R7H-Approve Special Event Permit No 201377 For WMC DJ MagCOMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY
Condensed Title:
A Resolution approving Special Event Permit No. 201377 for WMC DJ MAG, produced by Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC,
from March 20, 2013 to March 24, 2013, as well as load-in and load-out.
Key Intended Outcome Supported:
· Beach as a Brand Destination
Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc.): According to the 2012 Community Satisfaction Survey, nearly six out
of ten residents (57%) rated management of special events as excellent or good, yet this figure is down from 70% in 2009.
Residents of South Beach/Bella Isle and Mid Beach were more critical of management of special events. Six in ten business
owners (59%) gave the City high marks for management of special events that attract large numbers of people, this figure was
down considerably from 2009 (74%). South Beach business owners were most critical of the City's ability to manage special
events, as 48% gave the City fair or poor evaluations.
Item Summary/Recommendation:
As you know, at the November 14, 2012 City Commission meeting an item was presented to consider a special event permit
application for a WMC DJ Mag event produced by Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC, from March 20, 2013 -March 24, 2013,
including load-in and load-out. The City Commission had extensive discussion regarding the request, but consensus was not
reached and the resolution was not approved. However, the Commission directed the Administration to do the following:
• Host a well advertised community meeting.
• Administration to work with the promoter to reduce the occupancy to 1 ,200 people.
• Work to possibly reduce the number of event days.
• Promoter to work with a sound engineer to address noise concerns.
• Administration to further work with promoter to determine if the City can handle the event.
• Promoter and Administration to work together to bring back an amended request to the December 12, 2012 City
Commission meeting.
The City has had an administrative policy in place for numerous years whereby no new special event applications would be
considered during the month of March. This Administrative Policy was established because March is the City's busiest month in
terms of resource allocation due to it coinciding with college and high school spring break and existing events Winter Music
Conference (and with it, the related Ultra Music Festival events), Winter Party, Miami Beach 13.1 and Funkshion Fashion Week.
The City's Special Event Requirements and Guidelines, along with the aforementioned proposed amendment to the City's
administrative policy regarding events during high impact periods such as March were considered by the City Commission at its
October 24, 2012 meeting. After much discussion, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2012-2842 approving the
proposed amendments to the City's Special Event Requirements and Guidelines, including the amendment to the administrative
policy with the condition that any new events considered for approval under this revised policy must be approved by a majority of
the City Commission via Resolution.
Mr. Cowan submitted a revised proposal on November 27, 2012 reducing the proposed occupancy to 2,500 persons from 3,500.
The City Administration met with Mr. Cowan several times to review the proposal in more detail. As requested by the City
Commission, on November 29, 2012, the Administration hosted a community meeting to specifically discuss Mr. Cowan's
special event request. There was general consensus from those in attendance that five (5) days of twelve (12) hour event each
day was too great of an impact on the area and felt it would impact City services. It should be noted that the promoter also
presented the details of the proposed event to the community at the City's regularly scheduled monthly special event community
review meeting on November 8. On December 3, 2012, the Police, Fire, and Sanitation departments, as well as special event
staff met with Mr. Cowan to determine resource requirements.
The proposed event is larger and of longer duration than what was approved in prior years for private property. As such,
supporting this event would require more resources than was previously provided and the City's resources are already strained
during this time period. Based on the aforementioned stated criteria the Administration recommends against approval of Special
Event Permit No. 201377 for WMC DJ MAG as submitted by Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC.
Advisory Board Recommendation:
I N/A
Financial Information:
Source of
Funds:
artment Director
MAS
Amount
N/A
MIAMI BEACH 538
Account
Interim Cit
KGB
AGENDA ITEM -+!1..._1....<.....<.-JH.._
DATE ll: I Z.-1 2-
MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI
BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT NO. 201377 FOR WMC
OJ MAG, PRODUCED BY JONATHAN COWAN PRODUCTIONS, LLC, FROM
MARCH 20, 2013 TO MARCH 24, 2013, AS WELL AS LOAD-IN AND LOAD-OUT.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
KEY INTENDED OUTCOME
Maximize Miami Beach as a Destination Brand
BACKGROUND
As you know, at the November 14, 2012 City Commission meeting an item was presented to consider a
special event permit application for a WMC OJ Mag event produced by Jonathan Cowan Productions,
LLC, from March 20, 2013-March 24, 2013, including load-in and load-out. The City Commission had
extensive discussion regarding the request, but consensus was not reached and the resolution was not
approved. However, the Commission directed the Administration to do the following:
1. Host a well advertised community meeting.
2. Administration to work with the promoter to reduce the occupancy to 1 ,200 people.
3. Work to possibly reduce the number of event days.
4. Promoter to work with a sound engineer to address noise concerns.
5. Administration to further work with promoter to determine if the City can handle the event.
6. Promoter and Administration to work together to bring back an amended request to the
December 12, 2012 City Commission meeting.
The City has had an administrative policy in place for numerous years whereby no new special event
applications would be considered during the month of March. This Administrative Policy was
established because March is the City's busiest month in terms of resource allocation due to it
coinciding with college and high school spring break and existing events Winter Music Conference (and
with it, the related Ultra Music Festival events), Winter Party, Miami Beach 13.1 and Funkshion Fashion
Week. The City made this determination through the Major Event Plan in recognition that Police, Fire,
Code, Sanitation and other critical resources were already engaged in enhanced staffing that precluded
the availability of necessary off-duty details required for high impact public events. Events which have
historically occurred on public property were allowed to continue, as well as events contained within
private property or new corporate/ non-public uses related to hotel or Convention Center rentals.
However, the City received a request from Mr. Jonathan Cowan to host his event on public beach as he
has outgrown the hotel pool at the Shelborne, and, additionally cannot use the location in the future do
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December 12, 2012
City Commission Meeting
Special Events Permit No. 201377-Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC
to a change in the management structure ofthe hotel. Considering that his event has been successfully
held on private property for more than eight (8) years and the potential of losing the event exists,
including the revenue generated and marketing exposure, the item was scheduled for discussion at the
Neighborhood and Community Affairs Committee on October 15, 2012, as this policy had been
discussed by the NCAC previously on several occasions, most recently in January 2012.
The Administration believes it is critical to be able to successfully manage public special events in
enhanced staffing periods, like March. However, in an effort to maintain existing business, additional
criteria were presented for consideration when reviewing these types of requests. The NCAC discussed
the subject and recommended the following criteria be considered by the Administration when reviewing
such requests:
1. Whether or not the event producer has had a successful track record of obtaining special event
permits and producing events in the City for no less than five (5) years in a private venue and is
in need of expansion.
2. Such applications would be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis, until such resources
are no longer able to be reserved.
3. The event could not occur concurrently on both private and public property.
4. The City will consider the event's long-term, short-term, and indirect effects on local economic
industries, including but not limited to hotels, restaurants, entertainment establishments, retail,
and the City.
5. The City will consider whether the event is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods and
complements the ambience and aesthetics of the area in which it is presented.
6. The City will consider the stress that such an event may place on various City services with
expenses associated with additional crowd control, policing, security, parking, and traffic to be
borne by the event producer.
7. The City will also consider the availability of these needed resources including time, people,
money and equipment.
8. City services required for the event can be reasonably made available at the time of the
proposed event.
The City's Special Event Requirements and Guidelines, along with the aforementioned proposed
amendment to the City's administrative policy regarding events during high impact periods such as
March were considered by the City Commission at its October 24, 2012 meeting. After much
discussion, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2012-2842 approving the proposed
amendments to the City's Special Event Requirements and Guidelines, including the amendment to the
administrative policy with the condition that any new events considered for approval under this revised
policy must be approved by a majority of the City Commission via Resolution.
ANALYSIS
Mr. Cowan submitted a revised proposal on November 27, 2012 reducing the proposed occupancy to
2,500 persons from 3,500. The City Administration met with Mr. Cowan several times to review the
proposal in more detail.
As requested by the City Commission, on November 29, 2012, the Administration hosted a community
meeting to specifically discuss Mr. Cowan's special event request. Jo Manning, Frank and Marianne
Del Vecchio and George Cozonis attended the meeting in addition to City staff. Mr. Cozonis is both a
City resident and the General Manager of the W Hotel. There was general consensus from those in
attendance that five (5) days of twelve (12) hour event each day was too great of an impact on the area
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December 12, 2012
City Commission Meeting
Special Events Permit No. 201377-Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC
and felt it would impact City services. Additionally, Mr Cozonis expressed concern that the event is not
compatible with the luxury hotels in the area (W Hotel and Setai) and further stated that the potential to
impact hotels was increased to the length (number of days) of the event. Mr. Cozonis and the promoter
agreed to subsequently meet to discuss his concerns further.
It should be noted that the promoter also presented the details of the proposed event to the community
at the City's regularly scheduled monthly special event community review meeting on November 8. The
event was reviewed and initial approval was provided by the community to continue the process, but
with the need to return to the special event community review meeting for final approval with details
relevant to talent, a detailed production schedule and city resources could be provided.
On December 3, 2012, the Police, Fire, and Sanitation departments, as well as special event staff met
with Mr. Cowan to determine resource requirements.
Fire
Based on required staffing levels for this event, the Fire Department will need to double the event
staffing from last year and add one (1) Command Coordinator, (1) ALS three (3) person triage unit, two
(2) three (3) personALS Rescue Units and have two (2) fire marshals and two (2) firefighters. In prior
years the Fire Department has had difficulty filling the number of off-duty requests during this period of
time. Therefore, if required to staff this event there would not be sufficient number of fire personnel to
staff other events during that time. The Fire Department requires off-duty fire personnel at all hotels
that have 800 person occupancy or greater.
In order to provide sufficient staffing for events, the Fire Department may need to consider using civilian
personnel or request assistance from another jurisdiction to support off-duty requests. However, this
has not been done in the past.
Police
The Police Department has indicated that they could not staff this event, as well as all other off-duty
requests during this time period. The Police Department believes the proposed event has the potential
to cause a negative effect on normal service delivery to the community. Based on last year's number of
off-duty and overtime staffing needs during Winter Music Conference, the department provided Total
off duty hours 2,500 for that week and 4,778 of overtime. This is equivalent of having an additional182
police officers working 40 hours, with the City's regular force being 372 officers. Adding this event
would require another 2,000 hours minimum for the 5 day event, the equivalent of 50 officers working
40 hours.
Additionally, the Hialeah Police Department is not currently providing officers to work off-duty because
they have concerns with exposure to liability for the City of Hialeah. During this time period many of the
off-duty requests are filled by Hialeah and other outside jurisdictions because the City of Miami Beach
officers are working enhanced assignments and we do not have enough officers who volunteer to work
off-duty. At this time, there is no way to know if there will be sufficient mutual aid to fill in where needed
for this and other uses. That said, the Police Department would work with the promoter's security team
to determine adequate staffing levels if this event were approved.
Further, for such an event the Police Department recommends restricting access to a larger area of the
beach in order to manage potential crowds and prevent the public from congregating around the event
site to hear the music. To that end, the Police Department recommends creating multiple check points
to ensure only patrons with tickets are able to get to the event site. Anyone else would not be permitted
within close proximity to the site. The specific area would have to be defined as plans are further
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December 12, 2012
City Commission Meeting
Special Events Permit No. 201377-Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC
developed.
Sanitation
The Sanitation Department felt it best to have private sanitation cover the event and allow additional
City resources to be deployed throughout the City as the City does each year.
RECOMMENDATION
In an effort to maintain existing business, the City Commission approved additional criteria to be
considered by the Administration when reviewing such requests. Among the criteria approved by the
Commission for consideration by the Administration are the following:
1. The City will consider whether the event is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods and
complements the ambience and aesthetics of the area in which it is presented.
2. The City will consider the stress that such an event may place on various City services with
expenses associated with additional crowd control, policing, security, parking, and traffic to be
borne by the event producer.
3. The City will also consider the availability of these needed resources including time, people,
money and equipment.
4. City services required for the event can be reasonably made available at the time of the
proposed event.
The proposed event is larger and of longer duration than what was approved in prior years for private
property. As such, supporting this event would require more resources than was previously provided and
the City's resources are already strained during this time period. Based on the aforementioned stated
criteria the Administration recommends against approval of Special Event Permit No. 201377 for WMC DJ
MAG as submitted by Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC.
KGB/MAS/GW
T:\AGENDA\2012\11-14-12\Special Event Permit Jonathan Cowan Productions LLC MEMO.doc
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SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FOR SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT
APPLICATION NO. 201377
GENERAL EVENT INFORMATION
Applicant: Jonathan Cowan Productions, LLC
Executive Producer: Jonathan Cowan
Event Description: The purpose of this special event is to allow Jonathan Cowan Productions,
LLC ("Producer") to host its annual Miami Music Week event for 2013,
which has been executive produced by Jonathan Cowan for at least the
past eight (8) years.
Event Location: Portion of the Beach East of Dune on the Hard-Packed Sand, West of
the Soft Sand, generally situated between st and 22nd Streets (with use
of the area west of the dune for staging production equipment, event
and queuing of patrons).
Event Dates: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 through Sunday, March 24,
Event Times: I 2:00PM through 11 :OOPM
Sound Check: I 0:30AM through I 1:45AM
Load-In Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 (and morning of Wednesday, March, 20, 2013)
Load-Out Date: Monday, March 25, 2013 (and evening of Sunday, March 24, 2013)
Proposed Occupancy: 2,500 patrons maximum
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE ("WMC") 2013 -DJ MAG ON SOUTH BEACH -
PRESENTED BY JONATHAN COW AN PRODUCTIONS LLC
This WMC DJ Mag event, formally DJ Mag @the Shelbome, has steadily grown the largest
showcase of world's best talent in Electronic Dance Music in the world featured during
Winter Music Conference week during March each year. Covered by DJ Mag in languages to
over a million readers across the world, the event features artists such as DJ Jeff, Luciano
and the Cadenza Vagabundo's and Marco Carola to name a few. Each day consists of a different
showcase featuring the best talent from an individual brand, management agency, or record label.
This year's 2013 event will move from the poolside at the Shelbome Hotel to the sands ofMiami
Beach on st Street. Each day will run from noon to eleven pm and will be sure to bring the
best crowds, press and musical artists from across the globe. The following is a sample proposed
schedule of events day by day:
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• Wednesday -DJ Mag featuring artists such as David Guetta, Steve Angelo, Macioplex,
Claude Von Stroke, and Way out West;
• Thursday-Cadenza Featuring Luciano and Cadenza Vagabundo's;
• Friday -Enter featuring Richie Hawtin;
• Saturday -Moog Music and Pacha Ibiza feat DJ Jazzy Jeff, Herbie Hancock, Bob Sinclair
and Orbital;
• Sunday-Music On Featuring Marco Carola.
PRODUCTION PLAN AND SCHEDULE
This five-day event will require one additional day for load-in/set-up and one additional day for
load-out/break-down (beyond the actual five event days), along with the morning of the first day
of the event and the evening of the last day of the event. Producer will utilize a temporary
roof structure/tent covering approximately 50% of the overall event site on the beach, along with
a flooring system and fencing system surrounding the beach portion of the site, delivered and set-
up/broken-down by EventStar. sound system components will loaded in by the
Producer's sound engineer (Sonic Lab Audio). The phased load-in/set-up will begin at 10:00AM
on Tuesday, starting with tenting and flooring, then sound equipment and finally movable
and then again at 10:30AM on Wednesday. The load-out/break-down will begin at 12:00AM on
Sunday evening and the entire beach and site will be clear by 2:00PM on Monday. The
temporary roof structure/tent will be utilized to cover approximately 50% of the event area on
the beach east the dune on the hard-packed west of the sand, generally situated
between 21st and 22nd Streets, and the area west of the dune will be utilized for staging of
production equipment, event staff and queuing of patrons. In addition to the off-duty police and
EMT referenced below, the Producer will also contract private security staff sufficient in number
to maintain security at all portions of the event site.
OFF-DUTY POLICE AND RESCUE/EMT
Off-Duty Police: Producer will hire 12 ofT duty police officers for the event utilized
in staggered shifts (ie. 8 officers at the start of the event increasing to 12 at
the busiest time of the event). In addition, the Producer will hire 1 off
duty police officers for the Load-In/Load-Out phase.
Rescue/EMT: The Producer will hire 2 Emergency Medical Technicians ("EMT") for the
event.
SANITATION AND FACILITIES
The Producer will contract with a third party sanitation company to clean and maintain the areas
in and around the event site. In order to provide sufficient facilities the patrons, the Producer
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will contract for the placement of portable bathroom facilities on site inside the main event site
and within the staging/queuing area.
In to ensure each ticket used for entry is genuine, and also to ensure the event does not
exceed the legal capacity (2,500 maximum) at any given time and day, all patrons who
regardless of whether tickets are pre-purchased online or at the event entrance, will be given a
hard, water marked, and numbered, ticket, which will be scanned by professional scanners
similar to those used at a pro sporting event or concert. Online ticket sales will be done via the
third party company "want tickets" and limited in number online to ensure the event is not
oversold, and those sales can monitored both by the event Producer, as well as the City staff,
for safeguard, but the ticket amounts allotted for pre-sale will be below the granted legal capacity
as deemed by City's Fire Marshall. In addition to the foregoing safeguards, the event private
security door staff will be placed at each entry and with manual clickers to ensure validity
tickets and control occupancy.
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RESOLUTION TO BE SUBMITTED
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