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Coconut Grove
Party Rollback
City Commission moves to stop liquor sales at
3 a.m.
By Erik Bojnansky
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CocoWalk is home to several supper clubs with 5 a.m.
licenses. |
The
Miami City Commission has moved forward with cutting off
alcohol service in Coconut Grove at
3 a.m.
During the same Jan. 24 meeting, the City Commission
also stripped away the
5 a.m.
liquor license of Visions and Apple Martini, a supper
club that operates at 3015 Grand Ave.
“Of course we are going to appeal the decision — it is
ridiculous,” said Lou Terminello, attorney for Shawn
Shahnazi, owner of Visions and Apple Martini.
Other nightlife venue owners in the Grove hope to defeat
an ordinance that would eliminate
5 a.m. liquor licenses in the Grove’s business district,
or get their establishments exempted from the code. They
insist they would lose as much as $30,000 a month if
they are unable to serve liquor between 3 and 5 a.m.
Given that many leases give landlords a percentage of
their rent as well as a base, such a slash would be
devastating, said Matt Goldman, owner of Oxygen Lounge.
“It is unfair with a grand sweep of the pen to [put us
out of business],” he said, adding that Coconut Grove
has long been known as an entertainment district.
But Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who represents Coconut
Grove, argued that neither the business district nor
Coconut Grove were meant to be entertainment districts.
The
5 a.m. liquor licenses are granted on a case-by-case
basis via a “special exception” from the Miami Zoning
Board. Those with “special exception” licenses must have
food service. Without the
5 a.m.
license, alcohol service must end at 3 a.m.
Many Coconut Grove residents, meanwhile, complain that
intoxicated customers of
5 a.m.
establishments have increased crime, noise and pollution
in the area. Between June 2006 and June 2007 there were
425 calls from the Grove to the police between
3 a.m.
and
5 a.m., Sarnoff said.
Shahnazi said he has invested $60,000 a year in off-duty
police protection and another $190,000 on a private
security company.
Sarnoff pointed out that there were 22 calls for service
at Visions and Martini Bar alone. He also said that he
witnessed security personnel patting down Visions
visitors at
4:30 a.m. and placing chains and knives in a box.
Shahnazi insisted that his club has been very safe,
except for the highly publicized double stabbing there
last summer. Shahnzai said the perpetrator was a gang
member who followed a “witness” into his club.
Katherine Komis, a resident of the Center Grove
neighborhood that surrounds the business district, said
the Miami Zoning Board should not have given Shahnazi a
5 a.m.
license last July. Among her arguments for repealing
that license were that Visions doesn’t operate as
an actual restaurant and that the city has no clear
criteria for approving
5 a.m.
licenses in the Grove. “It is unclear under what
circumstances this business was granted the special
exemption to operate outside of [7
a.m. to 3 a.m.]
and, again, what criteria will be used for future
requests,” Komis wrote in her appeal. “One board member
said that when residents bought in the Center Grove,
they bought, in part, ‘to be ready for the party.’
Nothing could be further from the truth….”
Sarnoff said the city should help Coconut Grove “grow
up” by stopping liquor sales at
3 a.m. He also recommended that the neighborhood’s
establishments start catering to the area’s “wealthy”
residents.
Commissioner Joe Sanchez disagreed. “Coconut
Grove not only services the wealthy…. Coconut Grove is
open to everyone in the community.”
Sarnoff then apologized, adding that Coconut Grove is
home “to a great mix of people.”
Sanchez said the
3 a.m. ordinance needed to be “tweaked,” but
nevertheless voted to approve it on first reading; it
passed 4-0 (Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones was
absent). Komis’ appeal of Visions’
5 a.m.
license was also approved by a vote of 4-0.
Terminello said he will file an appeal in circuit court.
As for Sarnoff’s comment that the business district
should cater to the Grove’s wealthy residents,
Terminello said, “I guess he let it slip what he was
really thinking.”
Comments? E-mail
erik@miamisunpost.com. |
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