Mayor wants to ‘reimagine’ South Beach party scene, impose midnight alcohol ban
The topless brawler. The police car twerker. The carefree crowds enjoying paradise.
For city leaders and concerned Miami Beach residents alike, the raunchy videos that have come out of South Beach in recent months — amid a pandemic, of all times — are symptoms of an out-of-control party scene.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said he has seen every “horrible” video coming out of his city’s entertainment district, and he thinks the party town is overdue for an overhaul.
On Wednesday, he proposed a slew of policy changes that would permanently move up the “last call” for alcohol sales to midnight from 5 a.m. in the South Beach entertainment district, which includes restaurants, bars and clubs on Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue between Fifth and 16th streets. Business operators who wish to serve alcohol past midnight would have to apply for a conditional-use permit from a beverage control board appointed by the City Commission.
The proposal also calls for the enforcement of the city’s open-container law and would require business operators to contain activities within private property so they do not “spill onto the public street and sidewalks.” Also included is a proposed crackdown on loud music at entertainment venues, mandating that “no music can be audible outside the confines of each individual property along Ocean Drive.”
“We’ve lost control of our brand,” Gelber told the Miami Herald. “We tried to address this from the edges for too long. We have to address this from the inside.”
Under his proposal, which the City Commission will discuss next Wednesday, the South Beach entertainment district would be renamed to reflect the area’s cultural roots. The Art Deco Cultural District is one possibility. The city would look for incentives to bring museums and galleries to the district and help roll out a new marketing campaign to attract more visitors seeking a cultural experience.
Gelber calls it a “South Beach for everyone,” full of high-class dining and “light entertainment.” That’s how he remembers it when he lived on Ocean Drive in the ‘90s — when his father, Seymour Gelber, was mayor of Miami Beach.
“But it became a victim of its success,” Dan Gelber said in a video address released Wednesday. “Over the last few decades, it has grown to resemble a beachfront Bourbon Street, with all-night hard drinking and too much misbehavior. Where too many people go to do what they would never do in their own hometown.”
Since he became mayor in 2017, Gelber has overseen the roll out of several measures that aimed to tamp down on the raucous atmosphere in the district, including the creation of conduct standards tied to sidewalk cafe table permits, an end to promoted parties during busy weekends and a crackdown on noise.
“I’ve been asking for this since I became mayor,” he said.
His proposal will make it easier for the city to drive out “bad” operators and tailor the business climate however its leaders choose.
Will it pass the City Commission?
In February, Gelber was met with opposition — from some commissioners and the business community — over a proposed 2 a.m. rollback of alcohol sales in the South Beach district during spring break. The legislation only passed after Gelber made key concessions, like pushing up “last call” to 3 a.m. and putting the ban in effect for six days in March instead of 17 days.
The issue of alcohol sales has been a politically charged one on the Beach since 2017, when 65% of voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have stopped alcohol sales after 2 a.m. at certain Ocean Drive establishments.
The owners of popular South Beach nightclubs, Mango’s Tropical Cafe and the Clevelander, declined to comment Wednesday. David Wallack, the Mango’s owner, said Gelber vaguely mentioned the proposal to him in conversation but that it would be too early to comment publicly on it.
In 2017, Wallack and the Clevelander lobbied against the 2 a.m. rollback.
Gelber’s proposal would also make Ocean Drive a pedestrian-only promenade, elevate the existing street to be level with the sidewalk and create a “physical connection” with Lummus Park, which may include shade, seating and hotel concessions. He recommends that the city tap into a voter-approved $25 million bond to make these changes.
Commissioner Mark Samuelian said he is on board with the proposal.
“We need to make sure that area is extremely safe,” he said. “I would like to see it more welcoming for our residents and our families. I would certainly like to see more arts and culture.”
On Friday, he unanimously passed an ordinance through the commission to pedestrianize Ocean Drive and remove barriers that had briefly divided the promenade into pedestrian and car lanes.
Samuelian said he will also propose restricting the use of scooters in the district and re-evaluating what businesses are permitted to offer sidewalk cafe services.
The coronavirus pandemic laid bare the issues afflicting the district, Samuelian said. His vision, which Gelber shares, is for the city to emerge from the crisis with a new plan in place to make South Beach safer and more inviting to residents and tourists who want to “play by the rules.”
“The pandemic heightened some of the behaviors that have been problematic,” he said. “That has clearly elevated that issue more.”
Under Gelber’s plan, permit applications for additional hours of alcohol sales would be required to include a proposed business operations plan, a detailed security plan and a sound study prepared by a licensed acoustical engineer. To receive approval from the board the applicant would need to satisfy a number of conditions, including that the “public health, safety, morals and general welfare will not be adversely affected,” according to a draft of the proposal.
The board may revoke the permit if the business fails to comply with any requirements.
“There is no question this will result in some businesses unable to operate in our city in the manner they have previously,” Gelber said in his video address. “But I believe we are at the point where we have to accept, we can’t be for everyone.”
Gelber circulated his proposal to commissioners Wednesday afternoon. The City Commission, of which Gelber is a member, will meet next Wednesday to vote on whether to refer the proposal to the city’s Land Use and Sustainability and Planning committees. The items are expected to be heard at committee meetings in early September before going before the full commission Sept. 16 for the first vote. The proposal requires a second vote from the commission to pass it into law.
No commission meetings are scheduled for August.
“When we emerge from this pandemic, and we will emerge, we should have a different kind of South Beach,” he said in his video address. “A better one. Just as vibrant and iconic, but also cultural and safe. A South Beach for everyone.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 12:50 PM.
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