In Miami, felines aren't the only things with nine lives.

Barely a week ago, the legendary Jimbo's Place, on a tiny corner of Virginia Key, dodged a bullet for the umpteenth time in nearly 50 years.

If you don't know 82-year-old James ``Jimbo'' Luznar, you don't know jack ... about shrimp, cheap beer, smoked fish, and the literal if affectionate definitions of beer garden, watering hole and dive.

Canned beer is just $2 or $3. Patrons are fiercely loyal to guru Jimbo, who spouts more ``isms'' than Forrest Gump. And parts of Flipper, Gentle Ben, Porky's II, Jack Nicholson's Blood and Wine, along with dozens of high-end fashion shoots, have been shot at Jimbo's.

And yet, in late September, Jimbo's existence was threatened when the city of Miami imposed a $5 toll on all entrants to Virginia Key.

Considering the city's big plans to turn Virginia Key into a virtual Summer Wonderland, the toll makes sense for the hundreds of cyclists and beachgoers who visit the island each week. But it makes no sense for the hundreds of others who only visit the key for a nip and a nosh at Jimbo's.

POSSIBLE COMPROMISE

To his credit, City Manager Pete Hernandez says that a few weeks after the toll went into effect he was alerted to an old city resolution exempting Jimbo's patrons from tolls, and he issued a compromise: Get your toll receipt validated at Jimbo's, and get your $5 back on your way off the key.

Whether anyone who's had a few at Jimbo's has actually stopped on the way out, parked and strolled to the guard booth for a refund is another matter.

But there's a bigger moral to this story, about honoring a deal.

For the past 54 years, Jimbo has fished and shrimped the waterways of Miami -- even docking his shrimp boats for a time at the seawall that's now home to the downtown Miami Herald building.

When our building went up, the city allowed Jimbo to use the forested waterside strip on Virginia Key -- land the city was happy to pass off then, given its proximity to an adjacent sewage plant.

But as Jimbo's thrived, so did Miami's real-estate market... sort of.

New families and homeowners were expected, sources in City Hall say, and conventional wisdom was that Jimbo's Place could be an eyesore if the rest of the key was transformed into a recreational paradise.

``We still want them to clean the place up, and keep it safe for customers'' Hernandez says. ``It is city land. And they have the privilege to use it. And at times, with collapsing structures, it has looked like a disgrace. I would hope that friends of Jimbo's who care would help him clean it up. And we've offered to help, too.''

`DON'T HAVE TO WORRY'

A fair concern? Sure, where safety is concerned, but not looks. Jimbo's has never been about aesthetics. And no one in City Hall seemed to mind his junkyardish feng shui when it was attracting tax revenue-generating filmmakers.

Jimbo's will never get a formal historical designation like those bestowed on historic houses and unique architecture. But he does have that verbal agreement, and the city needs to honor it.

``They don't have to worry,'' Jimbo says matter-of-factly, tapping ash off a Montecristo cigar. ``I won't be around forever.''

Sad but true. Meantime, let's hope the city puts as much fervor into cleaning up residential areas that don't serve beer or fish but are dives just as much as Jimbo's Place.

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