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1616-49 Various Miami Beach - • Angry Miami Beach residents want to rein in rowdy nightlife Page 1 of 3 Sian-Selti*inelOcom I HOME I NEWS I SPORTS I ENTERTAINMENT I CLASSIFIED I BUSINESS I WEATHER I SHOPPING http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl- q0/0 dclubslOmay10,0,5777855.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines Angry Miami Beach residents want to rein in rowdy nightlife htlife By Noaki Schwartz Miami Bureau BellSouth'' Internet Services The Internet. First there was the 1980s hit TV show Miami Vice. Then came a Now available redevelopment craze, followed by a surge in tourism -- and finally, the in your speed. star-studded nightlife. Over the years, South Beach has become South Florida's most popular i destination for the-young, hip and scantily clad. The clubs are , �4 ,� regularly frequented by celebrities and featured as backdrops in tabloid magazines. It's where Janet Jackson was reportedly seen BellSouttk, s^ � canoodling with the much younger Justin Timberlake, and where fr��►,oskwasc24 imp Jennifer Lopez was seen with P-Diddy, fueling speculation that the era of"Bennifer" was over. But the nightclubs that made the beach a hotspot are a constant source of irritation for some residents, especially those who live south of Fifth Street and the Sunset Harbor area, where the late-night parties are noisy affairs. With the weekend comes a steady stream of `°`` `°`'"'` fashionably late partygoers who drive over the McArthur Causeway from the mainland toward the area's most exclusive clubs, making 1 a.m. traffic some of the worst in South Beach. Since last year the Miami Beach City Commission has sought to strike " hero fo•oin georHr ndetosow. <�Kt a balance between these opposing groups. Last week, the commissioners took action, voting to stop restaurants from morphing BellSouth into clubs in those areas. Internet Services "People get a restaurant license and it would turn into a club after 2 a.m.," said Miami Beach Mayor David Denner. "There are residents who have made substantial residential http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dclubs1Omay10,0,5631963,print.s... 5/10/2004 Angry Miami Beach residents want to rein in rowdy nightlife Page 2 of 3 investments, and their feeling is that their quality of life has been greatly affected." Dubbed by opponents as the "eliminating the nightlife" meeting, Wednesday's session ended with commissioners asking the city's Planning Department to look into the possibility of creating an entertainment district. The proposal would establish a cabaret district on Ocean Drive, Collins and Washington Avenue in the hub of all the nightlife in South Beach. While commissioners voted against rolling back alcohol sales from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., business owners and club goers who attended the meeting are concerned, as are some commissioners. Commissioner Luis R. Garcia Jr. grew up in Miami Beach during the 1960s and has watched it go from a decaying city of Art Deco buildings to one with international allure. "In Miami Beach, our industry is tourism," Garcia said. "You have to keep evolving, or people go somewhere else." Opponents of any restrictions on the nightlife began galvanizing over the Interfiet, suggesting that clubs offer freebies for people willing to attend the commission meeting. They also tried to explain to residents upset about the clogged conditions on tree-lined streets and beache_s why the nightlife is so important. Steve Polisar, an attorney representing several of the nightclubs, suggested the clash might be a generational problem. "I think the city commissioners don't understand why the hours are so crucial," said Polisar, who is chairman of the city's Nightlife Task Force. "The five o'clock closings in Miami Beach are as important as the roulette tables and the blackjack tables in Las • Vegas." But many of the upset residents who live in the affected areas don't go to the clubs, people such as Morris Sunshine, who is troubled by the thumping music he has to endure on the weekends. Sunshine and others say that the Southpointe area was zoned and marketed as a residential area. "They expect us, the residents to sit there and take it," Sunshine said. David Grutman, who works in the marketing department for some of the biggest venues { in town -- Opium Garden, Opium Lounge, Prive and Mansion -- hopes the clubs and residents can find some middle ground. Last year, he said Opium Garden lowered the music volume there and moved the dancing http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southfl ori da/sfl-dclubs l Omay 10,0,5631963,print.s... 5/10/2004 Angry Miami Beach residents want to rein in rowdy nightlife! — - Page 3 of 3 I from outdoors to enclosed areas after complaints. The club also started cleaning up flyers other clubs hand out in front of their venues. "We want to be good neighbors and live together," Grutman said. "People move to Miami Beach to be part of the nightlife." WTVJ-Ch. 6 contributed to this report. Noaki Schwartz can be reached at nschwartz@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5004. 1 Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel _ i http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dclubs1 Omay 10,0,5631963,print.s... 5/10/2004 i • .. 1