VAIL, Colo. — Thank you, mask mandate. Now it’s time to ride into the sunset.
After a successful winter, all things considered, Vail officials are expected to lift the town’s outdoor mask mandate as of April 19, the day after Vail Mountain closes.
The council in November 2020 imposed the outdoor mandate, which requires people to wear face coverings outdoors in the town’s resort villages. The town passed an emergency ordinance to impose the mandate, and can’t repeal the ordinance until its April 20 regular meeting. In the meantime, the council has instructed Town Manager Scott Robson to stop enforcement of the ordinance as of April 19.
Vail’s outdoor mandate came relatively late among other resort towns, particularly Breckenridge and Aspen. Those towns imposed outdoor mandates in the summer of 2020. Vail council members were split on the topic in August, voting 4-3 against imposing an outdoor mandate. With a fall spike in cases and the prospect of another near-shutdown looming just before ski season, council members Nov. 3 voted to mandate mask use in outdoor areas of Vail’s resort villages.
Council member Jenn Bruno Tuesday brought up the idea of lifting the mandate. Bruno, the co-owner of the Luca Bruno clothing stores in Vail Village, has long opposed the mandate, saying it doesn’t give employees an opportunity to catch a maskless breath of fresh air during a long work day.
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