As COVID surges, city scraps plans to fund $1M spring-break festival

Even during a pandemic, crowds of spring breakers are expected to come to Miami Beach in March.

The exact number of visitors or when they will come remains unknown, as COVID-19 has scrambled university schedules and upended tourism projections.

City commissioners, who have long been at odds with the “hard partying” tourists who visit South Beach, voted Wednesday to reject plans to fund a $1 million, 12-day spring break festival that the city had hoped would give visitors an organized way to channel their energies.

“We may be seeing spring break not only in the month of March but bleeding into the month of April as well,” said interim City Manager Raul Aguila. “We’re planning for the worst and hoping for the best. I am anticipating that we are going to see lots of people and crowds.”

The “bulk” of colleges being monitored by Miami Beach Police, a total of 137, will release students for spring break between March 7 and 21, Chief Rick Clements wrote in a memo attached to Wednesday’s agenda. That is a “substantially lower number of schools on break than in previous years,” Clements said. But the extended spring break period may pose staffing challenges.

“More importantly, however, with the expected earlier, and extended, Spring Break 2021 period, the Department has to prepare itself for the arduous process of staffing on a taxing [overtime schedule], which simply cannot be sustained over a seven week+ period, and which would be exacerbated by additional crowds,” Clements wrote.

Aguila initially recommended hosting the festival “to rebrand what spring break has come to be in Miami Beach and the negative perception associated with that.” But he urged commissioners to vote against the concept, citing rising COVID-19 cases and the uncertainty of this year’s spring break. The commission had directed the administration to develop a spring break plan last February.

Commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to scrap this year’s event and consider a similar proposal for 2022.

The city was in discussions with organizer Tom Bercu Productions to host concerts, movie nights and fitness activities every weekend for four weeks in South Beach, between Seventh and 11th streets. The city did not sign a contract with the production team, so it will not have to pay a cancellation fee.

WORRIES ABOUT COVID

Mayor Dan Gelber said promoting large gatherings during a COVID “surge” is irresponsible.

“We are in the middle of a surge and these large gatherings are not helping,” he said. “And I think we have to be very wary of promoting that.”

Florida broke a state record for daily COVID-19 cases Jan. 6, reporting

17,783 infections that day. The state, which has the fourth-highest coronavirus death toll in the country, continues to be in a dangerous “red zone” for its COVID infection rate, according to a Jan. 10 White House Coronavirus Task Force report reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.

At least 1,000 people in Miami-Dade County have been hospitalized with COVID-19 every day for the last two weeks.

Miami Beach’s proposed spring break plan would “focus on engaging crowds of 1,000+ during high impact times,” according to a memo.

“This is not the right timing,” Commissioner Steven Meiner said.

POLICE, CODE COMPLIANCE REQUEST MORE FUNDING

In years past, the city has imposed noise restrictions, cracked down on public drinking and set up licenseplate readers at entrances to the city. Aguila said he will inform the commission of the city’s enforcement plan and any measures he will push to rein in the party scene. There is still a midnight COVID curfew in Miami-Dade County.

“Public safety has to come first,” Commissioner Mark Samuelian said.

Miami Beach Police Deputy Chief Wayne Jones told the commission that the department has budgeted $1 million for spring break enforcement, but it will ask for additional funding. Code Compliance has requested $64,400 in overtime costs for its work in March and April.

Jones said police do not know what type of crowds to expect for spring break, but the department expects to begin seeing visitors arrive “en masse” as early as mid-February and some arriving as late as midApril.

“Quite frankly, I’m hoping it’s less than normal years,” he said. “We just don’t know.”

Commissioner Michael Góngora, who motioned to vote down the event proposal, said he would support funding the police department’s spring break efforts.

“Whatever it is, we’ll come up with the money to protect Miami Beach and keep us safe,” he said.