City of Beaufort tells residents to shelter in place. Here’s how that will be enforced
The city of Beaufort took a formal step in telling residents to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak, issuing a shelter-in-place order during an emergency meeting Monday.
Beaufort joins Columbia, Charleston and Mount Pleasant in issuing such orders, though Columbia and Charleston did so before S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson’s opinion that only the governor can issue such orders. Beaufort’s ordinances cite Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive orders on essential and non-essential activities in setting the parameters for the citywide rule.
City Council passed the ordinance in a unanimous vote during a virtual meeting.
As part of the city’s order, effective at 1 a.m. Tuesday, residents:
- Are encouraged and directed to stay home, except to use open public spaces or to use or work at businesses remaining open under the governor’s orders.
- Must maintain at least 6 feet of separation with other people when out in public.
- Can still be out in their yards and walk, run or bike in their neighborhood.
The ordinance is in place through the end of April.
Beaufort Police Department and code enforcement officers have the ability to write citations to those who violate the city’s directives, but there are no penalties for not adhering. The governor’s future orders would become part of the city ordinance.
City Councilman Stephen Murray likened the ordinance to a mandatory hurricane evacuation, when residents aren’t forced from their homes.
“I think as a nation we’re getting a little bogged down in shelter in place or not shelter in place,” Murray said Monday morning. “I think more importantly [are] the restrictions that go along with the order. If you compare some states with South Carolina’s restrictions, I might argue that we’re already operating under a shelter-in-place order. We have some restrictions in place that they don’t.”
Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling has faced increasing pressure from residents to do more as McMaster has declined a shelter-at-home order. Keyserling was in touch with Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg before Charleston became the first city pass a stay-at-home rule, with Tecklenburg sharing the proposed ordinance with Keyserling before the vote.
Keyserling has said he supported a shelter-in-place rule if adopted countywide but that the proposal didn’t have the support of County Council. And Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said his agency was beholden to the governor’s orders.
The attorney general has said local orders should be considered valid until they can be considered by a court and that citizens should follow the municipalities’ shelter-in-place ordinances. Keyserling said he believes the city has the ability to enact a curfew but none is planned.
“Our goal is not to create a police state,” Keyserling said during the meeting Monday.
In March, the towns of Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Port Royal and the city of Beaufort joined to send McMaster a letter requesting a statewide shelter-in-place rule. Beaufort is the only municipality to pass such an ordinance so far.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
