As city determines future of South Beach, more cops deployed
Miami Beach commissioners hosted a workshop to contemplate a “fix” to the perception of South Beach as party town and debate its future.
As they brainstorm ways to revamp the South Beach entertainment district, Miami Beach’s elected officials agree on one thing: A stronger police presence will play a critical role in “regaining control” of an area they say has lost its way.
But the commissioners, who met with the city’s department heads Thursday for an all-hands workshop to discuss overhauling the district, have yet to come to a consensus on what the future of South Beach should look like.
The proposals on the table include restricting alcohol sales past midnight, inviting high-end hotel and restaurant investment by easing zoning regulations or waiving
permit fees, and promoting a family-friendly environment that makes police enforcement more manageable.
A final vote is still several meetings away, but in the meantime, Miami Beach Police has nearly doubled the number of officers patrolling the entertainment district as of Monday.
“I think we’re going to look back at a day like today 10 [or] 15 years from now and it’s going to be a game changer,” Commissioner Steven Meiner said.
Mayor Dan Gelber, whose proposal to regulate alcohol sales sparked the broader discussion, said he envisions turning South Beach into Old Montreal and Ocean Drive into Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard.
“The purpose is not to diminish the area, but to celebrate it,” he said. “I hope that nobody has a knee-jerk reaction to anything that is raised.”
But first, he needs support from three of his colleagues on the seven-member commission, most of whom spoke against his proposal to create an alcohol control board tasked with determining what businesses can serve alcohol past midnight and as late as the current citywide closing time of 5 a.m.
Some commissioners signaled they would be open to restricting alcohol sales by rolling back the 5 a.m. last call, but others disputed the correlation between alcohol sales and rowdy crowds.
“Over the last six months as the bars and clubs have been closed, we have seen the problems exacerbated,” Commissioner David Richardson said.
An attorney representing some of Ocean Drive’s most well known businesses — The Palace, The Clevelander and Ocean’s Ten — has signaled that the group may sue if the legislation passes, according to the city’s legal staff.
Attorney Alexander Tachmes listed Mango’s Tropical Cafe among its clients in an Aug. 20 letter to the commission explaining the group’s “vested rights” to serve alcohol until 5 a.m., but Mango’s chief operating officer Joshua Wallack told the Miami Herald that Mango’s has retained separate legal counsel and is not seeking litigation.
Most commissioners agreed with a plan recommended by the city administration to permanently convert Ocean Drive into a fully pedestrian promenade by raising the street to meet the sidewalk.
“We understand that this will be a game changer for many that live, own, work or frequent the area,” wrote City Manager Jimmy Morales in a memo to the City Commission recommending a series of policy changes, “but these modifications can make significant changes over time that we believe can reinstitute the magic that many people around the world associate with Miami Beach.”