MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The party’s over early on South Beach, at least for the days when spring breakers descend on the city.
Commissioners voted 5-2 to ban booze after 3 a.m. in the entertainment district, for six days in March.
This comes after last year’s beach brawls and street fights that made for embarrassing headlines for the city.
Still, most people inside commission chambers were not happy about the decision.
“We don’t feel these measures are going to make any difference at all," said Joel Stedman, owner of Twist nightclub, who brought his workers to the meeting for support. “It’s hurting small business. And we’re just devastated.”
Other club and restaurant owners spoke out, too, saying it was going to harm their businesses.
Commissioner Michael Gongora was among the “no” votes.
“This ordinance is a solution looking for a problem,” he said.
Mayor Dan Gelber told Local 10 he thinks the last call rollback is the best solution, for now.
“I don’t believe that this is the silver bullet," he said. “I think this is part of the tool kit. It’s not the first thing we’re going to do. And if it doesn’t help, if we think there’s a metric that tells us that. Then we won’t continue to do it.”