NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It’s part of the crackdown, Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s office says will take effect after what they saw at a party on Fern Avenue over the weekend.
The videos from that night showed hundreds packed in and around one home where hardly any masks were worn and social distancing was nonexistent.
“There are some very obvious violations of code and other statutes, that whether there was a pandemic or not, they would be in violation of. So there is going to be further action,” Deputy mayor Bill Phillips said.
The mandates in phase 2 of the city’s emergency pandemic plan limit gatherings to no more than 25 people. That said the only citations written were for illegally parked cars.
Metro Nashville Police shared a report from that evening and say officers arrived on the scene at around 11:45 that evening. The report reads that “officers advised the host of the party of the violations that were occurring and advised the host of the party that the party needs to be shut down.”
Hearing from those at the party, they say the officers did not ask people to leave and instead monitored from a distance for roughly an hour. The report says the officers towed two cars for being parked illegally in a neighbor’s driveway. That’s when they say the party began to clear out. Depending on who you ask, some say the party lasted long after the cops were called to another scene.
Officers were criticized for not taking more drastic measures to close down the party, but officers say they need more clarity on how to enforce these mandates.
We wanted to know if other mandates were being enforced around the city, so we turned our attention to masks on where else, but Broadway.
What we saw were several people without masks walking in front of officers who didn’t respond. Just moments later, we see the same officers warning someone to wear a mask. We couldn’t spot a trend at all, only that it’s up to every officer’s discretion.
Even though masks are mandatory in public, from July 15 to this past Friday, we’ve had 14,299 verbal warnings and zero citations.
At one point officers were handing out masks last week, but it hasn’t done enough to convince some that the mandates are rules, not recommendations.
“It is a problem and the truth of the matter is we’re never going to be able to have 100 percent enforcement. We don’t have enough personnel to do that, but we can make the impression,” said Phillips.
Phillips says he’s encouraged by the number of those wearing masks and how it’s become far more normal to see masks in the metro area than it was before phase 2.
Monday afternoon, Mayor Cooper’s tweet sent the message that they are taking these mandates in phase 2 seriously.
“Metro Codes has confirmed through the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website that The Fashion House is an active LLC operating out of 21B Fern Avenue. We have posted a Stop Use Order on this property for illegally operating a commercial business in a residential district,” Cooper said.
Cooper is expected to comment on possible punishments in his press briefing Tuesday morning. We asked Phillips what a likely punishment could be for those responsible for Saturday’s party and he says, “the most severe punishment from Codes is 30 days in jail, which we are actively considering.”
We also heard from Metro Public Health who say too are taking this matter seriously and have been enforcing the phase 2 mandates.
“There have been a number of Orders in response to the ongoing pandemic and each is intended to reduce the spread of the virus so that Nashville can reopen. We need everyone’s help to be successful. The Health Department has issued a number of citations to businesses that are not complying and worked with Metro’s law department to close at least one bar under current Order 9. The Health Department is working with the Mayor’s office, Metro’s law department, Metro Police and others to review the enforcement of all the orders in response to compliance.”
This is a developing story. We will keep you updated on air and online as soon as we learn more.
