URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - The City of Urbana has issued an Executive Order providing enforceable guidelines concerning the number of attendees, social distancing, and the use of face coverings will attending parties or other social gatherings.
Mayor Diane Wolfe Marline said the order is intended to address the "heightened risk of mass transmission of the novel coronavirus within the City of Urbana, because of the large number of students who are returning to the City and who will be residing in multifamily rental residential buildings in the immediate vicinity of the University's core academic facilities and throughout the community."
Champaign also issued a similar emergency order.
>>Champaign emergency orders include rules for parties, fines for violations
A party or gathering is defined in the order as a group of five or more people who do not live in the same home or dwelling. A total of ten people, including those who live in the home, is the maximum allowed to attend a private party or gathering under the order.
Law enforcement can require people to prove whether or not they live at a property where a gathering is being held.
The host is the one held responsible for the gathering, and any violations of the order will result in the gathering being deemed a "nuisance party."
Private property covered by the order includes the campus area, meaning the area bounded on the north by University Ave., on the west by Wright St., on the south by Florida Ave., and on the east by Race St.
The order also includes multifamily residential structures anywhere in the city, meaning buildings that include three or more residential units.
Parking lots for these properties are covered by the order as well.
Under the order face coverings must be worn to parties or gatherings on private properties and anywhere in public where social distancing cannot be maintained.
Law enforcement can shut "nuisance parties" down and order people to leave.
Anyone who fails or refuses to abide by the order will be found to be in guilty of a violation of Urbana City Code Section 15-65 (Nuisance Parties).
A violation of the order will be subject to the penalty provisions contained in Urbana City Code Sections 1-10, 1-18, and 15-65, which may include a fine of up to $750 per violation per day.
Each violation of the order can be punished as a separate offense.
Exemptions to the order include businesses, day cares, religious houses of worship, residential drug and alcohol treatment facilities, residential medical facilities, elder care homes, homes for disabled people, and residential prison reentry facilities that are in compliance with regulations and guidelines issued by the State of Illinois and its agencies.
