With thousands of businesses closed in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and county administrator Barry Burton are now sifting through hundreds of complaints and questions each day to determine whether certain businesses can remain open.

Since Friday, residents have bombarded officials in cities across the county and flooded a tip line with about 300 calls each day to ask about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ emergency stay-home order that limited all activity in Florida to essential services.

The order told government leaders to follow lengthy guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Miami-Dade County when limiting movements of all Floridians for 30 days. The directive forbids traveling anywhere except for essential services and makes no mention of businesses closing.

The confusion from the vague order likely won’t end anytime soon. To combat confusion, Burton and Gualtieri are now issuing daily updates to highlight what business types can remain open. The county and Sheriff’s Office will post the updates on social media pages.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri holds a flier about an order the county issued for residents to stay at home. [ CHRIS URSO | Times ]

“People are having such a hard time with this,” Gualtieri said Tuesday. “People are looking for a list of what is nonessential in the governor’s order. It does not exist.”

For people trying to decipher the order, he urged them to focus on the essential services listed in the order. If a business category is not listed, than it’s nonessential, he said.

Some obvious essential services include grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and hardware stores. To make matters worse, the governor’s order left it to local law enforcement to enforce the order. That sowed more confusion.

During a virtual meeting Tuesday, people from Pinellas complained to county commissioners that certain businesses like car washes are closed in Pinellas but open in other areas. A man representing six car wash groups said the drive-thru businesses offer sanitizing services and customers don’t have contact with employees.

“You can’t leave (your home) to go to a car wash," Burton told commissioners, adding it’s not deemed an essential service.

Several commissioners urged Burton to seek more clarity from the governor’s office. Gualtieri later said Tuesday the additional guidance isn’t coming, adding: “They issued everything they’re going to issue. We’re working with what we were given."

The sheriff opposed closing nonessential business after deputies found few violations when they inspected more than 4,000 in the days before the travel ban started. Business owners, he said, complied with social distance guidelines to maintain a 6-foot distance between people. Burton and Gualtieri each said they know businesses are struggling, but owners and employees must follow the law to travel only for essential services.

The order allows people to participate in recreational activities like bicycling, jogging and walking. Gualtieri mentioned a bicycle shop that also rents kayaks. He said it can open for bicycling services but not kayak rentals because it would require people to travel for the nonessential service.

He cited other examples where businesses skirt the intent of the order. One retailer went to Sam’s Club to load up on Slim Jims and Doritos to claim it was a convenience store. A jewelry store received a license to operate as a pawn shop, which is allowed to provide loans, Gualtieri said, noting that deputies made sure the store removed all jewelry from display cases.

Car wash operators have called to offer to wash his fleet of vehicles, but Gualtieri said he rejected each offer.

“They’re trying to find loopholes,” Gualtieri said. “We have to be consistent and fair. We’re trying to allow appropriate latitude. We can’t carve out exceptions."

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