NH May Not Issue Reopening Guidelines for Some Industries


The task force advising Gov. Chris Sununu on reopening New Hampshire’s economy won’t be drafting specific guidance for every industry, its leader said Friday.

Doing so would be impractical and amount to “inappropriate micromanagement,” Governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force leader D.J. Bettencourt said Friday at the close of a two-hour public input session.

While the group is examining specific sectors such as lodging, amusements, sports and religious gatherings, Bettencourt said some industries may fall under the universal guidelines that have been issued for all businesses regarding screening of employees, workplace cleaning and other practices to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus.

“We are looking to put a list together that we can take to public health and say, ’We believe these businesses can go forward using the universal guidance documents, and we’ll see what they say,” he said. “The challenge all of us have is that there are such diverse views on how to move forward.”

The task force took dozens of calls Friday, ranging from a father concerned about his daughter’s July wedding to a tattoo artist who said if he can’t open his business in June, he won’t have a business left to run in July.

Dentists can reopen their offices Monday, and public colleges are preparing to welcome students back to campus in the fall. But a decision on beaches might take a while, as New Hampshire continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

Sununu last week announced specific guidelines for the reopening of retail stores, golf courses, outdoor restaurant dining and hair salons over the next few weeks.

Walking, swimming and other motion-based activities would be allowed at Hampton Beach starting June 1 with sunbathing and small gatherings to follow a few weeks later under a proposal being considered by the Governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force.

John Nyhan, president of the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce, serves on both the governor’s task force and a separate task force on reopening the beach. He presented the latter’s plan to the governor’s group on Friday.

The plan calls for closing a portion of the main road parallel to the beach to vehicle traffic and cutting available parking in half. Sunbathing and congregating on the beach would be allowed by June 27.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu praised the effort but said the plan, including the timeline, may have to be adjusted.

“I don’t think we’re going to make any decisions immediately about where to go with this,” he said.

Hampton officials have already decided to close down part of Ocean Boulevard, which runs in front of the beach’s restaurants and shops, to make more space for pedestrians to walk further apart from one another, allow for outdoor dining and give room for lines to form, the Portsmouth Herald reports.