Calling the non-binding referendum vote five months ago a mandate — as if 57% was a landslide — Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and city leaders have been working since January to ban alcohol sales after 2 a.m.
Fresh off the Spring Break curfew that was more about development than crowd or crime control — more about real estate than racism — the city commission on Wednesday will look at three different options.
Commissioners could vote to outlaw all alcohol sales after 2 a.m. citywide, rolling back last call at all nightclubs and bars by three hours. Or they could roll back last call with some exceptions for hotels (read: big campaign donors). Or they could vote to outlaw post 2 a.m. alcohol sales only at future venues, grandfathering in the 149 businesses that currently have licenses to sell liquor until 5 a.m.
Read related: Economist finds 2 AM last call rollback could cost Miami Beach millions
Any option will need four commissioners to pass on first reading. Second reading would be in May.
Gelber — the architect of the 2 a.m. last call — and Commissioner Mark Samuelian are both in favor of the ban. Though Samuellian wants it outright and Gelber suggested the carve-out for hotels on mid-Beach and North Beach, far from the problematic entertainment district that he sees as a real estate bonanza.
But they may find themselves in the minority.
Commissioners Ricky Arriola, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Alex Fernandez and David Richardson may want a more balanced approach, allowing for some exceptions within the entertainment district. Arriola has said he will not vote for an outright ban because voters didn’t approve that when they voted 57% in favor of a ban with exceptions.
Read related: 2 AM bar ban in Miami Beach could be a real estate con to benefit developers
That ballot question, like this commission vote Wednesday, is Gelber’s way to kill the nightlife on South Beach and turn the Ocean Drive corridor into a beachfront Brickell.
That’s what the Spring Break curfew was all about, as well. Nobody could believe that Miami Beach found itself in the very same predicament as it does every year. Didn’t they prepare? Didn’t they program some old people concert series and call in police reinforcements from other parts?
Doesn’t it seem like the state of emergency and curfew was inevitable? Almost scripted? Like they knew something would happen, they produced it so they could overreact. All it took was a couple of non-lethal shootings, which, let’s face it, is not an unusual Saturday night in the 305.
Read related: Dan Gelber and Phil Levine are caught conspiring to auction off Miami Beach
The real motivation is the same development scheme that Gelber and his pal, former Mayor Phil Levine, revealed at a secret Zoom meeting with real estate investors and developers in September of last year, two months before the referendum vote. The conversation was very obvious: ‘Contribute to this cause if you want to get anything build in South Beach.’
Gelber, Levine and their associates really want to kill what is known as the entertainment district so the businesses there fail and the land can be bought relatively cheap to build an oceanfront wall of high-rise, luxury condominiums.
There will likely be some alcohol-selling businesses at Wednesday’s meeting, taking issue with any roll back that will affect their bottom lines. The city’s prior attempts to roll back alcohol sales have ended in court.
Wednesday’s meeting can be viewed online here.
Miami Beach commission considers 3 options for 2 a.m. last call for alcohol added by Ladra on
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