Lawsuit States ‘The City Has Declared War On South Beach’s Famed Entertainment District.’
If you’re a nightclub owner and a Pubclubber anyway.
The city of Miami Beach has put forth a no-alcohol rule for bars and clubs after 2 a.m. This in a place that traditionally allowed people to tip ’em back until 5 a.m. At least one one bar owner is not happy about it and has brought in lawyers to stop the new law.
The Clevelander, which has been known around the world as one South Beach’s top party spots for the past 20 years, has filed a 90-page lawsuit to allow it to stay open and serve alcohol until practically the sun comes up across the street on Miami Beach.
It opens with this eye-popping statement: “The City has declared war on South Beach’s famed Entertainment District.”
The city implemented the policy during Spring Break, in which too many immature souls danced on taxi cabs, got in fights and created a scene that hardly resembled civilized behavior. Already the mayor had referred to his city as Bourbon Street on the beach and the Spring Break situation led him and the city council to spring into action.
So they voted to cut off alcohol sales at 2 a.m. The goal is to rebrand the area from nightlife nirvana to what it calls an “Art Deco Cultural District.”
A Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge has ruled that the city commission didn’t vote correctly on the issue and now the situation is likely headed for a lawsuit.
But the Clevelander has a solution to avoid that scenario. It wants the Clevelander and other long-standing nightclubs to be “grandfathered” in so they can stay open and play music at the club levels until 5 a.m.
Other long-standing clubs that would benefit from such a provision are the Palace and Mango’s Tropical Cafe.
What Miami Beach needs most of all are well-behaved pubbers and clubbers as it has had during its 20-plus year reign as one of the world’s most famous nightlife districts.
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