McHenry Times

McHenry restaurants were allowed to open for a form of public dining as Mayor Wayne Jett issued an executive order that goes around Gov. J.B. Pritzker's "Restore Illinois" reopening plan. 

City-owned outdoor seating will be used "by families who are looking for public space, while social distancing from others, to sit down and enjoy their takeout food along our streets in all of our downtown districts," Jett said on Facebook.

Under Pritzker's reopening plan, restaurants were not allowed to have indoor or outdoor seating, according to Patch. Jett said his executive order doesn't go against Pritzker's plan directly, because the outdoor seating isn't maintained and doesn't belong to the restaurants. Instead, the outdoor seating is city-owned. 

But not requiring face masks and allowing outdoor seating aren't part of the governor's reopening plan, which instead has five phases. The phase at the time of Jett's order, Phase 2, didn't allow for restaurants to maintain outdoor seating. 

Jett discouraged the outdoor seating for gatherings other than immediate family, according to Patch. 

"Is this going to be long term? Yes, as long as no one ruins the experience for everyone else," Jett said on Facebook. "If the areas become a beer garden or party spot, we will remove them. We don't want to do this. So please abide by our rules."

The outdoor seating areas will each hold 36 people and all tables will be distanced 6 feet apart, according to Patch. Families are allowed to gather with 10 or fewer people for a maximum of one hour and open containers of alcohol aren't permitted. 

Restaurants cannot serve customers; instead families will have to order takeout and bring it to a table. 

The city-owned outdoor seating areas can be found on Green Street, Main Street, Pearl Street and Riverside Street.