What happened at meeting today

[livin42nite]

I know today was that meeting on the beach that'll decide what happens with clubs in the future south of 5th. Anybody know how it went?

[macboy]

I'll post in a bit, but short answer is no new nightlife establishments in South Pointe and Sunset Harbour, but no rollback of hours.

[coachjames]

Well, after FOUR hours of tons of people speaking out against it, and many, many more supporting them, the commission voted in favor of the ordinance. To be honest, there were a few people who showed up in support of the ordinance, but the VAST majority of people there were against it. And yet the commission approved it. Garcia and Steinberg voted against it.

The ordinance disallows any restaurant from obtaining an entertainment license. This means they cannot do anything from showing the superbowl on a big screen TV to having a guitarist to having a full dance floor like Nikki's or Opium. Current establishments can continue to do business as normal, they are "grandfathered" in. That covers a grand total of 9 or maybe 10 businesses. This ordinance only applies to South Pointe and Sunset Harbor.

Once again, the commission caved to the interests of the condo conglomerates.

Also, Gross introduced a resolution to completely table the 2am question which was passed.

[tired]

south pointe?? that the area by nikki's and opium?

[coachjames]

south pointe?? that the area by nikki's and opium?

Yes. That is the area south of 5th St. Several other venues are there, as well.

[tired]

Yes. That is the area south of 5th St. Several other venues are there, as well.

gracias.... not to familiar with area names

[dannyj]

so are they closing them at 2am???

[mrjoebudious]

so it stays the same for those that are currently open?

if that is the case, that makes their value worth even more.

less supply, more demand

So opium has made more money, again.

and teds and the room, etc.

grandfather = $

[shaka610]

I would disagree (for arguments sake only) with the grandfather= $$ argument simply because there will be nothing new arising up in those club areas to keep the gradfathered clubs alive. Just like an amusement park but more intense, i believe for a nightclub (and their short lives) to thrive, new venues in the area only help. Will they keep constant demand yes, but all clubs get "old" to local people unless u reach a "tourist" cround (Webster Hall NYC) and even they are under 21 which is not the case here. Therefore i believe that although they will be ok in the near term, in the long run(and as the clubs push their way downtown which is what i hear may be next) i believe the opium group does have their clock counting down...... that is untill the condo developer stops by then we are talking REAL $$$$$

[coachjames]

No, the 2am thing was not even on the agenda. What was on the agenda and DID get passed was a very narrow piece of legislation that disallows restaurants in South Pointe and Sunset Harbor from obtaining entertainment licenses.

However, even though the 2am closing time was not on the official agenda, Commissioner Saul Gross introduced a motion to indefinitely table the issue which was passed unanimously. So, the 2am issue is currently a non-issue. Dead. Cancelled. It is not even on the drawing board. However, they could still bring it up at some future meeting. But my feeling is that they won't try for quite some time.

[macboy]

Grandfathering in this case only makes them more valuable if those liquor licenses are transferable, which I don't believe they are. If Opium were to pick up and leave, I think the only thing that could pop up in its place would be a true restaurant.

Fact is there really wasn't much room for that many more nightlife establishments below fifth, so Opium and Nikki and the 7 other establishments down there are really not going to derive any more revenue than they already generate as a result of this ruling. But they certainly are given some revenue protection in a way.

But back to the hearing. First of all, good to meet coach and his lady. I had a problem with this proposed ordinance from the outset for the simple fact that it was politics in its truest, most despicable form. What they did was to put in two separate, highly charged issues into a single proposal. First being the denial of any new nightlife establishments in South Pointe and Sunset Harbour. This had been brewing for a very long time, at least with respect to South Pointe. The second was the rollback of the hours from 5am to 2am.

Now, if while some of you have been to commission meetings, I don't know how many of you have shown up to "Mayor on the Move" meetings and political fundraisers for these commissioners. I can tell you that in those meetings, NOT ONE commissioner has ever supported the rollback of nightlife hours!!!!!! In my humble opinion, this option was slipped into the proposal with the specific intention of getting the nightlife community so riled up, that they would concentrate their efforts more on that than they would with the first part of the proposal (no new establishments in SP - SH). The commission knew all along that it would pull the rollback provision from the ordinance, and guess what? They did 7-0 (the first part was approved 5-2), and the nightlife community fell for it. The commission knew that current nightlife establishment owners will ultimately be interested in their own fate more so than the fate of possible future establishments. Self-preservation is the most basic human reaction. It works that way in the business world as well. So now it looks as if the commission has made just about everyone happy. Until they figure out they got duped.

What bothers me about Sunset Harbour is that Jade and Purdy Lounge really don't make any noise outside their establishments, and Jade isn't even surrounded by apartments. No one really had a right to complain in that neighborhood.

Now what is next up in the fight to kill nightlife? Well, June 9 is an important date. That is the day, after public hearing on second reading, that they decide what consitutes an adjudicated violation in determining whether to yank the owners' occupational license. Due to Opium's recent win in the courts, the commission now has to specifically define what is a violation and what is not, and whether they will consider listing major and minor violations, so that some do not count against the owner for purposes of yanking the license. Second to noise issues is littering, specifically the dumping of club flyers and who is ultimately to blame - the promoter or the owner. I think promoters need to watch this carefully as well. See you June 9.

[macboy]

Oops, dp.

[coachjames]

Nice review Macboy, but one small correction. I was at the South Beach Mayor on the Move meeting, a very scary thing, mind you. Those condo people are crazy! But, Mayor Dermer did, at that meeting, specifically bring up the issue of the rollback to 2am or 3am. Admittedly, he might have just done it to keep the mob from lynching him, but he brought it up, not anyone in the audience.

[macboy]

Dermer is the master politician. He says what people want to hear without promising anything. Let me ask you...did he couch it in these terms - "we are discussing the possibility of rolling back the hours" or did he specifically say "I am in favor of rolling back the hours." I'm sure it was the former. I have never heard him say the latter, and while not political suicide, it would be very damaging to him if he did.