The City of Miami Beach hosts a wide variety of special events that enrich the community for both visitors and residents. To mitigate the ever-increasing demands made upon City resources and infrastructure, applicants are required to present proposed special event activities to potentially impacted neighborhood associations and appropriate City departments to ensure that these events are compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. This process assists in evaluating and assessing the City’s resources, both in terms of personnel and use of public property and rights-of-way, to adequately protect the public safety, health, and welfare of the community.
The intent of the Special Event Ordinance (Chapter 12, Article II, Section 12-5 of the Miami Beach City Code) and Special Event Requirements/Guidelines are:
· To ensure the City will have adequate advance notice of a proposed special event and the cooperation of the organizers to properly plan any necessary City services (security, sanitation, parking, and traffic control).
· To ensure that the City’s beaches, parks, and public rights-of-ways are protected and conserved, by limiting the number and type of events held in these areas; and
· To preserve the City’s commitment to attract quality events with significant tourism and cultural significance for the community at-large.
Any events taking place on public property, whether produced by a not-profit or for-profit entity, with attendance exceeding 150 people and requiring City Services (police, fire, parking, etc.) or building and fire permits, as determined by Special Events division of the Tourism and Culture Department, will require a Special Event Permit. Applications shall be submitted with a minimum of ninety (90) days prior to the first day of load-in.
Events taking place on private property, whether produced by a not-profit or for-profit entity, where such event would be considered a 'special event' under the City’s Special Events Ordinance, and requiring City Services (police, fire, parking, etc.) or building and fire permits as determined by the Office of Special Events, will require a Special Event Permit from the City. Applications shall be submitted with a minimum of 60-30 days, in prior to the first day of load-in.
Special events in the City of Miami Beach are subject to review and recommendation by the corresponding neighborhood or business association(s) and/ or as part of a monthly Special Events Community Review.
Currently, the Tourism and Culture Departments hosts the Special Events Community Review meeting on the third Thursday of every month in a virtual manner. The meeting invitation for the monthly meeting is sent to City personnel, event producers and community stakeholders. Additionally, TCD staff has taken steps to publicly notice the monthly meeting through the City Clerk’s Office, as seen in Exhibit A.
For events that expected to have a high impact on the community and city services, a separate community meeting is scheduled. TCD has worked with the Neighborhood Affairs division to schedule and promote community meetings, as seen in Exhibit B.