Mayor Lee Brand announced yesterday that authorized businesses can re-open starting May 11.

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand announced Tuesday that the city would be entering the first phase of Fresno’s economic recovery by allowing a new category of authorized businesses to re-open.

Following consultation with the Mayor’s Recovery Committee, City Manager Wilma Quan and her emergency team, the Fresno City Council and the County of Fresno, the mayor announced that certain business would be allowed to re-open in compliance with health guidelines, and that all retail businesses could sell online with contactless curbside pick-up or delivery.

There will be no application process for businesses to re-open on May 11.

The types of business that will be able to reopen include auto, truck, motorcycle, RV and mobile home sales, new construction, furniture stores, electronics and camera stores, spa, and pool stores, lawn and garden equipment stores, building and remodeling supply stores and auctions.

Authorized businesses allowed to re-open will be limited to one customer per 500 square feet of retail floor space. Returns will not be allowed for 30 days and employees will have to go through training for the new safety measures.

“All of these decisions are being made to achieve two defining goals—one is two protect the health of the people of Fresno to the maximum extent possible, and two—get people back to work as quickly as we can,” Brand said.

Brand said that he attended a meeting with the mayors of the biggest cities in California, and that to his knowledge, no other city in the state is doing as much as Fresno in regards to public safety in the business sector.  

If in two weeks, or on around May 25, public health indicators show indicators of improvement and a flattening curve, the city will take the next step to open more doors and businesses.

Once the state approves the reopening of restaurants for dining in, gyms, and other close contact businesses, Brand said the city would devote all its resources to help those businesses open back up.

City council president Miguel Arias, Councilmember Mike Karbassi, Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer and other local leaders joined Brand during the press conference.

“By doing this we are going to level the playing field for many of these businesses within our community,” Dyer said. “We are going to get people back to work and we are going to stimulate the economy. More importantly, I believe we are going to provide hope-much needed hope to people who have been out of hope and not able to open their business.”