Miami Beach

Peace Treaty

Residents strike a deal about noise with tourism industry leaders

By Ben Torter

Residents fighting for a quieter Miami Beach have finally reached a peace agreement with leaders of the hotel, restaurant and club industries, who argue that they should be cut a little slack when it comes to making noise because they support the local economy.

The key issues on the bargaining table were the number of warnings a business receives before being slapped with a fine, and just how much noise residents would accept between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Commissioners voted 7-0 June 25 to pass an ordinance that is not quite what residents originally wanted, but is one the industry accepted. A second vote must be taken July 16 before the proposed ordinance becomes law. There will be a couple of committee meeting discussions before then.

People on both sides of the issue packed Miami Beach City Hall ready to do battle. Residents with “no to noise” stickers filled the seats on one side of the room. On the other side were hotel, club and restaurant owners and their big-gun attorneys, such as former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate Jimmy Morales.

Incredibly, only three people from the audience spoke, and most raised their hands when commissioner Saul Gross asked who agreed with the compromise.

Commissioner Deede Weithorn explained that the truce was reached because the issue had already been thoroughly hashed out, and both sides had made gains.

Activist Frank Del Vecchio, who along with Morris Sunshine and others was instrumental in drafting the new ordinance, said it isn’t exactly what he’d hoped for, but agreed it’s a winner for both sides. “There are as many benefits in this for the hotel industry as there are for residents,” he said.

The new ordinance calls for only one noise warning before a violation is issued, a victory for residents. Still, residents did not get the stricter version of sound measurement, known as the plainly audible standard, that they hoped would be put into effect between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. “If you can hear the bass, it’s plainly audible,” Del Vecchio said.

Mango’s Tropical Café owner David Wallack bluntly explained why industry representatives said little at the meeting.

“We’ve said it so many times already,” Wallack said. “It’s just a waste of time.”

The cost of a first offense will be $250, the second in a 12-month period, $1,000 and the third, $2,000. The fine for a fourth offense is $3,000 and a weekend shutdown of the noise-producing part of the business; for the fifth, $5,000 and a two-weekend closure. After six or more violations, the business will be labeled a habitual offender and can lose its operating license. Warnings and violations reset after 12 months under the new ordinance; previously it reset after 18 months.

Wallack has been a vocal opponent to the reduction is warnings, arguing it could hurt business.

“This is a nail in the tire,” Wallack said, adding that with the bad economy, Mango’s business is down 6 percent — and from what he’s heard, he’s lucky. “Will it make the tire flat? You just don’t know.”

The new ordinance calls for careful tracking of noise complaints. Residents became outraged earlier in the year after discovering that 75 percent of noise complaints were found invalid. Industry leaders complained competitors were making false complaints.

Weithorn said she was swayed to drop the stricter daytime noise measurement standards after representatives of the Loews Hotel, 1601 Collins Ave., told the commission at an earlier committee meeting that it could hurt their ability to attract conventions.

“We want to help the residents,” Weithorn said, “but we don’t want to hurt the industry.”

Comments? E-mail ben@miamisunpost.com