effect in each region where ICU bed availability has dropped below 15% capacity remaining. On December 30, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced the signing of an executive order directing increased enforcement measures for those blatantly defying provisions of California state and San Diego County public health orders.
