HomeMy WebLinkAboutLTC 068-2026 - Memo from the Art Deco Neighborhood Association Regarding the February 25, 2026, Commission Meeting - Item # R9 DMIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
LTC#
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor Steven Meiner and Members of the City Commission
Eric Carpenter,City Manager
Ricardo J.Dopico,City Attorney
Joseph M.Centorino,Inspector~
Rafael E.Granado,City Clerk]l
February 23,2026
Memo from the Art Deco Neighborhood Association Regarding the February
25,2026,Commission Meeting -Item #R9 D
I am sharing with you a memo from the Art Deco Neighborhood Association regarding item R9 D
on the February 25,2026,Commission Meeting -COW:.Annual Performance Evaluation of the
City Manager.
F:\CLER\$ALL\LTC FROM ASSOCIATIONS\ADNA 02232026.docx
068-2026
Granado,Rafael
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Attachments:
Irene Bigger <info@adnamb.org>
Monday,February 23,2026 9:26 AM
Meiner,Steven;Fernandez,Alex;Magazine,Joe;Matteo-Salinas,Monica;Dominguez,
Laura;Bhatt,Tanya;Suarez,David
CityClerk;Anett Grant;Jane Krupp;Nina Weber;Eugene Rodriguez;Michael Bigger
City of Miami Beach Commission Meeting 2/25/26-Item#R9 D
ADNA_CITY OF MIAMI BEACH REVIEW_2-19-26.pdf
t
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OPENING LINKS OR ATTACHMENTS]
Dear Mayor and Commissioners,
In reference to:
R9 D
A COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (COW)MEETING WILL BE HELD DURING THE LUNCH RECESS OF THE CITY
COMMISSION MEETING ON THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 25,2026,IN THE CITY MANAGER'S LARGE CONFERENCE
ROOM,FOURTH FLOOR,CITY HALL,TO DISCUSS THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE CITY
MANAGER.
12:00 p.m.
Applicable Area:Citywide
Human Resources
Please find the attached memorandum outlining serious administrative issues and enforcement concerns related to a
current operator on Ocean Drive.
Our goal is not to target one business for its own sake but to highlight clear systemic gaps that the City has not
addressed,despite many communications,which have exposed property owners,employees,vendors,and potentially
the public to unnecessary risk.
The enclosed document uses the Front Porch Cafe matter as a case study to illustrate broader weaknesses in payment
systems,enforcement practices,licensing oversight,and interdepartmental coordination.
These issues affect multiple properties and,more importantly,the integrity of the City's regulatory framework.We
believe the City has both the authority and the tools to prevent this type of situation from recurring,and we
respectfully request a thorough review of the processes outlined in the attached report with the ultimate goal of
correcting the flaws in the underlying procedural framework.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to working together toward practical solutionsthat
protect responsible property owners,legitimate businesses,and the public.
Respectfully,
The ADNA Board
1
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ART DECO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
February 19,2026
City of Miami Beach Audit
The following document is an attempt to shed light on current issues with the City's procedures and
policies that have exposed property owners,restaurant employees,food distributors,liquor
distributors,amongst other vendors that are being victimized by some operators.
As an example,this document describes the journey of the Front Porch Cafe and all of the businesses
and individuals that have been affected by their behavior.
The City has enabled this operator to take advantage of the City's mismanagement and administrative
failures,and helped them exploit the broken system,putting the liability onto property owners for the
bad debt of their tenants who are in default to the City.
The on-going Front Porch Cafe situation,will show how a commercial business tenant (The Front Porch
Cafe),has affected,and continues to affect,three different Ocean Drive properties:
1458 Ocean Drive,Z Ocean Hotel:DBA,Front Porch Cafe
1412 Ocean Drive:DBA,Front Porch Cafe
918 Ocean Drive:DBA,Front Porch Cafe
The following are examples of the ongoing negligence on the part of the City's administrative and
systemic failures:
1.City's E-check/Accounts Receivable System Failure:
The E-check system the City uses for payments on accounts such as BTR,Water,Permits etc...is a
flawed process.In particular,the instance of a bounced E-check payment shows the extent of the
failure and the exploitation risk by this operator.Once an E-payment is in motion,the system will show
the account paid and current when accepting the E-payment,even though the check has not cleared,
and can take more than a week to show if it is a bounced e check.While this is happening,the system
cannot accept any other type of payment such as a cashier's check.There is a further
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disconnect with an administrator knowing about,and acting on,the bounced E-check.In the case of
1412 Ocean Drive,the tenant issued 6 bad E-checks for the water bill.The tenant would just issue a
new E-check and repeat the same fraudulent action multiple times.The City cannot block a tenant
from paying with this system even though they have proven multiple fraudulent attempts,thus a
system failure for not blocking the tenant from future E-payments and requiring a cashiers'check
seems to be not possible.The City will continue to extend them credit even if the property
owner/landlord asks for the water to shut off and explains that the tenant is being evicted.
2:The City is not actively auditing the collection of the tenant's sales tax or resort tax fees,allowing
them to operate and charge customers these fees while potentially pocketing those revenues at the
City's expense.
3:The City was also not collecting the sidewalk permit fees at their current &active location,918
Ocean Drive which they had issued 3 bad E-checks to Public Works.In fact,they never paid the
sidewalk permit fees for the 1412 Ocean Drive location from our understanding.
4:The City was not monitoring if the above tenant even had general liability insurance,workman's
comp insurance or their liquor liability insurance,which they did not have while the tenant was
serving customers on the sidewalk Right-of-Way,therefore exposing the public,the property owner
and the City to lawsuits without the required insurance coverage from the tenant.Do they have this
problem with the current location that they own (918 Ocean Drive)?Does this have implications with
the Code Enforcement Department?
5:The City was not monitoring health code issues as the tenant was transporting food and ice,
exposed to the open air,down the alley from the Z Ocean Hotel to the 1412 Ocean Drive 2nd location
for months.
6:The tenant was selling liquor without liquor liability insurance and buying the liquor at retail stores
(not through liquor distributors as required by law).
7:The tenant was also buying food at grocery stores (possibly as the result of bad debt with food
distributors and other providers)
8:The tenant had no garbage service for over two months and was dumping their solid waste into the
containers of the hotels next door.The City was aware of the non-payment of their solid waste
management bills and no service,yet continued to allow the business to operate with no waste
removal services.
9:The operators were supposedly hiring undocumented workers and not paying them.Other
documented workers have currently filed two federal wage and hour lawsuits alleging unpaid wages
and related violations:Morancy v.Regan Hospitality LLC (filed November 2024),et al.and Hernandez
v.Regan Hospitality LLC (filed in 2025).This also exposes the landlord and the City to liability exposure.
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10:The operators were not fumigating their establishment and not maintaining their AC units,which
ultimately caused their breakdown.Here again creating an unhealthy environment for food handling
and the employees to work in.
The City was informed of all of this over a year ago (December 9"2024),and without any
accountability,offered no real solution except that the "Charter states that the property owner/
landlord is responsible and would only provide a 6-month payment plan for the water bill."
In the meantime,the first location,Z Ocean Hotel,went through this,and had to evict this tenant,
with the sheriff (it took them seven months to evict the tenant),as did the second property owner of
1412 Ocean Drive,who also evicted this tenant at the end of May 2025 (it took them four months to
evict the tenant with the sheriff),and still 1412 Ocean Drive has no water service 9 months later,as
of this date.Both the first and second Ocean Drive former locations of Front Porch Cafe remain
vacant.
They are currently at their third location,918 Ocean Drive,with the same BTR that was at 1412 Ocean
Drive which they transferred to 918 Ocean Drive and yet they have water service at their current
location.
So the City continues to extend them credit even though they have a $5,527.87 outstanding water bill
from 1412 Ocean Drive,which the City is insisting that the property owner pays.
With regard to the eviction process,it can be dragged out,leaving the landlord with no leverage,no
income and exposes the property owner/landlord and the City to potential lawsuits from customers or
employees due to any negligence and illegal practices by the tenant (due to the lack of insurance and
other illegal practices).The City covenant making the landlord liable for an outstanding water bill
makes no sense considering that the landlord cannot request the water to be disconnected even if the
tenant is being evicted and has shown to the City,by the issuing of bad checks,that it is not credit
worthy.This is enabling the tenant to continue collecting cash flow while not paying their bills,which
is a typical exit strategy of a fraudulent operator.
Most of the revenue from these Ocean Drive Cates comes from the City Sidewalk seating permit,
allowing the sale of food and beverage,20%service fees and collection of Resort Taxes in the Right-of-
Way,without any oversight by the City Finance Department.
Only the City has the leverage and power to stop this type of abuse and fraud by using these tools:
•Revoking the sidewalk permit
•Shutting off the water (Monroe County uses the water service as a collection tool for both
residential and commercial properties in the Florida Keys for any outstanding bills or fees)
•Blocking the garbage permit
•Requiring a new BTR application with a more comprehensive document submission checklist
(See below)
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By the city taking no action,after being warned by the landlord,it is basically enabling this fraudulent
behavior and victimizing property owners,employees,food and liquor distributors and other vendors
to major losses and possible health issues for the public consumer.This trail of destruction could be
completely avoided by the City's use of the water service and the BTR as a compliance tool.This would
have immediate effect and can avoid the costly long eviction process,which the tenant can exploit.
SOLUTIONS:
The City Finance Department system should red flag an overdue account for non-payment by an
operator after the second bounced E-check with all future payments to be paid by cashier's check
Remove the City Charter item holding a property owner/landlord liable for a Tenant's uncollected
water bill and make the City responsible for collecting payments that are due to the City.
Property owners should not be liable for collecting debts owed by tenants to the city,as property
owners/landlords have no leverage or legal means of collecting these debts especially during the
eviction process.The city is now unfairly holding property owners liable for third-party debts.
The City should be able to use water service as a tool for collecting any arrears and/or defaults on City
services and fees for an active BTR and other active operating licenses.(Again,Monroe County,for
example,has the ability to shut off water service if other bills are not paid).
Perform a total overhaul of the BTR application and provide vigilant vetting and enforcement
IMPROVING THE BTR APPLICATION
CURRENT BTR APPLICATION CHECKLIST:
•Federal ID number
•Articles of incorporation (if applicable)
•Bill of sale
•Fictitious name registration
•State License (if applicable)
•Insurance
•Lease Deed/Closing Statement
•CU and Annual Fire Fee (nonrefundable)
ENHANCED VETTING SUGGESTIONS
Change of Location should require a new BTR application
Reason for move
Contact previous landlord/property owner
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Require government issued visa (if applicable),picture ID/documentation for applicant
Require credit report for business and operators
Provide at least 1 year previous Resort Tax receipts and bank account records
Provide previous year filings for Federal and State Payroll Taxes,Unemployment Insurance,FICA
and W-A4 Forms for employees
Provide copy of new lease and CUP (if applicable)
Review status of all permits and licenses
Provide seating Plan and Menu
Provide change of use narrative,(if applicable)
Check with State and County for previous violations,crimes and debts
Submit 1 year previous vendor paid receipts for liquor and food procurement
Proof of valid Liquor Licenses and Food Service Permits
Provide proof of waste management services and contracts
Provide active proof insurance for Hurricane,Wind,Flood,Fire,Workman's Comp,All Liability
Review sidewalk permit and compliance with sidewalk rules and regulations
Submit Planning Dept.approvals for outdoor speaker locations and signage
Proof of all Code compliances as required by the City.
Comprehensive site inspection and document review for compliance of all of the above
The owner of 1412 Ocean Drive and the owner of the Z Ocean Hotel (1458 Ocean Drive)have been
victimized not only by this tenant but by the City's system which is unfair and ineffective.If landlords
cannot request the water to be shut off with a delinquent tenant,who has shown their lack of credit
worthiness,then the landlord should not be responsible.
The finance department told the owner of 1412 Ocean Drive that they could not shut off the water
for the tenant,who was at fault,for fear of a lawsuit from the operator and yet the property owner
was put into this position due to the City's lack of action.Nine months later 1412 Ocean Drive still has
no water service and has not been able to re-rent the space.And this tenant at 918 Ocean Drive,with
the same BTR that was at 1412 Ocean Drive,is allowed to operate with no consequences to their
actions to both 1412 Ocean Drive and 1458 Ocean Drive.
We at ADNA look forward to this situation being resolved and the charter changed so no other
property owner or employees or vendors can be victimized by this type of operator.
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