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LTC 255-2020 Response to Recent Issues in the Entertainment District OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER 255-2020 TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager DATE: July 15, 2020 SUBJECT: Response to Recent Issues in the Entertainment District The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide an update on the steps the Administration is taking to address the COVID-19 issues and public safety concerns that have been generated by large crowds in the Entertainment District this past week. Background Both the County and the City, fearing large crowds for the 4th of July weekend, enacted measures in anticipation of potentially challenging issues with respect to the spread of COVID-19. Such measures included closure of the beaches, 10 p.m. curfew, 8 p.m. closure of package liquor stores citywide and no indoor dining at restaurants. The result was a relatively incident free weekend. Coming out of that weekend, it was anticipated that we would see our typically smaller crowds for mid-July and August, particularly given the impact of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this past weekend, we have seen large crowds that ignore all the masking and social distancing rules (likely super-spreaders of the virus) and engage in rude, disruptive and offensive behavior. Our residents and visitors are alarmed and fear for their health and safety, as do our businesses and their employees. Furthermore, the pictures and videos on social media strongly contribute to the image of South Florida as the national hotspot for this pandemic. It is fair to say that given the low occupancy rates in our hotels and the continuing 10 p.m. curfew, we did not anticipate such crowds. We do not want to make that mistake again. Police Response The first critical step was to work with Chief Clements and his senior command to identify what the Police would do differently going forward. The Chief and his team put together a Policing Plan for the MXE and Enforcement of Emergency Orders, which was laid out in LTC 248-2020 attached hereto, a copy of which was circulated to you on Monday. The key elements of this plan consist of the following: • MBPD Command Staff will be working into the midnight shift, and on a nightly basis, to provide additional leadership and guidance; • Enhanced staffing in the MXE for this weekend supplementing our numbers with additional personnel from the Miami-Dade Police Department (24 each day), plus an additional 20 MBPD officers; • Beginning next Monday, a modified staffing plan of the Department that resembles the COVID-19 staffing plan utilized in March, which has the dual benefit of protecting the workforce by enhancing the ability to limit the spread of the virus among the troops due to exposure, and providing additional officers on the street (22 per shift citywide); • Re-emphasizing addressing the homeless population in locations where they are known to congregate, and offering services while also dealing with quality of life issues; • Return to regular, and consistent, park and walk details and patrols in the areas of 41st Street, the Washington Avenue corridor, Lincoln Road and SOFNA; • MBPD will continue to work closely with Code Enforcement and the rest of the HEET team to enforce the emergency orders as they pertain to area restaurants; and • MBPD will continue to dedicate personnel to the enforcement of the City-wide curfew. I have made it clear to the Chief that he should employ all resources necessary to achieve the stated goals of restoring order and enforcing the COVID-related emergency orders. I also wanted his men and women to know that we support them. Yesterday, I recorded a Zoom video that was sent to the entire department assuring them that the City and this Administration have full faith and confidence in our Police Department, that we need for them to engage, in the professional manner in which they have been trained, to restore the law and order our residents very much desire, and that we will provide them whatever support they need to get the job done. I have no doubt that I spoke for this community, our elected officials and our workforce in sending them this message of support and encouragement. Additional Measures We still have in place the 10 p.m. curfew, the prohibition of indoor dining at restaurants, and the 8 p.m. closure of package liquor stores citywide. But I believe some additional measures may be needed to make sure that we do not see a repeat of what transpired. Short-term rental ban: Yesterday, I issued a revised emergency order closing all short-term rentals effective Thursday. This is in direct response to troubling issues that have arisen at short-term rentals in the City these past couple of weeks. Even though the County order restricts short-term rentals to a minimum duration of one month, that represents a very difficult enforcement scenario. It is much more effective, as we saw during the earlier shut down, to have a simple ban. Unlike hotels that have rules and regulations and the resources to hire private enforcement, short-term rentals have none of those and pose risks to the community, particularly in the era of COVID-19. We will aggressively enforce this ban throughout the City. MXE Ambassadors: Now that our Beach Ambassador program is focused on the beach from 21st Street to South Pointe (where we see larger crowds), starting Friday, we will be repurposing many of the beach ambassadors provided by the County to work on Ocean Drive and elsewhere in the MXE from Noon – 7 p.m. to pass out masks and encourage folks to engage in social distancing. Proposed MXE Rollback: I have consulted with Police and Code to see what additional measures they would recommend to address the issues we are seeing in the MXE and surrounding areas. Given the extreme conditions we have seen this past week and the spiking COVID-19 numbers, I think more restrictive measures are required. There are certain items that I will bring to this Friday’s Special Commission meeting for your consideration: 1. Impose an earlier 8 p.m. business closure and general curfew in the MXE and Washington; only delivery after 8 p.m.; 2. Close the package liquor stores at 5 p.m. in the MXE and Washington; 3. Close Ocean Drive to all vehicles 24/7 (BTW, the Ocean Drive Association yesterday adopted a resolution supporting such closure); and 4. Close street parking on the 100 blocks (between Ocean and Collins) between 5th and 15th streets starting at 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily. My recommendation on Friday would be to enact these measures and the Commission could re- examine those measures at the July 29th Commission meeting. This would give us two weekends of experiential data. Furthermore, I think we need to begin serious discussions about the long-term future of the MXE and South Beach, and perhaps take advantage of this pandemic crisis to provide the synergy to make real and positive change.