LTC 156-2010 Report on Planning Efforts for Memorial Day Weekend 2010a
. ~~ ~ Y. ~ _
.'~ ~ ~~ ~ '
OFFICE` OF THE CITY MANAGER ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~,~ ,,~
.4
NO ETC # ~ 156-201.0; LETTE R YTO , OMM w I N
~.,.
TO~: ~ Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the:City C mmission '
.
FROM: Jorge M: Gonzalez, City Manager ~ . . ~ ~ '
DATE: Maya 25; 2010
SUBJECT: REPbRT ON PLANNING EFFO FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 2010 (THURSDAY,
MAY 27,;2010 -MONDAY, MAY 31, 2010) `
,.
,,~,: ;
- ;
Similar to the. City's successful. planning efforts for past Memorial Day Weekends,. the City began a
comprehensive and coordinated planning effort several months ago to`prepare forthe upcoming Memorial
Day 2010 Holida Weekend l"hursda ~Ma 27, 2010 - Monda Ma. 31,.2010). Irrespective of any
Y ( Y~ Y Y~ Y
events and based' upon early occupancy reports, it is anticipated that, this year's holiday weekend will
attract at least. as many people as previous Memorial Day weekends; causing the City's resources to be
strained..
' Background ..
- - By~all accounts,. the .,popularity of Miami Beach for .Memorial.. Day Weekend has been the product of
. Internet promotion of the destin,~tion by prior visitors and web sites-.that promote certain locations during
particular times of the. year- (e.g..New Year`s, Labor Day, Spring Break), For the past few years there has
been~~ noformal, organized event(s) in the City associated with this ..Major. Event Period (MEP), as
. - compared to the MEP for the Super. Bowl', New Year's Eve or- .Art Basel Miami Beach;, for example.
;Usually, most of the visitors enjoy the weekend at our local hotels, cafes and .beach, and our clubs will
have private; events within theiir properties. Memorial Day Weekend generally. attracts an estimated
200,000 eo le to the Cit over the course of Thursda to Monda with .the busiest eriod bein ~ Frida
p P Y y Y, p, g y,
Saturday and Sunday. Occupancy rates at local. hotels are currently at about 85%, and we will continue to
.monitor, Needless~to say, the influx~of so many visitors to the City requires unto- plan for traffic, crowd
. ,~ . ~' control; sanitation; code and parking. As a result, our MEP.. Planning process looks at prior years in
developing the taffing~ and opE~rational plan. for- the current year: The focus is to ensure the safety and
welfare of our, residents and visitors, while keeping our streets clean and traffic manageable.
.;
.. {
. . ,. ` Enhanced Staffing - ~
Various departrrients enhance their staffing this.weekend; including our Parking; Code Compliance,. Public
Works/Sanitation,, Tourism and cultural Development, Fire/Rescue and Police Department. My office also
. ~ , works throughout the weekend. during various shifts, providing executive level support, as needed. While
staffing plans are prepared in ~~nticipation of expected crowds, these pta,ns are adjusted,., as needed;
..including :decreasing staffing throughout the weekend if appropriate.
;. .:
f ~ ~ ~ As part.of the City of Miami Beach's MEP Plan, in2003„ the City. began submitting a request for in-Kind
Services assistance to Miami-Dade County toprovide enhanced public safety resources, beach
maintenance and the participation of members of'the County's Goodwill' Ambassador Team, to assist the
. ~ City~of.M'iarni Beach throughout 1'.he Memorial Da 'holida weekend. In .2005, the County included In-Kind
Y Y
'support for Memoria{ Day weekend .rn their annual budget, which eliminates the need for a separate
request. Annual in-kind support is based on actual costs ..from, the previous year. As in the past year; the
:. . City's .Police Department will be canceling off-duty assignments and deploying public safety staff on an
:~ alpha/bravo shift assignment. This will be supplemented by mutual .aide from Miami-Dade County and
~~ ~ ~ additional assistance-from Floridla Highway-Patrol; City of Miami,~Florida Department of Law Enforcement,
Miami-Dade Corrections Departrrrent, Coral Gables; .Fort Lauderdale and other jurisdictions. The County's
`Parks Department~also enhancE;s their beach cleanup `staff and schedule.
t
. - i
i
MEP Scope
In addition.to addressing enhanced staffing to ensure sufficient coverage to address anylife safety and
quality of life issues, the MEP addresses everything from transportation (road closures, etc:) to sanitation
lacement of additional waste bins, clean u schedule and arkin The tan also addresses o erational
(p' p ) p 9~ p, p
issues, such as coordinating Goodwill Ambassadors, developing community, outreach plans, placement~of
VMS signs, production of signage and .other informational materials, etc. The plan is managed by the
Tourism and Cultural Development Department's Film/Special Events Section.•
Events:
As previously noted, there are nc~ organized events in the City relating to Memorial Day Weekend. A large
oufdoor concert is scheduled in i:he City of Miami Saturday night that may result in additional visitors to the
City after the-concert. The City has advised event promoters that our .resources will. be fully extended
dur..ing-the Memorial Day weekend (a major holiday weekend) and unavailable to support any events on
public property. Similar to Super Bowl, the City will, however, continue to work with those organizations
who desire to host events on thE~ir property and require approvals for change :of use. At present, only the
Catalina Hotel, Carlton .Hotel and Beach Plaza Hotel have each applied for. a special event permit for
entertainment on their property throughout the weekend.. The Miami BeachConvention-Center is hosting-
an~amateur boxing tournament on Saturday, May 29 from 3:OOpm - 7:OOpm. _
Traffic/Pedestrian Plan ~ !
The Miami Beach Police Department wilt implement a transportation plan between Ocean Drive, Collins
and Washington avenues from 6t" Street to 16t" Street from 7:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. daily, beginninq~
Friday, May 28 through Monday morning, May 31. This plan includes the closure of the 100 blocks on 8t
and 1 Ot" streets throughout the. weekend. Washington Avenue-and Collins'Avenue will remain with two-
- ~. way traffic. if population'expectationssurpass or do not materialize, the transportation plan will be altered
. :accordingly fo ensure public safety.
The City will once again. implemE:nt a plan similar to last year to address pedestrian overflow along Collins
Avenue, especially on certain .blocks wherepedestrian flow often exceeds sidewalk capacity. The plan
wa's first implemented in 2007 with much success: Sidewalks along,Collins Avenue will be expanded into
the parking lane using French barricades to accommodate the large pedestrian: crowds from. 7t" Street to
Espanola Way. French barricades will also be utilized along the curb on the east side parking lanes of the
600., 1200 and 1400 blocks of U'Vashington Avenue to increase pedestrian, capacity on the sidewalks in
front of these busy venues and prevent. overflow into the street. For the, first time this year, the City wilt
expand the western sidewalk to the centerline of Ocean Drive from 7t" Street to 12t" Street.Vehicular
traffic will be-restricted north bound for this area of Ocean Drive. Valet ramps will be relocated to the 100
' blocks of 9, 11 and 12 street, and passenger loading zones will be created on the east side~of Ocean
Drive to accommodate hotel guE~sts. The partial Ocean Drive closure was reviewed with NODARA and the
Ocean Drive ;Merchants Assoc<~tion. ~ -
The Miami-Dade Transit Agency wilt operate the Local shuttle bus service and offer free transportation
throughout the weekend: `
The Traffic management plan. provides for officers at key intersections to ensure traffic flow and restrict
access _as may be -determined. As always,. our Police Department closely. monitors. traffic and the
"Management of Transportation" Plan also:includes provisions to temporarily close any of our causeways
leading into the City, if needed.
Community Outreach
The City has also been working with the Miarni-Dade County Office of Community Relations to expand our
Goodwill Amba sador .Program. As you know, the City's Goodwill Ambassadors provide assistance,
providing information to ourvisit~ors, and helping our visitors remain informed on pertinent laws and dispel
. any confusion our guests may have. This year we~have a record number of volunteers, who will be_fiurther
augmented. by God. Squad merrrbers (volunteers from faith-:based organizations).
In addition to an expanded Goodwill Ambassador .program, we have expanded our information efforts
before and during this weekendl.. These efforts include informational signage, flyers, and radio,outreach
providing information in current City, State and. Federal codes. Consistent with- our other efforts to provide
and facilitate information to our visitors and residents during the MEP, the City will' activate an "Answer
Center" during the weekend, aind weekday. after hours. Answer Center staff will be able to assist with
- directing questions and will.-also forward any police complaints to the on-duty Internal Affairs sergeant for
their review and' handling. We will be working with our Communications Staff to promote {via signage,
brochures, etc.) the availability ~of the Answer Center number to our visitors and residents, including the
issues that the Answer Center clan assist with.
Given the current economy hotea occupancy booking trends are very shortterm. That being said, we have
noreason to think hotel. occupancy in the region's hotels will be different than in previous years. The City is
continuing to conduct a broad and concerted outreach effort throughout the community, as delineated.
above. This outreach has been coordinated with the assistance of the Nightlife Advisory Task Force, the
Greater Miami and fhe Beaches Hotel Association, GMCVB, South Beach Restaurant and Hotel
Association, and Miami-Dade County.
Additionally, as has been done in prior years, staff attended various community meetings and organization
meetings to provide information on our Memorial Day Weekend-MEP Plan.
Other Initiatives/MEP components ~ -
In accordance-with the MEP, sE:veral other initiatives continue and are ongoing, including:.
- 1.nternal staff meetings have. been conducted and expanded to include County beach
maintenance, public safety, code compliance and transportation system staff and community
stakeholders:
• Department staffing plans; including enhanced levels of serviceand fiscal impact, have .been
developed.
• ~In addition to typical. issues monitored by Code, -such as noise, Code compFiance's enhanced _
staff wilt assist in moinitoring for particular .issues that have been a concern in the past during
these high-impact weekends, such as. flyers/handbills, illegal ;vendors, promoter licenses,
. sampling, illegal advE:rtising and any special events without a permit, among other things.
• Pre-planned coordination with. City, County and.State law enforcement agencies to develop an
effective resource deployment allocation, including provision of .off-duty police for area hotels
'has been ongoing.
• The C:ity's current beach Titter efforts wi11 continue to be implemented this weekend.
Other related events
The Department of~Homeland ~~ecurity Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) se ected Memorial
Day Weekend to observe the Ciity's ability to execute Goal 1 of the NationalEmergency Communications
Plan. Goal' 1 states, "By 2010, ~~0 percent of all high-risk urban areas designated within the tJASI are able
to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving
multiple jurisdictions and agencies." The cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale will also be participating in
this demonstration, as well as. providing Miami Beach with assistance throughout the weekend. Theis ~,
demonstration will take place oin Friday, May 28, 2010 from 7:OOpm - 12:OOam.
Conclusion
. The City has-been effectively communicating all action plans both internally and externally prior to the
weekend's events. While we cannot assure any major impact weekend will go without incident, the City is
effectively planning and" prepariing its resources to assure, a safe, clean, and successful weekend. I will
keep. you all personally apprised of any issues that may arise.
. ~ ~ As always, please feel free to ca11 me should you have any questions or require additional information.
C: Management Team:
J MG/H M F/MAS
. H:\Tourism and CulturarDevelopment\Entertainrnent Film Special Events\MEP\MDW 2010\Memorial'Day 2010 LTC.doc