Large Miami Beach Parties Will Soon Require Event Permits

Miami Beach, FL – Attempting to minimize traffic congestion and noise disturbances, the City of Miami Beach will begin requiring visitors and residents to obtain a special event permit before holding parties in residential neighborhoods during five peak times of the year in which more than 100 attendees “may reasonably be expected to attend” as well as in some other circumstances.

“This is a fundamental quality-of-life issue for our residents,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner of the measure that was approved recently on second reading by the City Commission. The ordinance will take effect on March 29. “Our residents and first responders have voiced serious concerns about these events, and this new law will help put an end to loud parties and related traffic.”

A qualifying special event is defined as any "nonrecurring special occasion or activity which is temporary in nature and has extraordinary or excessive impacts on public health, safety and welfare." The permit requirement also applies to parties or gatherings in which fireworks will be used, in the case of events in which 50 or more vehicles are expected (including vehicles that pick up or drop off passengers and vehicles that park at the event) as well as any events that use institutional or commercial speakers, lighting or generators and any event with institutional/commercial grade bars that are large enough to accommodate more than one bartender behind each bar or that have three or more one-person bars.

Permit costs vary based on the nature, scope and expected attendance at each event. Click here for more information or to apply.

“Our residents have overwhelmingly supported this ordinance because they’re fed up with inconsiderate neighbors turning homes on peaceful streets into chaotic nightclubs,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Alex J. Fernandez, who sponsored the measure. “No one should have to endure gridlocked streets, booming bass at 2 a.m., or the terrifying risk that emergency responders can’t get through because of a private party spiraling out of control. This ordinance draws a clear and necessary line to protect the safety and peace of our neighborhoods.”

Applications for special event permits must be submitted at least 90 days ahead of the party or event. Qualifying parties or events will require a Special Event Permit during the following five periods of the year — Feb. 1 to  March 31 (Super Bowl and spring break), May 1-31 (Formula 1 Race Week and Memorial Day), June 25 to July 15 (Independence Day), Oct. 15 to Nov. 10 (Halloween) and Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 (Latin Grammys, Art Week Miami Beach and the winter holiday season).

Property owners who fail to obtain a permit prior to holding their event will face a 13-month waiting period before they are eligible to apply for a special event permit for a future party. Violations carry a $1,000 fine per day for the initial violation and $5,000 per day for a second or subsequent violation. Moreover, violators face a $15,000 fine for any offense that is determined by a special magistrate to be “irreparable or irreversible in nature.” Such a determination will be made in the case of unpermitted parties or events that are already underway or that have occurred in the past.

The city conducted a pilot test of similar requirements during last year’s Art Week Miami Beach. The pilot withstood a federal challenge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Hochstein v. City of Miami Beach).

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