Miami Beach

Coffee Talk

Commissioner Jerry Libbin wants to have coffee with you

By Ben Torter

Commissioner Jerry Libbin stood in an Irish pub the other morning listening to Miami Beach residents speaking their minds.

Instead of consuming Guinness and shepherd’s pie, attendees sipped coffee and ate pastries during Libbin’s Coffee with the Commissioner meeting at Clarke’s in South Beach.

“I’m here to hear you,” Libbin told the lively crowd of 40 or so attendees.

Residents complained about everything from mine fields of dog poop and bicycles ridden on sidewalks to dangerous street crossings, cars parked in bus stops, parking space-greedy valets and boaters mooring in the waters behind homes.

However, most complained that the city’s noise ordinance doesn’t work, and many residents said they were fed up that the city isn’t enforcing quality of life laws.

For example, resident David Granoff is sick of bicycles being ridden on sidewalks.

“Do you ever give a ticket for that?” Granoff asked.

The problem was that no one, not even police Officer Alex Bello, was sure what rules exist for bicyclists. Bello said it is illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk or on Lincoln Road, and that the city would put up signage to that effect. “We are going to try and educate people before giving tickets,” he said.

But Libbin researched the law after the meeting and discovered that city code does allow bicycle riding on Lincoln Road.

Still, the hardest line of questioning came from activist Frank Del Vecchio, who put Libbin on the spot about the accessory use ordinance limiting the size of hotel restaurants in the historic district South of Fifth Street. The ordinance passed on first reading last month, but not before Libbin and Commissioner Richard Steinberg made a motion that many in the community saw as an attempt to water down the law. Libbin denied trying to dilute the ordinance and said the public “misconstrued” his actions. Del Vecchio asked Libbin if he would commit to passing the ordinance on second reading March 12.

“Yes, you have my commitment,” Libbin said.

To prove that the noise ordinance is flawed, residents cited a city report claiming that 75 percent of noise complaints are ruled invalid.

“The problem I’m hearing is that code enforcement isn’t enforcing,” Libbin said.

He was asked to support reducing from three to one the number of allowable noise warnings before a violation is written. Short of saying yes, he suggested a late-night neighborhood walk with code enforcement and residents to gauge the noise and invited people to call him on his cell phone any time of the day or night to report noise.

“I will give you my commitment that I will come down at 2 a.m. and see what’s going on,” Libbin said.

Libbin will hold another Coffee with the Commissioner at 8:30 a.m. March 19 at Parilla in the Days Inn at 75th Street and Ocean Terrace in North Beach. Residents can also make and track complaints on the city’s Better Place online service at www.miamibeachfl.gov.

Comments? E-mail ben@miamisunpost.com