Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Arizona bar owners have endured two periods of state-mandated closure.
The first lasted from March 20 to May 11, though a loophole in Gov. Ducey's executive order allowed bars that served food to stay open. Then, as Arizona's coronavirus numbers continued to rise, bars were shut down for the second time on June 29.
Bar owners who struggled through the first closure pushed back the second time around. Bar owners and workers held two rallies at the capitol, filed a lawsuit, gathered more than 12,000 signatures on a petition and made countless phone calls to the governor's office requesting permission to open again.
Then on Thursday, Aug. 27, after the community spread of COVID-19 in Maricopa and Pima counties decreased into the "moderate" category, some bars were permitted to reopen.
Bars that serve food are now allowed to open under strict safety regulations.
Bars that do not serve food, however, must remain closed.
Despite the ups and downs that most Arizona bars have experienced, some hotel and casino bars around the state have been open throughout the pandemic. Here's why.
Why are some Arizona hotel bars open?
Some hotel bars are open and were able to remain open despite the governor's order because they hold a specific kind of liquor license. Any hotel bar with a series 6 or 7 license, the types of licenses shut down by Ducey's order, should have closed while all Arizona bars were shut down.
But many hotels, and the bars within them, hold series 11 liquor licenses, which are specifically for hotels and motels. These bars were excluded from having to close.
Some viewed this as unfair, but Jeffery Trillo, spokesperson for the Department of Liquor said otherwise.
"There was no loophole for hotel bars," Trillo wrote in an email. "They would have fallen under the executive orders and public health requirements to adjust their operations."
Do hotel bars have to follow safety guidelines?
While some hotel bars were open prior to Aug. 27 due to having series 11 liquor licenses, that did not mean that they could operate outside of state-mandated health and safety protocols, Trillo wrote.
Hotel bars still have to follow health requirements from the Department of Health Services, such as reducing capacity, sanitizing and enforcing social distancing. These guidelines were originally outlined in Ducey's May 4 executive order.
Can casino bars be open?
Along with hotel bars, some casino bars have also been open throughout the pandemic.
This is because Arizona's casinos operate on tribal land. The state government makes recommendations and is "working closely" with tribes to provide guidance on safety measures, a spokesperson told The Arizona Republic in July.
Some casinos have banned smoking while on the floor, as customers need to remove their masks to smoke. Other casinos have closed portions of their businesses. But ultimately, tribal lands have sovereignty and governments that make decisions for businesses on that land.
Which Arizona bars are still closed?
On Aug. 27 the statewide coronavirus dashboard showed that Maricopa and Pima counties had downgraded from "substantial" community spread to "moderate." This meant, according to previous guidelines outlined by the Department of Health Services, that bars that serve food within those counties could reopen.
Nightclubs and bars that do not serve food must remain closed.
Others that reopened over the weekend were found to be in violation of the guidelines required for operating and were consequently shut down by the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
Reach the reporter at tirion.morris@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose.
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