Some Bucks Co. Businesses Coordinating Rogue Reopening

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Several business owners in Bucks County, frustrated and desperate as the coronavirus shutdowns continue, are currently planning a coordinated reopening independent of the governor's orders, according to organizers of the effort.

The businesses, who are collaborating their approach through the ReOpen Bucks County group, say they're working to set a date in the coming weeks on which "hundreds" of them will band together and reopen despite the shutdown orders.

Bucks County remains in the "red" phase of mitigation measures and is under a stay-at-home order through June 4. The governor has given no timeline for when the county will move to "yellow" but local leaders have indicated they expect it to happen soon.

But it won't be soon enough for a growing faction of small business owners, who are now planning to take matters into their own hands, ReOpen Bucks County founder Josh Hogan told Patch.

Hogan launched the group's Facebook page in early May and it now has 5,300 members. He is not a small business owner himself, but said he felt compelled to act in support of the local businesses struggling with the shutdowns.

So far, "key businesses leaders" from throughout the county are organizing to coordinate the independent reopening, Hogan said. A date has not yet been set. But Hogan noted it will be in the coming weeks, not months.

"There's going to be this tipping point. It's kind of like a tsunami coming behind them," Hogan said of the thousands of local businesses in limbo during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many businesses have "no choice but to reopen" because they have nothing to lose at this point.

One of those business owners who decided they had nothing to lose is Tommy Coates of Transcend Fitness. Coates already went against the grain and reopened his Wrightstown fitness center over the weekend.

Since the closure orders began in mid-March, Transcend has lost between 30 and 40 percent of its members, Coates said.

"We're at the point where it's shut it down and let it all go, or fight for everything we built for the last ten years," Coates said. The facility opened Saturday, and so far the response from members and the broader community has been "extraordinary," he said.

Gov. Tom Wolf, in a news conference last week after some counties announced intentions to reopen despite his orders, said there will be repercussions for those that defy the mitigation measures. Businesses could lose their licenses and insurance, and counties could lose their share of federal funding.

But Coates said he's not afraid of repercussions.

"The worst repercussion is we lose the business, and we were going to lose it anyway. This was our last-ditch effort," he said. He said he finds comfort knowing that if Transcend ends up closing for good "at least we went out doing the best we could."

Several Bucks County businesses have already permanently closed due to pandemic, including Bucks Gymnastics Center II, Factory Donuts, and The Zen Den. Others say they're dangerously close to having to shut their doors permanently.

During an online town hall Monday, the Bucks County Commissioners urged local businesses not to go against the safety measures in place.

"I would just caution you, if you're thinking about opening up outside of the guidelines that the governor has set, that there are penalties that he has said that he is going to use," Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said. "I think we need to all work together to try to get to that yellow phase as quickly as we can. I don't think Bucks County is far away."

As tension continues to rise, law enforcement in Bucks County last week weighed in, saying they don't intend to prosecute violators of the governor's shutdown orders.

In a statement issued last week, the Bucks County District Attorney's office said it is "not seeking to prosecute businesses or business owners who are in violation of these orders. We have communicated to all Bucks County police chiefs that it is our preference that they not investigate or prosecute them either, and to leave the enforcement of Governor Wolf's orders to state enforcement agencies such as the Pennsylvania State Police."

The final decision rests with each individual municipality's police chief, and its board of elected officials, the District Attorney's statement said. "However, if a business is charged by law enforcement in Bucks County for violating the governor's order, our office will review each case individually, and make decisions on prosecution based upon the totality of the circumstances."

Meanwhile, the state's coronavirus death toll surpassed 4,505, with 3,086 occurring in nursing or personal care facilities.

News tips to Kara.Seymour@Patch.com

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