MIAMI – The police-involved fatal shooting during Urban Beach Weekend on South Beach has Miami Beach city officials scrambling to figure out how to curb a decade-long event that they do not officially sanction, issue permits for or have a legal way to ban.
On Tuesday morning, a steady stream of residents called City Hall, irate about the violence, garbage, noise and crowds.
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"This is a spontaneous happening that we cannot control," said Miami Beach Mayor Matti Hererra Bower at a news conference Tuesday. "We are also up in arms."
The city annually spends about $1 million on police protection and services to mitigate damage and protect visitors during the annual Memorial Day weekend gathering that hip-hop and rap music promoters spread via the Internet and word of mouth. With no official organizer, there is no person nor entity to hold responsible.
At a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, commissioners planned to discuss ways to discourage crowds from coming next year, such as earlier closing times for clubs and increasing parking rates.
"As a result of what they've been doing, we need to change our laws to make it less comfortable to be in Miami Beach over Memorial Day weekend," said Commissioner Michael Gongora.