Ocean Drive Moves Toward Becoming a Special Taxing District… Again

“We are gearing up.”—Tony Goldman, president of Goldman Properties 

By Jason Jeffers
Staff Writer 

In an effort to improve their surroundings, businesses and property owners along Ocean Drive may once again band together to form a special taxing district.

“We are gearing up,” said Tony Goldman, a prominent property owner on Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue and president of Goldman Properties. “We want the support of the city administration to move ahead and enact a plan for a business improvement district. Who better to closely monitor the neighborhood than the people who live in, work in and care for it?”

Marlo Courtney, the director of Goldman Properties and an officer of the Ocean Drive Association, said the idea of creating a special taxing district to enhance services on Ocean Drive received a lot of support during a special workshop held early last month. 

“There is certainly a need for a very busy entertainment and business district to once again become a special assessment district so we can control our own destiny here on Ocean Drive,” Courtney said. 

While the details of such a special taxing district have yet to be worked out, Goldman is positive that the necessary support will come from the city administration and those who occupy Ocean Drive

“Our vision for Ocean Drive includes controlling the noise levels, maintaining a level of sanitation and also maintaining a presence of security. A well-packaged Ocean Drive is essential to the image of Miami Beach,” Goldman said. “We feel the [Miami Beach City] Commission is supportive of our plans, and now the next step is to petition property owners to sign on and to develop a budget. Things should be coming together within the next 3 to 6 months.”

In 1993, Ocean Drive was one of the first special taxing districts to establish itself in South Beach.  During the mid-1990s, four special taxing districts sprang into existence: the Ocean Drive Association, the South Beach Oceanfront Hotel District, the Washington Avenue Association and the Lincoln Road Partnership. (Although autonomous, all four districts were managed by the Miami Beach Development Corporation.)  Property owners within the districts were charged a special assessment (which was often passed on to tenant businesses through triple-net leases) to pay for special cleaning crews, advertising and extra security.

But the districts’ operations were paid for not only through the special assessments.  The City of Miami Beach also contributed more than half of the districts’ budgets.  A 1996 audit revealed that it would be more cost affective for the city to provide “enhanced” services for Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Lincoln Road and part of Collins than to continue with the special districts.  In October 1996, the commission decided against recreating the Ocean Drive and Oceanfront districts. In December 1996, the districts of Washington Avenue and Lincoln Road failed to get the necessary votes to recreate themselves. 

Courtney said the special taxing Ocean Drive Association was a “model” district.  “The city would be safer and cleaner now [if the districts still existed],” Courtney said.

David Kelsey, president of the South Beach Hotel Association and a critic of the mid-1990s districts, said he is willing to reserve judgment.

 “I don’t have a problem if participation is voluntary, the people who pay into it have a voice, and the services are delivered,” he said. “If they’re just wasting money and creating more bureaucracy it’s pointless.” 

--Erik Bojnansky contributed to this report