Ordinance 2001-3287 a
ORDINANCE NO. 2001-3287
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF •
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING
CHAPTER 6 ENTITLED"ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES," SECTION 6-5
• ENTITLED PATRON AGE RESTRICTIONS, BY REVISING THE
PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 6-5;PROVIDING FOR
INCLUSION IN THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,
FLORIDA; REPEALER; SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS,the City ofMiami Beach has previously adopted amendments to its City
code to impose restrictions on the age of persons able to gain admission to alcoholic
beverage establishments, as defined in the ordinance; and
WHEREAS, following the adoption of such amendments, numerous incidents have
occurred whereby persons under the age of 21 have been admitted to alcoholic beverage
establishments within the City, and have been served or otherwise obtained alcoholic
beverages in violation of State law, and contrary to the public health, safety and welfare of
the City of Miami Beach; and
WHEREAS,the City Commission deems it necessary to amend the provisions of the
ordinance concerning enforcement against such violations, to promote the goals and
objectives of the ordinance and mitigate against future violations thereof.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA:
SECTION 1. That Section 6-5, entitled "Patron Age Restrictions," is hereby amended as
follows:
Sec. 6-5. Patron age restrictions.
(a) It shall be unlawful for pPersons under the age of 21 shall_of be al owc to patronize,
visit, or loiter, be admitted or allowed access, in any alcoholic beverage
establishment, as defined in section 114-1 of this Code, except as hereinafter
provided. This restriction shall not apply to:
(1) Persons employed by or at the alcoholic beverage establishments;
(2) Persons accompanied by either of their parents (natural, adoptive, or step-
parent) or legal guardian (appointed by a court); and
(3) Alcoholic beverage establishments also licensed and operating as restaurants,
containing a full kitchen of an appropriate size to serve the occupancy load of
the establishment, serving full meals at all times.(11) In the case of hotels and
• other similar multi-use establishments, this restriction applies only to those
areas of the establishment operating primarily as an alcoholic beverage
establishment, and not also operating as a restaurant as described above.
(-e)(b) Enforcement and penalties:
(1) - -- - - - - •- • . - - - - - - - -
department of codc compliance. The department of codc compliance shall
- • - - : •- -- : ••: : : : : ••. Anoffense ofthis
section by an alcohol beverage establishment shall be defined as---three
••: : •• - - : - :• : . -- • - • -• -- i - - .- •::. one ormore persons
under the permitted patron age discovered on the business premises during a
24-hour period in violation of this section.Setspertsiert 13Hearings and appeals
• - -- . -- .:-- : - • . :- on notices of violation shall be conducted by the
special master,who may impose penalties, including fines and suspension, as
provided for in chapter 30 of this Code,with appeal by certiorari to the circuit
court, Appellate Division.
(2) It shall be a defense to alleged violations of this section that the person under
the age of 21 obtained access despite the owner's reasonable efforts to prevent
such access, or through a fraudulent identification, and the business used
reasonable efforts to prevent the use of fraudulent identifications. "Reasonable
efforts" shall include, but not be limited to, use of employees properly
checking identification cards at the entrance to the subject establishment.
Presentation of a proposed business security plan to prevent future violations
may be considered as a mitigating factor in the suspension hearing or appeal
process. For purposes of this Section, "identification cards" are defined as
official federal, state or local government issued identification cards.
(3) The-firre-ef-5-540440 A warning shall be imposed given for the first offense; a
fine of$1,000.00 $500.00 shall be imposed for the second offense; a fine of
$24900.00$1,000.00 shall be imposed for the third offense;a fine of$3,000.00
shall be imposed for the fourth offense;the Special Master may impose a fine
2
and/or a suspension of the business's occupational license for further offenses,
in successively escalating suspension periods of: one weekend,(from Friday
12:00 a.m.through Sunday 12:00 a.m.)shall be imposed for the fourth offense;
and for the fifth and subsequent offenses, the special master may impose
- • • S : - - .- - • •: '. - ; • seven days, 30 days, six
months or may revoke the business's occupational license. For purposes of
• determining the appropriate penalty this section, violations shall accrue only
for the preceding 12-month period.
p
(-5)(4) An offense of this section by pPersons under the age of 21 shall be addressed
as follows: Persons found in violation of this section shall be asked by the
business establishment, the department of code compliance, or certified law
enforcement officers, to leave the premises subject to this section. Failure to
leave the premises will subject the violator to criminal penalties as provided
by Florida law. Additionally, persons under the age of 21 who gained access
to the alcoholic beverage establishment by presenting fraudulent identification
shall be subject to prosecution for violation of section 322.212, Florida
Statutes, or comparable provision.
(Ord. No. 2000-3241, § 2, 5-10-00)
SECTION 2. REPEALER.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances and all sections and parts of sections in conflict
herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3.INCLUSION IN CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA.
It is the intention ofthe City Commission,and it is hereby ordained that the provisions
of this ordinance shall become and be made part of the Code of the City of Miami Beach as
amended;that the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish
such intention; and that the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section" or other
appropriate word.
3
SECTION 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any section, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance is held invalid, the
remainder shall not be affected by such invalidity.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall take effect ten days following adoption.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 10th day ofanuary , 2001.
vit _
MAYOR
TEST:
- eaduJIL_____
✓()l'"
CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
& FOR EXECUT t1N
/l,+__ FA 1"..4, 22,?do/
Attorney Date
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA 33139
http:\\ci.m iam i-beach.fl.us
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM NO. 11 " 0 1
TO: Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and DATE: January 10,2001
Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez t.Ap..6"'
City Manager
SECOND AND FINAL READING
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA,AMENDING CHAPTER 6 ENTITLED
"ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES," SECTION 6-5 ENTITLED PATRON AGE
RESTRICTIONS,BY REVISING THE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF
SECTION 6-5; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE CODE OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA; REPEALER; SEVERABILITY; AND
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Ordinance.
ANALYSIS
On December 20, 2000, the Mayor and City Commission conducted the First Reading of the
proposed changes to this Ordinance. The Mayor and City Commission approved the First Reading
and set the Second and Final Reading for January 10, 2001.
In October 2000,under the leadership of Commissioner Nancy Liebman, an ad-hoc committee was
formed to review the City Ordinance regarding underage persons frequenting establishments serving
alcoholic beverages. This committee consisted of representatives from the Police Department, the
Code Enforcement Department,the Building and Zoning Department, Attorney Steven Polisar and
representatives from Crobar, Level, and Mango's, all licensed alcoholic beverage establishments.
The purpose of this committee was to review the current ordinance and suggest revisions. All of the
members of this ad-hoc committee agree the current ordinance did not attain the goals of keeping
persons under the age of 21 out of alcoholic beverage establishments and lacked meaningful and
realistic enforcement provisions. Moreover, all of the parties agreed it is in the best interests of all
parties to prevent persons under the age of 21 from being present in alcoholic beverage
establishments.
AGENDA ITEM P_S-
DATE (
T\AGENDA\2001\JAN 1001\CONSENT\RE VISION.WPD
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
January 10,2001
Page 2
As a result of many meetings,this committee has made recommendations for revisions to the current
ordinance. These revisions have been arrived at by a consensus of the committee members taking
into consideration all sides of this issue. The recommended revisions are as follows:
Recommended Revision 1
The first recommended revision is in Section 6-5 (a),Patron Age Restrictions.This change expands
the language and makes it unlawful for persons under the age of 21 to patronize, visit, loiter, or be
admitted or allowed access, in any alcoholic beverage establishment.
Recommended Revision 2
The second recommended revision involves a change in the enforcement provisions. An offense is
now defined as one or more persons under the permitted patron age discovered on the business
premises during a 24-hour period,in lieu of the current provisions where it took three incidents in
a six month period to constitute a single violation.
Recommended Revision 3
The third recommended change involves an owner's defense in the event a person under the age of
21 is found in an alcoholic beverage establishment. The change adds the language that, "It shall be
a defense to allege violations of this section that the person under the age of 21 obtained access
despite the owner's reasonable efforts to prevent such access,..." The recommended change also
includes the following definition of reasonable efforts that states, " `Reasonable efforts' shall
include, but not be limited to, use of employee's properly checking identification cards at the
entrance to the subject establishment.Presentation of a proposed business security plan to prevent
future violations may be considered as a mitigating factor in the suspension hearing or appeal
process."
Recommended Revision 4
The fourth recommendation offers a revision of the fine structure to reflect a warning for the first
offense, a fine of$500.00 for the second offense, a fine of$1,000.00 for the third offense and a
fine of $3,000.00 for the fourth offense.
In addition,to the$3,000.00 fine for the fourth offense,the Special Master may impose a fine and/or
a suspension of the business's occupational license for further offenses, "successively escalating
suspension periods of one weekend,seven days,30 days,six months or may revoke the business's
occupational license." Lastly, the revision includes the following, "For the purposes of
determining the appropriate penalty in this section,violations shall accrue only for the preceding
12-month period."
F:\POLI\TECHSERV\POLICIES\COM_MEMO\revision of city code for under 21 second and final reading.mem wpd
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
January 10,2001
Page 3
• Recommended Revision 5
The fifth and final revision includes language regarding how an offense by a person under the age
of 21 shall be addressed. Added to the existing language is, "Additionally,persons under the age
of 21 who gained access to the alcoholic beverage establishment by presenting fraudulent
• identification will be subject to prosecution for violation of section 322.212, Florida Statutes, or
comparable provision."
At the December 20, 2000 discussion, the issue of using electronic devices to verify the
identification of a patron was raised. The Police Legal Advisor believes that the Florida Statutes do
not allow for their use. However, the Police Department will continue to research the issue to
determine all of the parameters of the use of these devices.
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Commission adopt the Ordinance amending the Code
of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, entitled, "Alcoholic Beverages," Section 6-5, entitled Patron
Age Restrictions. These revisions were reached by a consensus of persons from the City and the
industry and represent a realistic and even-handed approach to this issue. •
JMG: :DD:PS:GT:AC:MMS /sp
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
FROM: Murray H. Dubbin 'te_✓
•
City Attorney
DATE: January 9, 2001
SUBJECT: Agenda Item R 5 C
Per request of Commissioner Smith
In Section 1
Amend Section 6-5 (b) (2) by adding at the end of the first grammatical paragraph:
"For purposes of this Section `identification cards' are defined as official federal, state
or local government issued identification cards"
Agenda Item R5 C-
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