Stupid Laws Hurting,
Not Helping, Miami

“The city has 700 numbers to call, and no one who answers any of them can give you the information you need.”

Running a business is just too easy in the city of Miami. It has to be made more —challenging.

At least that is what the powers that be in the city of Miami believe. Why else would they enact and continue to enforce a ridiculous law requiring certain food-serving establishments to not serve beer or wine without a meal?

That’s what the owner, employees and customers of Lost and Found Saloon found out when armed police stormed in, frisked customers and then left a $500 citation. The crime: someone dared serve a beer to an undercover code enforcement officer before he received a plate of food.

What happened to Lost and Found is not an isolated incident. Kingdom in Miami was also raided by police after someone served a beer without a meal. And the law has been used against hundreds of cafeterias in Little Havana. More than a thousand people have been arrested.

The logic of these sweeps, conducted by a Quality of Life Task Force since 2002, is to clamp down on minor crimes — discouraging disorder in general. That meant citing property owners for poorly maintained lots and cafeterias for serving beer without a meal. A business that does not follow the exact rules, confusing as they are, risk getting a visit from heavily-armed Miami cops.

How arresting or citing businesses for serving a beer without a meal helps the quality of life in Miami baffles the SunPost. The SunPost is also confused as to why the city of Miami won’t assist business owners who want to comply with the law (and have been encouraged to open in Miami) through its maze of crazy bureaucracy. “I’ve been trying to figure out just how we [can] comply with the city’s guidelines,” Ken Burcell, owner of the Lost and Found Saloon, told the SunPost. “The city has 700 numbers to call, and no one who answers any of them can give you the information you need.”

And so the police continue raiding businesses — until they fold. Is the key to an economically viable Miami one that is devoid of businesses within its transitioning areas? Or perhaps every business in Miami must hire a politically-connected lobbyist in order to stay open?

Mayor Manny Diaz was elected to reform Miami and make it economically viable again. His method of doing so was to attract development — increasing the tax-base and attracting businesses to the inner city. The development came — so did the businesses.

But if the powers-that-be want those businesses to survive, or more to set up shop, they should repeal laws that make it hard for these establishments to exist — or at least simplify them so they are easier to understand and follow.

Otherwise the economic revitalization now being seen in Miami’s transitioning neighborhoods will dry up as small businesses like Lost and Found close down and new ones don’t materialize. Large new projects alone won’t keep the economic engine going. And, in case Miami’s leaders don’t notice, the real estate market has slowed down. The key to Miami’s economic vitality is its smaller businesses. The city should respect and protect them — not endlessly harass them.