Palm Springs restaurant owners call for financial support from city during closure

A group of restaurant owners gathered in front of Palm Springs city hall on Thursday calling for the city to provide financial support during the closure.

In a letter signed by a group of local restaurant owners states that they understand the need for the closure and are supportive of any initiatives to keep the workplace and customers safe and healthy. However, they say they won't be able to stay in business on just take-out and delivery without assistance

"We are not asking to reopen outside or inside dining immediately. We are asking to work together to create a plan that will allow us to be back in business as soon as possible," reads the letter. "Our industry is in a state of emergency. Our employees and businesses are in an even more critical position then early in the pandemic."

Mindy Reed, one of the local business owners who attended the gathering said they are asking the city to reconsider spending the $3 million the city was going to spend on the new downtown park and instead use it to support restaurants.

"We're just asking them to realize that our employees, our staff, you know everybody that works for us is not going to be okay if we don't get some more help to help them," Reed said.

We've reached out to the city for a response to the letter. Stay with News Channel 3 for any update