LTC 106-2010 Spring Break and Winter Music Conference Recapm :MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC NO.106-2070 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Ho ble M or and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jo a M. Gonzalez, ity Manager
DATE: April 12, 2010
SUBJECT: Spring Break and Winter Music Conference Recap.
This Letter to Commission is intended to provide you with a recap of our recent Major Events Plan (MEP)
period that included Winter Music Conference and Spring Break, and to clarify some information you may
have received from the residential community regarding staffing levels during this MEP.
BACKGROUND
Major Events Plan
As you may know, the City began implementing its Major Events Planning (MEP) effort after Memorial Day
Weekend 2001. The City's MEP has been implemented during major event periods since that time. The
MEP provides the framework for the City to identify the resources necessary, and each Department's role
and function, for major community events or activities prior to their occurrence. These major events periods
may be tied to a specific organized event (such as a Super Bowl) or mayjust include periods of time when
there is an increase in visitors to our City not tied to a specific (organized) event (e.g. New Year's Eve,
Memorial Day Weekend, Spring Break, etc.). Specific action plans are developed prior to each period by
departments that will be required to provide enhanced levels of staffing or support. To properly address the
City's planning efforts, a comprehensive and coordinated Major Event Planning process is formulated in
conjunction with the City's partners, such as the Greater Miami and Convention Visitors Bureau (GMCVB),
the Hotel Association, area hotels, nightclub and entertainment establishments, area merchants,
community leaders and other governmental agencies (e.g. County, FHP, etc.). This plan was originally
developed with the assistance of the Community Relations Services (CRS) Agency of the Department of
Justice. Our MEP is coordinated through our Tourism and Cultural Development Department's Special
Events/Film & Print Division (TCD).
The MEP is developed in stages. Each City Department develops specific action plans to address the
requisite levels of service and outline their efforts and responsibilities associated with any upcoming major
event planned within the City of Miami Beach. The MEP attempts to address the impacts of an event and
set forth the action plan involved from a preparation and implementation perspective. The MEP is similar
to the City's Hurricane and Emergency Management Plan. The MEP also includes a plan for overall
coordination of all City Services during the event, including but not limited to, traffic plans contingent upon
population expectations; media and community outreach plans; employee service training, coordination
and deployment of public safety resources; sanitation and parking enforcement needs; and inclusion of all
applicable City, State and Federal laws that affect major events in our community.
The City has identified the following repeat holidays and event periods which have a high impact on city
services. An MEP, or in some cases a modified MEP, is developed for these events. It is realistic to expect
these periods to continue to be popular in Miami Beach, bringing large crowds which will require additional
city service levels and interagency support. These repeat periods include:
o October -Columbus Day Weekend
o November -Thanksgiving Holiday
o December -New Years Eve
o January -Super Bowl /Orange Bowl Games
o February -Miami International Boat Show/ Brokerage Yacht Show/ Food & Wine Festival
o March -Winter Music Conference/Winter Party/ Spring Break
o May -Memorial Day Weekend
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o July -Independence Day Celebration
o September -Labor Day Weekend
Prior to each major events period, the Administration takes note of announced events during the time
period, and potential events of significance or anticipated large attendance, and begin formulation of
customized action plans. Once a high impact period is identified, department plans are customized and
compiled and designed to address public safety, order maintenance laws and traffic control based upon a
continuum of information that is gathered as the event impact and visitor base is determined.
TCD will also compile a list of all planned and permitted special events at public venues. They will also
work with the Police Department to coordinate private event information. The Police Department reviews
intelligence information as it relates to activities planned for a given period of time, and their off-duty office
works with TCD to stay appraised of all permitted events. Additionally, TCD will reach out to the major club
venues in advance to find out what is being planned at their venue. Traffic plans are implemented based
on population expectations, and may be modified to implement pedestrian and vehicular access
restrictions and street closures as deemed appropriate. Goodwill Ambassador Teams, which are a
volunteer group of City and, on occasion County, employees are utilized during some major events,
hurricane preparation and clean-up and/or crisis management situations. This team assists in providing
Miami Beach visitors information, as well as helps to diffuse problems. Sanitation and Parking Plans are
developed to accommodate the areas of the City that are expected to receive the most impact. Our Code
Compliance Division will increase their staffing levels, accordingly. TCD organizes MEP meetings, which
are attended by all departments, to coordinate all of these efforts and ensure that all Departments are
aware of the developed Plan.
Needless to say, planning an MEP for an organized event is different than for a period such as a holiday,
as an event organizer will generally know what volume to anticipate. Periods without any organized event
present a challenge, as staffing levels and responses are developed based on information collected in
terms of activities and occupancy levels. As such, these plans may need to be and are frequently adjusted
during the MEP period, as needed. For example, Police staffing levels were adjusted during the five-week
period of this MEP.
Special Evenf Permits
The Special Event Permitting process is a separate process administered by the TCD. A "special event" is
generally defined by the City as a temporary use on public or private property that would not be permitted
generally or without restriction throughout a particular zoning district, but would be permitted if controlled
with special review in accordance with the City's Special Event Requirements and Guidelines. Applications
for a Special Event permit are processed on a first come, first serve basis, unless otherwise provided for in
the Guidelines. Special Event Permits may include events on hotel property whereby the pool deck will be
opened to the general public, a jazz concert at the Euclid Oval on Lincoln Road, a triathlon, a regatta and a
fashion show on Lummus Park. When reviewing an application the type of event, the City considers
several factors, such as infrastructure and service demands (Quality of Life), economic impact to the City
and promotional value. An MEP is not a special event, although an MEP period may include various
Special Event Permits being issued by the City for events occurring during the MEP (such as during Winter
Music Conference). By the same token, Special Event Permits are issued year-round, and are not limited to
only MEP periods.
For your information, please know that generally there are two types of Special Event Permits, public
property or private property. All events taking place on public property, whether produced by anot-for-profit
or for profit entity, and including, but not limited to, festivals, parades, performances, and broadcasts,
require a special event permit from the City. Applications must be submitted with a minimum of sixty (60)
days notice, in order to process prior to the proposed event. Applications for events proposed to take place
on private property where such event would be considered a'special event' under the City's Special Events
Ordinance and Guidelines, require a minimum of thirty (30) days notice priorto the proposed event. Events
or activities that do not require special event permits are recurring activities that are typically not open to
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the general public, and are customary and incidental to a permitted main or accessory use, whether by paid
admission or not, and require no additional permitting. For example, a nightclub hosting ahigh-interest DJ
or performer that will attract a lot of interest and attendance during Winter Music Conference would not
require a Special Event Permit.
Non-recurring events or activities that have extraordinary or excessive impacts on public health, safety or
welfare, not normally associated in type or quantity with permitted main or accessory uses, require a
special event permit. Non-conforming uses in residential districts are prohibited from obtaining special
event permits. Additionally, consistent with Section 142-693 (c), Section 142-302, and Section 142-485 of
the City Code, special event permits will not be issued tonon-conforming properties south of Fifth Street, or
in the area generally bounded by Purdy Avenue on the west, 20'h Street on the north, Alton Road on the
east, and Dade Boulevard on the south.
The following is a comparison of the number of Special Event Permits issued annually for the last three (3)
years by geographic area of the City.
South Pointe
South Beach/City Center
Miami Beach/Middle Beach
North Beach
City Wide
09/10
Year to 08/09 07/08
Date
8 16 17
114 154 132
11 13 13
3 7 6
6 6 0
TOTAL 142 196 177
SPRING BREAK AND WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE
Similar to the City's successful Memorial Day Weekend efforts, comprehensive and coordinated planning
was initiated as part of the City's Major Events Plan for Spring Break and WMC. These two activities,
though generally unrelated, independently bring an influx of visitors to our city.
Similar to previous MEPs, the Police Department, Fire Department, Parking Department, Sanitation
Division, and Code Compliance Division all enhanced staffing levels in order to manage crowds, maintain
safety and quality of life standards during Winter Music Conference, which occurs from Tuesday, March 23
to Sunday March 28, 2010. It is important to note that the Police Department, Sanitation Division and
Parking Department also enhanced staffing for Spring Break, which includes not only the spring break for
in-state and out-of-state colleges and universities, but also for our local public and private high schools
(Miami-Dade and Broward). These spring breaks generally do not overlap. This year the spring break
period and the anticipated spring break crowds, for our planning purposes, occurred from March 5 through
April 5. During this period, Miami-Dade County Parks Beach Maintenance also enhanced their staffing and
extended hours from 5:30am - 8:00 pm for beach cleanup. These enhanced staffing levels are consistent
with enhancements made in previous years for Spring Break and WMC.
WMC
Winter Music Conference is a music industry event. The "official" conference events occurred this year at
the Eden Roc Hotel, but the WMC, by its nature, involves various music-related events at hotels and local
venues (bars, clubs). One of the largest events relating to WMC, the Ultra Music Festival, actually occurs
off-beach in the City of Miami.
Planning for WMC included compiling a list of every known eventtaking place in the City, which totaled 319
events scheduled at 91 venues (clubs, bars, hotels and other venues). By comparison, in 2009 WMC had
271 events at 92 venues and in 2008 WMC had 373 events at 95 venues. Of the 91 venues with WMC-
related events, only 19 venues received special event permits (which over the course of the six days of
WMC resulted in a total of 85 events at those venues). There was only one special event permit issued for
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an event on public property during WMC, and that was for the Funkshion Fashion Show on Lummus Park;
all other special event permits issued during WMC were in private or privately managed venues. The below
chart illustrates the Occupancy and Room Rates for March 2010 compared to March 20009. You will
notice that occupancy at Miami Beach hotels was up in each week in March 2010 versus 2009. The
largest increase in occupancy during the month of March occurred in the week ending March 6th where the
City experienced a 10.6% increase.
OCCUPANCY
2010 2009 10 vs. 09
Week endin March 6th 77.7% 72.9% 10.6%
Week endin Marchl3`h 78.0% 71.9% 5.1%
Week endin March 20`h 78.0% 80.3% 0.4%
Week endin March 27"' 84.6% 80.3% 5.4%
'Information provided from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors
Bureau as reported by Smith Travel Research
Most importantly to note, this vear WMC coincided with Saring Break for the local Dade and Broward
schools. This created an additional influx of beachgoers in South Beach, specifically in the South Pointe
area where locals (residents of Miami-Dade County) tend to use the beach more frequently than tourists.
By comparison, last year (2009) local Dade and Broward schools had Spring Break a week later (after
WMC). The following is a summary of enhanced staffing levels for each department during this period of
time and the results of such efforts:
Police Department
The Police Department enhanced staffing from March 5 -April 5. This effort placed at least seven (7) and
as many as twenty-one (21) additional uniformed officers in the entertainment district depending on the day
and shift. These enhanced staffing levels are in addition to normal patrol assignments which range from
twenty-one (21) to as many as fifty-eight (58) uniformed officers, depending on the day and shift, citywide.
These staffing levels do not include off-duty assignments for special events or other permanent off-duty
assignments. There were forty-three (43) off-duty assignments during the WMC week. As you know, off-
duty assignments are paid for by the business requesting the staffing.
During this period of time, the Police Department's enhanced staffing efforts resulted in the following as
compared to 2009:
2010 2009
Felon Arrests 54 62
Misd Arrests 264 370
Movin Citations 1942 1655
Parkin Citations 546 712
Code Compliance
Code Compliance normally has staff working both day and night shift Monday through Friday, with 24 hour
code compliance coverage from Thursday to Sunday; Monday to Wednesday Code staff works until
1:OOam. During WMC, Code Compliance schedules are shifted to focus on afternoon, evening and
Saturday. This year the afternoon and Saturday (daytime) shifts had twelve (12) Code Compliance Officers
working, and there were fourteen (14) code officers on the night shifts. In addition, Code Compliance
operated twenty-four (24) hours a day on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While Code Compliance staff continues to address the day-to-day quality of life issues, staffing during
WMC focuses on particular compliance issues such as noise as, unlike certain other Major Events Periods,
this tends to be anoise-generating event. The following chart reflects the number of noise ordinance
enforcement actions taken during WMC.
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Noise
2010 2009
Written Warnin 21 18
Violation 18 23
Verbal Warnin 1 12
Invalid 147 170
TOTAL CASES OPENED 187 223
Verbal Warnings are only issued on patrol and not for a
complaint.
As you know, there are several properties in South Beach that have a tendency to generate more noise
complaints than other. Code Compliance activity relating to noise during WMC for the following properties was
as follows: Nikki Beach: 1 complaint (invalid); Bentley Hotel: 1 complaint (invalid); Victor Hotel: 1 complaint
(invalid); and Club Klutch: 10 complaints (3 noise violations issued).
Other enforcement actions that occurred during this MEP include:
Other
2010 2009
S ecial Event Violation 11 14
Sanitation Violation 34 32
Business Tax Recei t Violation 24 16
Other (Zoning, Property
Maintenance and any other
Code violation
24
19
Sanitation
The Sanitation Division enhanced staffing throughout the month of March and the first two weeks of April.
Normally, Sanitation has sixteen (16) personnel assigned to the entertainment district in the evening hours.
During this six (6) week period of time, Sanitation added eight (8) employees to their night shift in the
entertainment district on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Day shift crews were reassigned to
South Beach and the entertainment district when they first reported each morning and then were redeployed
to normal assignments. Public restroom schedule did not change. The beachfront restrooms continued to
close at sundown.
The County made increases to their staffing plan effective December 28, 2009, in anticipation of the tourist
season. Prior to December 28, 2009, they had six (6) employees int eh ground crew, plus a supervisor. They
added an additional two (2) employees after December 28th, which provided a total of eight (8) people in the
ground grew. This crew is specifically dedicated to South Beach. The County also have a three (3) person
crew north of 29th street and another three (3) person crew north of 69th street. They maintained this enhanced
staffing plan through January, February and March, including Spring Break and WMC. However, during this
Spring Break and WMC they shifted their northern crews during the early morning to South Beach to assist with
cleaning up the hot spots. They also extended their afternoon crews to handle the volume of litter on the
beach.
Fire Department
The Fire Department enhanced inspections of clubs and event venues during WMC. One (1) overcrowding
ticket was issued and they held the door at seven (7) other properties until the crowds dissipated and it was
safe to allow patrons to enter again. Additionally, during WMC 2010 the Fire Department had 383 rescue
calls for service that resulted in reports; by comparison, in 2009 the Fire Department had 303 Rescue calls
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for service that resulted in reports. They also placed an extra rescue unit into service from 8:OOpm-8:OOam
Friday -Sunday (3/26-28) in the entertainment district because of the increase in call volume.
Parking Department
The Parking Department enhanced parking enforcement patrols by dedicating a parking enforcement
specialist specifically to the area south of 5th Street from March 15th, and will continue this detail through
Sunday, April 18th. The following enforcement actions have been taken on a weekly basis thus far:
March 15th to March 21st: 769 citations; 25 tows
March 22nd to March 28th: 702 citations; 15 tows
March 29th to April 4th: 673 citations; 44 tows
SUMMARY
The increased occupancy levels during Winter Music Conference reflect an increased level of attendance in
the City for the annual conference as compared to previous years. It is very difficult to anticipate the volume of
visitors this event brings to the City, especially in light of the current recession. Coupled with the increased
participation in WMC, the spring break period extended unusually longer this year, and that included the
overlapping of public school spring break with the WMC weekend; this resulted in larger than anticipated
crowds on the beach. Unlike organized events where the event organizers can anticipate ticketed attendance,
crowds for periods such as Spring Break Qust like for holidays) are difficult to predict. That said, while staffing
adjustments are made as needed, if is difficult to identify whether these shifts will be short or long term during
the MEP. There is also a distinct difference between the various spring break crowds, as we see the intensity
shift from Ocean Drive during college and university spring break (because they are predominantly staying in
Ocean Drive-area hotels), to a larger concentration of crowds near the South Pointe area during public high
school spring break, as they are primarily believed to be day-trippers.
As is customary, staff engages in a de-brief following MEPs to discuss the implementation strategy for future
planning purposes, and to identify areas where improvements can be made. The de-brief of the WMC/Spring
Break MEP resulted in recommendations for implementation for next year, including plans to address public
bathroom needs; adjustment by the County on the beach cleaning process; additional litter enforcement on our
beaches, increased residential parking enforcement and additional enforcement of bottles and cans on public
beaches, as well as open container law. Apre-event meeting will also be held with hotels to discuss their
planned events and anticipated staffing needs.
MEPs by their nature are for specific and defined periods of time. The level of service and resources allocated
to these periods are enhanced and in most cases significantly greater than what would be implemented for
more routine, day to day, city operations. As such it is not warranted, nor sustainable and financially feasible, to
maintain MEP staffing and service levels for indefinite periods of time. It is important that we all manage
expectations during these high intensity event periods which occurthroughoutnur city throughout the year, and
that we balance our resources and service levels accordingly. Notwithstanding, we will frequently make
adjustments to our MEPs to address issues identified, and certainly have identified potential adjustments for
this MEP period next year.
As always, please let me know if you have any further questions.
JMG\HF\MAS
F:\cmgr\$ALL\HFernandez\Tourism and Cultural Development\Entertainment Film Special Events\MEP\WMC and Spring Break 2010 LTC FINAL.doc