Emmanuel Duchange said he’s disappointed.

The project manager of Constructa, Duchange said he wanted to bring back the outdoor Art and Flowers Market he tried out in Easter at Ocean Steps. No one complained of noise back then, he said.  He also didn’t think there would be too many objections to an un-amplified jazz trio providing entertainment outside the complex. Nor did he think there was going to be much of a problem with outdoor yoga classes. He admitted that the application needed narrowing…  that was why he was starting to meet with neighbors.  “It was very disappointing to see all that work go for nothing,” he said, adding he plans to reapply again.

Duchange’s request for a continuance was denied and his application was rejected. This was partly thanks to objections from residents within the Ocean Steps complex  (including the Il Villagio Condo Association, which insisted it was never contacted) who just didn’t like the idea of a little commotion outside their condo. But they weren’t alone.  Representatives from a half-dozen condo associations all over South Beach—including one from the West Avenue area and another near 24^th Street—also objected to Constructa’s application, based on the belief that outdoor entertainment should be banned near residential areas and that the county noise ordinance must be strictly enforced.

Such a premise isn’t so problematic in most areas of Miami-Dade County, or even South Florida for that matter, where commercial areas and residential zones are usually segregated and distinct.

But in Miami Beach’s South Beach area it’s a little different.  Not only is everything in a tight, compact area; this is a place where—for decades—restaurants, condos, apartment houses, nightclubs and entertainment complexes are all placed together in things called “mixed entertainment districts.”  Strangely enough, this unique state of affairs has been celebrated by real estate professionals and tourism promoters alike. Buy a unit at XYZ Towers, real estate ads often proclaim, and you are within walking distance of the beach, the historic art district, trendy restaurants and the exciting nightlife and entertainment district. There’s now a trend by realtors and developers to turn their SoBe condo sales center openings into hip lounges, complete with DJ. Thus the message is re-enforced: buy into this lifestyle and all this hip-ness will be surrounding you.

And so people buy into the condominium that is a stone’s throw away from a popular nightclub. And they find that, on the weekends, things can get a little noisy.

Is the description “ a little noisy” perhaps not quite accurate? It is hard to doubt neighbors who testify about the incessant noise (in spite of an anti-noise measures taken by the owners) that escapes from the roofless club known as Opium. But is this true in every neighbor vs. entertainment venue instance? Are all residents being driven insane by music emanating from the occasional hotel pool party?  Is the noise really that intense? Might there be many other residents out there who don’t consider the noise levels excessive, shrugging them off as just the cost of living life in the city that hardly sleeps?

This editorial hates to say it but just outright banning all forms of outdoor entertainment—including markets and special events—won’t guarantee that the muted sounds of violins – or even “trance” – will not sometimes filter through the crack of the door. There would also have to be a whole-scale dismantling and outright elimination of mixed entertainment and residential districts throughout Miami Beach. South Beach as we know it’s essential character, in other words, would have to be altered and changed in a fundamental way.

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