MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Miami Beach residents know that the “I live where you vacation” flex takes a whole different meaning every year during spring break. It’s what gave priority to the city’s “quality of life” committee.
During the committee’s meeting on Wednesday, David Simon, a resident, said he was worried about a court ruling Florida’s ban on open carry unconstitutional. Property owners can still prohibit weapons.
“People are going to be bringing in loaded weapons. I think it’s a bad mix,” Simon said.
The committee members focused on checkpoints, concerns about people partying out of their cars, street closures, traffic, parking, signs, barricades, public safety, and other possible problems in preparation for the commission’s future votes.
Earlier this year, Mayor Steven Meiner appointed four commissioners to the committee: Alex Fernandez, the chair; Laura Dominguez, the vice chair; Monica Matteo-Salinas, a member; and Tanya K. Bhatt, an alternate.
“As we are now in a new world with long guns ... something that you can trot around town with, I am very interested in making sure that we catch as many people who aren’t supposed to have them as possible,” Bhatt told Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones.
Bhatt said she was also worried about security in parking garages after a former resident was beaten and severely injured by a drunk beachgoer.
“We assign two police officers per garage during spring break,” Jones said.
Commissioner Joseph Magazine, who is the chair of the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee, also participated in the meeting and said he wanted to avoid the use of barricades.
“I want to be a welcoming community,” Magazine said.
Dominguez and Matteo-Salinas said they also opposed having barricades on Washington or Collins Avenues.
“It’s a bad look,” Dominguez said.
William MacDonald, the city’s parking director, said the neighborhood protection barricades help protect residents’ parking, and he was working with IT on flagging possible commercial use of visitors’ passes.
“We are looking at ways to control traffic,” MacDonald said.
Matteo-Salinas said she lives in the Flamingo Park area and understands the fear that “the neighborhoods are going to be taken over.”
Jones told the committee that the restricted entrances for security screenings at the beach had not been determined yet, and he is counting on a team of goodwill ambassadors.
Fernandez said he and the committee supported the use of barricades in “hot spots of concern,” not imposing a $100 parking rate, keeping sidewalk cafes open, a later beach closure, and more access points to the beach.
“I do want to have parking flexibility up to $100,” Eric Carpenter, the city manager, told the committee.
Carpeter also said the city was ready to release the spring break marketing campaign soon, maybe on the mayor’s state of the city address on Wednesday night or at the commission meeting on Thursday.
The committee also discussed preparations for the upcoming Miami International Boat Show from Feb. 11-15. The city expects more than 100,000 people at 1901 Convention Center Drive.
Maria Hernandez, an assistant city manager, said the show will also be at Pride Park, at 1809 Meridian Ave., and 250 yachts on the Indian Creek waterway between 42nd and 43rd street off Collins Avenue.
On traffic, John C. Norris, the city’s public works director, said there will be open excavations to replace sewer lines that are over 90 years old on Pinetree Drive and La Gorce Drive during the boat show.
“It might be wise to actually specify heading over to Alton Road and then having the traffic detail staffed appropriately to then manage the chaos,” Bhatt said during the meeting, later adding, “We don’t want the proverbial poop show of having an open sewer line go bust in the middle of all of this.”
José R. González, the city’s transportation and mobility director, said the city’s real-time active traffic management services include 20 digital message boards for drivers during the boat show.
Magazine said he disliked the digital message boards. Andres Asion, a real estate broker who lives in Miami Beach, shared some ideas with the committee.
“The boat that does the advertising that is always on the ocean ... marketing should consider using that boat to advertise messages,” Asion said.
On traffic, Asion said Ocean Drive should have a northbound one lane and not southbound, since most of the traffic would come from Fifth Street.
Watch the meeting
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