VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Leea Murphy can’t wait to see thousands of bikers roll into town next month for Biketoberfest, now that Florida is in phase three of the reopening plan.
“It’s going to be a good Biketoberfest. I mean we’re national news right now. Florida is open. They’re coming,” Murphy said. “At 50% occupancy, I was only going to use the staff that I had, so now I have to make sure we have the staff that’s going to be able to maintain that capacity.”
Murphy owns Peanut and George’s Pub on Main and she said she’s one of three restaurants on Main Street. She said her concern is crowd control this year, especially without special use permits for food vendors so folks could have other options.
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“I don’t know what Daytona is planning on doing to make sure we’re OK, traffic is OK, bikers are going to be OK,” she said. “I’m hoping that Daytona will have an emergency meeting so we can prepare and make sure that everything is going to be OK.”
News 6 spoke with Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, he said city commissioners probably won’t change their mind, even if Florida is in phase three.
“As it relates to the permits to Biketoberfest, this does not change any of that,” Henry said.
Henry said the city continues to be COVID-19 conscious, despite the lifted restrictions on bars and restaurants, and said the permits are not guaranteed to businesses at any given year.
“It’s not that we don’t want visitors, but we want to be responsible and balanced. We recognize that we’re helping to open the economy by creating a safer environment. Be as safe as you can. Remember, if we fail in this experiment then the consequences are dire,” he said.