Last Hurrah? Thirty More Days of Early Morning Boozing in Miami Beach (UPDATED)

Update published 3/20/2023 9:50 p.m.: The Miami Beach city commission has decided against imposing another curfew this weekend.

In a 4-3 vote that went against Mayor Dan Gelber's recommendation, commissioners opted not to reinstate the curfew from March 23 through March 27, dates which span Ultra Music Festival and the busiest days of Miami Music Week.

The city manager still has the power to impose another curfew and may do so if violence breaks out or crowd control deteriorates in Miami Beach.

Update published 3/20/2023 12:00 p.m.: Miami Beach declared a state of emergency and imposed a citywide curfew stretching from midnight on March 20 until 6 a.m. in response to two fatal shootings and "excessively large and unruly crowds" gathering over the weekend. The city says it plans to impose similar curfews beginning on Thursday, March 23, through Sunday, March 27.

A Miami judge has agreed to temporarily suspend enforcement of Miami Beach's new 2 a.m. liquor cutoff in the South of Fifth district, in a decision that enables local clubs and bars to cash in on the early morning party rush during Miami Music Week.

The 30-day stay was granted in a civil case brought by Amnesia International, AKA Story Nightclub, which warned that allowing the ordinance to abruptly take effect would jeopardize the club's business and put its employees out of work on short notice.

In a March 14 ruling, Miami-Dade County Judge Reemberto Diaz denied Story Nightclub's request to outright block the ordinance. But he is allowing the ordinance to be suspended for 30 days while his ruling is on emergency appeal.

Once the brief stay is over, the ordinance would force a handful of bars and clubs in the South of Fifth district to move up their last call for alcohol from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Other areas of Miami Beach are not affected by the new rules, which the Miami Beach city commission passed on February 22.

Story and others are banking on after-2 a.m. liquor sales to pad their revenue during Miami Music Week, which kicks off March 21 and includes dozens of late night parties, not to mention Ultra Music Festival. The festivities propel thousands of partygoers to imbibe until the wee hours, providing an alcohol revenue boon to the hospitality industry.

If Story and other challengers lose their appellate battle, this could be the last year that party-goers can rage till 5 a.m. in the South of Fifth district during Miami Music Week revelry.

In the long run, Story claims it won't survive at its current location if the ordinance is allowed to take effect. Its parties often reach their climax after 2 a.m. as do its liquor sales, the club says.

Story filed the court challenge last month, claiming the ordinance unfairly singles out large clubs and bars while allowing smaller businesses to keep serving booze till the early morning hours. The club pointed to an exception in the ordinance that allows businesses with less than a 100-person capacity to keep serving until 5 a.m. so long as they don't sell booze outdoors after 2 a.m.

The club cited comments by city commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who said at the February 22 commission meeting that she would back a liquor ordinance that would "eliminate Story [and] the nightclubs in the neighborhood, which seem to be the primary problem," but that she wanted an exception for smaller businesses.

In rejecting the request for an injunction, Judge Diaz wrote this week that the "court must not interfere with the political judgment" of Miami Beach officials "merely because it disagrees with the outcome or with comments" they make. Diaz found that the city has a legitimate interest in regulating liquor sales and that the ordinance was rationally related to furthering that interest.

The 30-day suspension of the ordinance was entered March 15. It covers Miami Music Week plus the subsequent two and half weeks ending in mid-April.

Story's property has been a nightclub hotspot since the early 1990s, operating under the Opium Garden brand and then as Amnesia. It was opened in its current incarnation in 2012 by hospitality guru David Grutman and Groot Hospitality, the company behind the LIV nightclub in Fontainebleau. Jeffrey Soffer, co-owner of Story and Fontainebleau chief executive, recently bought the Story property for $23 million.

"Hundreds of people depend on their Story for their livelihoods and we could not be more grateful that they have the opportunity to stay in business as we begin the appeals process," Story's attorney Sean Burstyn said in a statement cited in a Local 10 report.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has defended the ordinance, saying that the South of Fifth district is a "residential neighborhood that should not have to endure 24-hour nightclubs."

"The ordinance implements the will of Miami Beach voters who voted in November 2021 in favor of rolling back alcohol sales hours to 2 a.m., while allowing the city to create exceptions as appropriate," Miami Beach's attorney Joseph Serota argued on March 10.