What’s essential amid COVID-19? Confusion marks Kansas City area shutdown enforcement
What comes to mind when you think of businesses essential to surviving a global pandemic?
Grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals. But would you expect a business with this automated phone greeting?
“Thank you for calling 7th Heaven, Kansas City’s oldest and largest independent music store, complete with Kansas City’s award-winning adult shop — ooh baby — and the largest smoke shop in the Midwest.”
Indeed, 7th Heaven, just south of 75th Street on Troost Avenue, remained open until Friday afternoon, selling vinyl records and sex toys more than a week after officials across the metro issued stay at home orders to combat the novel coronavirus. But it was the cannabidiol (CBD), kratom and pipes that the store’s owner believed made it an essential business.
“Medicinal marijuana is legal, and people got licensed to grow,” owner Jan Fichman told The Star Friday morning before circumstances changed. “And if you don’t have a way or a device to consume the product, you don’t get any medicinal effects. Anxiety is certainly one of the reasons why people do smoke, and if there was a time to be anxious, I would think this would be it.”
Kansas City health officials and suburban police officers have fanned out across the metro, instructing business owners like Fichman to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Last week Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced that 200 businesses were handed citations for staying open when they aren’t considered essential.
City and county governments on the Missouri side and police departments in Johnson County have received hundreds of complaints about businesses violating the orders. But enforcement varies across jurisdictions and from business to business.
Hobby Lobby stores in Merriam, Independence and Kansas City, for example, were closed last week, but locations in Olathe and Overland Park were open on Friday — until the company’s national office announced late that day that all of its stores would close. A beauty shop in Kansas City is deemed essential but a sister store in Independence was shuttered.
And in some cases, City Hall has contradicted itself within days.
Last Monday, Kansas City’s city complaint office, 311, received two complaints that 7th Heaven was operating. Both cases were closed Tuesday, and according to the city’s online database, the business was deemed essential. Another complaint came in Wednesday. The store was still open Friday morning, but by the afternoon, the Kansas City Health Department said in an email to The Star that 7th Heaven should not be operating and had received a citation.
On Friday afternoon Fichman said he did not see that as an order to close. “All they did was they simply came by and sort of dropped it off,” he said, adding that the store had sought clarity and not heard back.
But later that day, the health department said it planned to “reiterate” to 7th Heaven that it was not an essential business. Fichman told The Star he had spoken with the health department and would close.
“I think it’s best for all employees and customers to hunker down next week or two,” he said.
The health department did not address the reversal in an email to The Star.
Still, Lucas said he’s been happy with the compliance from residents and businesses and he’s been impressed with the work of the city’s health department in enforcing the order. He said while there may be some inconsistencies, “cherry-picking” the exceptions misses the point that the city is trying to get people to reduce their outings.
“And it has largely worked,” Lucas said. “I think you have seen most businesses in our region shutter. I think you’ve seen a number of different people comply, and you’ve seen a lot of voluntary compliance.”
What’s essential?
The area’s stay at home orders instructed all nonessential businesses to cease in-person operations. But the orders included broad exemptions for those deemed necessary.
Lucas has stressed repeatedly over the last few days that “essential” businesses are those residents need to weather the pandemic. “Essential,” he says, is not the same as “valuable”; everyone’s business has value.
“If you have to ask whether your business is essential or not, it likely is not,” Lucas said in a news conference at City Hall last week.
Violations of the order are misdemeanor offenses, punishable by a $500 fine and up to six months in jail. But so far, the city’s enforcement arm has only been informing businesses of their obligations and of best practices for public health.
Some of the complaints the city received are mistaken. One resident told the city that all QuikTrip locations should close, but gas stations and convenience stores are explicitly named essential businesses.
Gyms, where sweaty people repeatedly touch the same surfaces, are nonessential under the city’s order. The city’s website says as such, and Lucas reaffirmed it Friday. But F45 Training in the Crossroads received three complaints that it was still holding group workouts last week.
At the studio Thursday, co-owner Tom Cole asked a Star reporter to show him a copy of the complaint. Provided with it via email, Cole replied in a text message that the studio looked into it and “did have a city person drop by on the 27th for what seemed to be just a supportive check-in.”
“311 said the inquiry was closed out on the 27th, so they must not have seen anything concerning. We’ve closely adhered to all CDC guidelines and made changes as the recommendations changed,” he said, adding that Kansas City was “doing a terrific job of compassionately supporting businesses while working hard to keep everyone safe.”
The city’s health department confirmed Friday that F45 is a nonessential business that should not be operating and that inspectors planned to visit the gym. Owners did not return follow-up phone calls or text messages Thursday night or Friday morning.
Essential businesses include the obvious — grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, gas stations, shipping services, farms — and even some services, such as accounting and legal services and dry cleaning. One exemption has had especially broad implications: “businesses that supply products needed for people to work from home.”
Wyandotte County used that exemption to let Nebraska Furniture Mart operate — at least for a while — while neighboring stores in The Legends shut. It’s closed now.
In Kansas City, Star Beauty supply store is operating under that exemption. Similar stores have shut their doors, apparently voluntarily. Despite numerous complaints, Kansas City officials have let Star Beauty stay open. On Thursday, a line of a dozen or so waited outside. Manager John Kim, who donned a mask and gloves, only let five customers in at a time.
Kim said the store is offering gloves, encouraging customers to take advantage of new delivery and curbside pickup services and wiping down surfaces. He said his store needs to stay open because it offers products for black women that might not be available at stores like Target or Walmart, which are allowed to stay open.
Varying enforcement
While Kim’s location was allowed to stay open, he said Jackson County ordered the Star Beauty store in Independence to close because residents could buy similar products at large stores, such as Walmart.
“But that means all the dollar stores should be closed because you can just buy everything that you can buy at dollar stores … at Walmart,” Kim said, adding that the variance in enforcement was confusing and frustrating.
Several complaints about craft stores poured in across the metro. Hobby Lobby had claimed to be an essential business, and faced criticism and threats of citations nationwide.
As of Friday, the Overland Park Police Department had received at least six complaints about the store remaining open.
At the Overland Park location on 95th Street, an employee said on Friday that hours were limited and only 10 customers were allowed in at once. But in Merriam, Hobby Lobby closed April 2. And about 30 miles away, the doors of Hobby Lobby in Independence remained locked. A sign on the door said it had been closed since March 24 “based on guidance from public health officials.”
“We will reopen when the situation improves, and look forward to returning to normalcy,” the sign said.
Late Friday, the company announced it would close all locations and furlough most employees.
The Shawnee Police Department responded to a complaint against a Michaels Arts & Crafts store, which then closed, said Capt. Jim Baker. Johnson County locations still offer curbside pickup for online sales.
Under Kansas’ statewide stay at home order, vape shops aren’t essential, but last week, some were offering curbside pickup and shopping by appointment. Police departments across Johnson County have responded to complaints and talked to business owners.
At first, Jackson and Johnson counties disagreed on whether Bass Pro Shops could remain open. The one in Independence temporarily closed, but the company appealed, citing a Missouri law that prohibits cities and the state from restricting firearm sales during an emergency. Jackson County also reversed an initial decision to close car dealerships.
Coordinating with the states
On the Missouri side of the metro, cities and counties issued stay at home ordinances on their own. For weeks, Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, resisted calls for a statewide order.
He relented Friday, but Missouri’s new statewide order, which takes effect Monday, is less stringent than Kansas City’s. For example, in parts of Missouri where local governments don’t have their own orders, nonessential businesses can still operate as long as they follow social distancing measures, such as prohibiting gatherings of 10 people or more.
In Kansas City and neighboring Missouri counties, more stringent orders remains in effect.
On the Kansas side, Assistant Johnson County Manager Joe Connor said he was collaborating with the sheriff’s office and all city police departments on a plan for enforcing the countywide stay at home order.
Connor emphasized the challenge of coordinating enforcement among several cities, adding that officials were trying to improve consistency.
In Johnson County, it’s police officers who field complaints and provide information to businesses about what is deemed essential. The departments had the option to issue criminal citations or fines, and even move forward with closing a business, if violations continued, Connor said.
Just as enforcement began to take shape, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on March 28 issued a statewide stay at home order through at least April 19, superseding the county order until it expires.
The state order came with its own set of standards on what is deemed essential, said Johnson County legal counsel Cindy Dunham.
“We have been seeking clarification on a number of issues from the state,” Dunham told the Johnson County Board of Commissioners last Monday. “We do have clear expressed authority that law enforcement can enforce the order, however, we are still working with the state on procedures on how local authorities will be involved when the state makes determinations as to whether businesses are essential or not.”
Now under the statewide order, violations are class A misdemeanors, according to the governor’s office. Those carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and $2,500 in fines. Law enforcement officials said they are sending complaints to the governor’s office, but also issuing warnings and providing education about the order before considering citations.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe is now coordinating with all of the law enforcement agencies in the region to come up with a plan on how to enforce the governor’s order, county spokeswoman Jody Hanson said.
Local police departments fielded dozens of complaints filed against businesses this past week. But unlike in Kansas City where complaints are posted on a public database, departments in Johnson County have often not made their records readily available to the public.
The city of Overland Park has received roughly 70 complaints about nonessential businesses since March 24, spokesman John Lacy said.
Leawood has responded to complaints at eight businesses, many of which were fitness centers. Shawnee and Gardner have investigated four businesses each. Prairie Village investigated one clothing store, while Roeland Park has not received any complaints, officials said.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office deferred most questions to the governor’s office.
Asked about possible confusion over what is an essential business, Kelly pointed to her office’s guidance on what operations qualify. The governor’s office has set up a webpage with information about the rules.
Kelly acknowledged that businesses are seeking answers.
“Are we getting calls? Yes, absolutely we’re getting calls,” she said.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman and Kevin Hardy contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
