Indoor dining will return to Montgomery County for the first time in two months on Sunday, Feb. 14, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Under an executive order approved Tuesday by county lawmakers on a 7-2 vote, dining rooms will be limited to 25% of their normal capacity, and customers will only be able to sit at a table for 90 minutes. Alcohol cannot be served or consumed on-site after 10 p.m.

Councilmembers Craig Rice (D-District 2) and Will Jawando (D-At Large) voted against the order, saying the risks of resuming indoor dining outweigh the benefits to businesses and residents.

“The idea that we would be doing an executive order to encourage people to go out on Valentine’s Day… flies in the face of public health guidance,” said Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At Large). “We know that [indoor dining] is not a safe activity.”

Councilmember Craig Rice (D-District 2) agreed, adding that reopening dining rooms risks the health of restaurant workers, who are disproportionately Black and Latinx.

Rice and Jawando were outnumbered by their seven colleagues, all of whom voted to approve County Executive Marc Elrich’s order — even after acknowledging that they personally don’t consider indoor dining a safe activity.

“I will not be going out on Valentine’s Day. If I asked my wife to meet me at a restaurant, she would probably say this is our last Valentine’s Day together,” said Councilmember Hans Riemer (D-At Large).

Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At Large) agreed — he said he plans to get takeout with his spouse on Valentine’s Day — but added that the executive and council members can change course if they see coronavirus infection rates trend back upward.

“It’s the accordion principle. We open it up, we close it down, we look at the data and we act accordingly,” Glass said.

Montgomery County is the only local jurisdiction where indoor dining remained banned. Prince George’s County and D.C. reopened dining rooms at 25% capacity last month. There are no capacity limits on restaurants in Virginia. Some lawmakers said their decision to support reopening was partly motivated by the fact that residents are traveling outside of the county to dine, making local restrictions less effective.

“In the absence of a regional approach… I’m willing to support this with some reservations,” said Council president Tom Hucker (D-District 5) before voting for the executive order. “There is a difference between allowing something and encouraging something.”