The highlighted concern is not a new issue to the City of Miami Beach. As late as 2014, the City Commission enacted Ordinance 2014-3873 (attached herein for reference). The new ordinance went into effect after a 30-day warning period. The ordinance called for a multi-departmental response comprised of Parking, Code Compliance and Police. Enforcement commenced in August of 2014 which resulted in a large number of citations and towed vehicles. The Freight Loading Zone (FLZ) ordinance was extensively monitored and enforced up to the start of the Pandemic when dedicated funding was reprogrammed and personnel were reallocated or reassigned. Attached is a summary of the Parking Department’s enforcement statistics spanning 2017-2022.  

Although significant improvements were achieved, the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic saw large increases not only in small package delivery vehicles such as Amazon and GoPuff; but other delivery services as well for example Uber Eats, Door Dash, Shipt, and InstaCart. These independent contractors present a challenge to the current ordinance related to permit requirements. Moreover, at the inception of the FLZ ordinance national couriers i.e. FedEx and UPS obtained permits but failed to renew such permits in subsequent years.

At the time of this writing, the Parking Department is in the process of training and hiring additional staff to deploy along the Art Deco Cultural District to enforce both the designated Freight and Alley Loading Zones. Additional staff hiring and training is planned to bring enforcement to pre-pandemic levels city-wide. Furthermore, additional FLZ enforcement by Police will be subsidized by the Parking Department.

Staff from Police, Transportation and Mobility, and Parking have met to discuss the exacerbation of the issue and while there is a commitment to increase enforcement in the short term, additional outreach to delivery companies will be done. Parking Director Beltran has reached out to the International Parking and Mobility Institute and will have an opportunity to discuss this matter with parking delegates at an upcoming National Parking Association conference. Lastly, technology opportunities are also being evaluated.