The “final call” for alcohol in South Beach will come earlier than usual this spring break.
The Miami Beach City Commission voted Wednesday night to reset the hours of alcohol sales in the city’s entertainment district from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m. after an extensive debate and feedback from small business owners who said the withdrawal would harm their employees.
Mayor Dan Gelber watered down his originally proposed alcohol ban – from 17 days in March to just six. He also requested a final call at 2 a.m., but Commissioner David Richardson brokered the agreement at 3 a.m.
One of two votes against the law was Commissioner Michael Góngora, who said there were no “legitimate security concerns” to warrant an early closure of lockdowns. The other vote against came from Inspector Micky Steinberg.
“This regulation is a solution that seeks a problem,” said Góngora. “You talk about protecting our brand, but you don’t.”
Gelber’s proposal was changed several times as criticism from bars, hotels and restaurants grew rapidly. Critics like Góngora cited a failed referendum in 2017 to ban alcohol sales after 2 a.m. all year round, against which 65% of voters were against.
The shorter hours apply from March 13-18, between the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach and the Ultra Music Festival, which takes place in Miami but brings visitors to Miami Beach.
“I’m really sorry that it affects companies we value, but we try very hard to limit it as much as possible
we can, ”said Gelber at the meeting on Wednesday.
These areas are affected by the new law: Ocean Drive; Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue from Fifth to 16th Streets and the remainder of Pennsylvania Avenue and Collins Court from Fifth to 16th Streets, including Española Way.
In addition to capping alcohol sales, the commission voted in January to fund $ 500,000 for daytime activities scheduled over the weekends in March to cope with the crowds that gather on the beach. The plan, finalized Wednesday and presented to the commission, would bring free events to the beach on Ocean Drive from 7th to 10th Streets, said Marcia Monserrat, chief of staff to City Manager Jimmy Morales.
DJ Irie, the Miami Heat’s official disc jockey, will curate the musical performances. Centerplate, a food and beverage company, takes care of the food, beverage, and alcoholic beverages for sale. ACT Productions will organize the event.
The festival starts on March 6th and takes place every weekend in March. Basketball and volleyball courts are being installed, and the city is offering fitness classes and beach cleanings.
The commission also voted to give Morales emergency powers for the whole of March. That power, previously held for 72 hours during busy periods, includes suspending street cafe permits or introducing license plate readers as needed without consulting the Commission.
Company and the South Beach brand
Since Gelber first suggested resetting the last call in South Beach, the city has been inundated with complaints from businesses and residents in the area.
One of the main criticisms from the business world is that one last call earlier would not solve the real problem of spring break: crowds of young people drinking on the beach during the day.
In mid-March, a busy month for the tourism industry, employees will work fewer and shorter shifts for one week, business owners said.
Joel Stedman, the owner of Twist gay nightclub on Washington Avenue, said his employees would lose $ 20,000 in wages under the law. Several employees came to the meeting to express their opposition to the law.
Forty percent of the club’s business comes in after 2 a.m., Stedman told the commission on Wednesday.
“We’re only busy at 1am,” he said. “These guys are going to lose a lot of money.”
He said, although he consented to “hard love” policing, the problem was not in the clubs.
“Your public safety crisis is on the streets, sidewalks and beaches,” said Stedman.
David Wallack, the owner of Mango’s Tropical Café, said his employee numbers would lose about a quarter of their income for the week.
While higher-level managers and owners will “get by” financially, employees will suffer under the new law.
“That’s an electricity bill, that’s rent, that’s food for children,” he said. “What for? The people across the street are the problem. The people in our cafes and our stores are not the problem.”
He said police officers would work overtime despite the new law. But when clubs close at 3 a.m., the streets of Ocean Drive and the surrounding area become inundated with party-goers, he said.
“You shut us up all week. People won’t stay home just because some of us close at 2 a.m.
Ceci Velasco, executive director of the Ocean Drive Association, said the 80 hotels in the area were fully booked and visitors were expecting the promised nightlife.
“You will be here every day,” she said. “The message you are going to get is, ‘What you came here is not what you are going to get.'”
Barbara Sahara, the manager of Il Giardino on Ocean Drive, said the Italian restaurant usually closes at 3 a.m., but any withdrawal of the last call at 5 a.m. would disrupt pedestrian traffic in the area and encourage visitors to find other evening plans .
“For us it doesn’t concern us [directly] just as much, ”she said. “But it affects them [South Beach] Brand. Everyone from all over the world comes here. “
She said the city should keep alcohol sales the same, but keep more police on the streets.
“That’s what I’m worried about. Why do you want to hurt Ocean Drive? ”She said. “It’s not about alcohol. It’s about the police. Where is the police? If you walk on Ocean Drive now, you won’t see a policeman. “
Commissioner Ricky Arriola, a critic of Gelber’s proposal, said it was “bad policy” to encourage a nightly party atmosphere for most of the year and then change course two weeks before the spring break.
“I think we are trying to solve a problem that is mostly happening on the street,” said Arriola. “I think we are embarrassed as a city. I think that’s the wrong approach. “
He called the anti-alcohol mood “puritanical”.
Despite his concerns, he “reluctantly” voted for the law because Miami Beach police chief Rick Clements said he supported the repossession.
“If we try something because we think it’s a public safety issue, I’m willing to try, but I’d rather try fewer days,” he said before the vote.
Ultimately, the commission should work on long-term strategies to protect the area’s character as a party destination while maintaining calm during busy times. He suggested, like Gelber, convert part or all of Ocean Drive into a pedestrian street during his state of the art address on Monday.
“I would rather reposition the entire area than just focus on pavement approaches like closings at 2 a.m.,” he said. “I think we need to aggressively view this district as an asset that needs to be repositioned, not a liability.”
To prevent the 11th hour vote from being repeated, Commissioner Mark Samuelian instructed the city to send the commissioners a follow-up report after the spring break and the administration to begin work on the plan for next year now.
Richardson agreed.
“That is absolutely not going to happen next year,” he said. “We shouldn’t be here. I’m very worried about our brand. “
Police split according to plan
Gelber said the city needed a plan to prevent a repeat of the past few years when the city was almost “ungovernable” due to the rush of visitors to South Beach over the spring break.
“I’m not saying this is a silver bullet,” he said. “But I think we should try.”
Clements, the police chief, said he would have liked to see the law extended to the full month. But the police union, which represents the city’s more than 400 officials, disagrees.
“Whether or not this measure is adopted will not change officers’ working hours this year,” said Kevin Millan, president of the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police. “We’ll definitely be out there.”
Less than a month after police were asked to work longer shifts in preparation for the Super Bowl, the department anticipates officers will again be working 13-hour shifts for much of March to cope with the spring break crowds to control.
Stopping alcohol sales at 2 or 3 a.m. would not make the officers’ job much easier, Millan said.
“The people who are coming are not in,” said Millan. “They bring their own schnapps. You are not in the bars and restaurants. “
The lawyer representing the Ocean Drive Association said in a February 21 letter to the commission that the withdrawal – in whatever form – would not stop crime.
Alex Tachmes of Shutts & Bowen LLP released data showing that calls to the police in the entertainment district were almost twice as high between noon and 2 a.m. as between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Between January 1 and January 31, police received 2,185 service calls in the early hours of the morning in the entertainment district, or around 1.8 calls per service per hour. From noon to 2 a.m. there are reportedly 17,542 or 3.2 calls per hour.
“Remember that the underlying premise of this regulation is that crime is supposedly much higher after 3:00 am and therefore stopping alcohol sales after 3:00 am will result in a significant decrease in crime,” wrote the law firm to the Commission. “However, since there is no evidence to support the claim of increased crime after 3:00 am, it logically follows that stopping alcohol sales after 3:00 am would not result in a major decrease in crime. Therefore this regulation would be ineffective and a bad policy. “
Miami Beach Police Department spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said the department’s view was that alcohol withdrawal would help contain the antics in the wee hours.
“Every little bit helps,” he said. “However, we are preparing as an agency and continue to prepare for the challenges and adapt them.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 2:55 pm.
Martin Vassolo reports on the politics and government of Miami Beach for the Miami Herald. He started working for the Herald in January 2018 after attending the University of Florida where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Independent Florida Alligator. Before that, he worked as a general contract reporter at the Herald metro counter and as an intern in political reporting.
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