Controversial regulation on alcohol sales starts May 22 in some areas of South Beach
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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A new rule aims to change the out-of-control party on Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue in South Beach, but not everyone in Miami Beach believes it will work.
Business owners who benefit from nightlife’s alcohol sales say that not only will the rule not work, but it will hurt the local economy. Property owners who are worried about the area’s reputation affecting real estate value support it.
Miami Beach commissioners voted 4-3 on Wednesday to ban daily early morning alcohol sales after 2 a.m. from May 22 to Dec. 8. The ban, which used to be at 5 a.m., applies to the entertainment district’s area between Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive south of 16th Street.
Design Shines in Miami
Miami has become one of the country’s best destinations for design.
To be clear, the correct geographic nomenclature for what everyone, including this columnist, calls Miami is actually Greater Miami as Miami Beach and Miami, linked by causeways across Biscayne Bay, are actually separate cities.
Lining the streets of Miami Beach about a century ago, this was a mangrove swamp are hundreds of listed buildings from the second quarter of the 20th century. Early morning in Miami Beach. (Dennis Lennox)
The most well-known are the pastel-colored art deco landmarks of the aptly named Miami Beach Architectural District. Found along the main streets of Collins Avenue, Ocean Drive, and Washington Avenue, they were remarkably saved from demolition by preservation-minded residents who challenged powerful interests at a time when few people in the halls of government thought half-century-old architecture was worth saving from the forces of progress and development. A
The Commercial changes are aimed at the Art Deco Historic District. (Getty)
Miami Beach’s strategy for killing the rowdy, at times violent, party atmosphere on Ocean Drive and nearby Collins Avenue involves curtailing development of future standalone and rooftop bars.
The Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a slate of commercial changes aimed at revamping the Art Deco Historic District into a neighborhood that attracts long-term office tenants and residents, while reforming Ocean Drive’s reputation as an anything-goes tourist destination.
The proposal includes:
A prohibition on standalone bars. Properties would only be allowed to have bars as an accessory to a restaurant use or if a bar is located in a hotel lobby.