3 ms·

How are those rules different from the Fire Marshall rules on maximum occupancy?

• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• joshuamorton 6y ago
  The church's claim is that since other businesses, such as grocery stores, don't have occupancy limits[0], that enforcing occupancy limits on churches is discriminatory. The state argues that churches aren't like grocery stores, but like concert halls or theaters, which remain closed and will likely have similar occupancy caps when. The state also goes a bit further and notes that churches include singing, speech, and audience participation that isn't common in other places like grocery stores and theaters, which increase the dangers of spreading respiratory droplets. The majority essentially agreed that Churches are more like concerts than grocery stores, and that treating them similarly is reasonable in an emergency situation. The minority disagreed. [0]: I'm unclear on this, the grocery stores I go to do have 1-in-1-out policies and capacity caps. Lines go out the door and are socially distanced.
• gnicholas 6y ago
  The fire marshal rules take into account the size of each building and the number of exits. Newsom’s rules subject small churches and large churches to the same 100-person cap, regardless of building size.
  • loteck 6y ago
    Fire rules take into account many factors to ensure the health & safety of the people in the building. A hard cap on attendance (it's 25% or 100, whichever is smaller, by the way) during a pandemic is another example of accounting for factors to protect health & safety.