OLD BUSINESS  4.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

HISTORY:
Unlike other municipalities within Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami Beach has codified guidelines that regulate and enforce the special events process. The special events permit process is intertwined with other City departments that work closely to monitor, staff, and permit special events on both public and private.

In planning stages, various City Departments review, approve, and provide detailed staffing plans for these events including but limited to: The Police Department reviews and sign-off on the Street Closure form, FDOT application, MOT plan, pre-action plan, and course route. This information is then routed to the Transportation and Public Works Department, where Transportation reviews and approves the MOT Plan (Management of Traffic Plan). The information is then routed to the traffic management section where they closely review the traffic monitoring service. Transportation then routes the Street Closure packet to Public Works for review and approval of the public right of way permit. Further, all affected residential and commercial properties must be notified and a Special Events Community Review meeting is held as an open forum for residents to provide feedback on proposed special event permits.

Once completed and approved by all corresponding departments, the City Manager signs the final special events permit approval. In the regards to biking events, most major bike rides necessitating use of major thoroughfares would require Commission approval due to the use of State roads and major thoroughfares, such as the McArthur Causeway, Collins Avenue and Alton Road.

ANALYSIS:

Research:

Staff has conducted research and review of several other state and city Special Events regulations, including Boulder, Colorado; Santa Cruz, California; Santa Clara, California; Arvada, Colorado; Nashville, Tennessee; Colorado Department of Transportation; St. Louis, Missouri; Longmont, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; and Boston, Massachusetts. In these cities the bicycle/cycling permitting process is similar to that of Miami Beach.

In most of the jurisdictions listed above, bicycle races versus bicycle rides were treated similarly. The State of California and Colorado have more detailed and comprehensive regulations regarding bicycle/cycling permitting and have created special regulatory sections. However, as with other jurisdictions, research found that bicycle/cycling Special Events permits generally include the following factors:
• permits are prompted by the size of the event, followed by the impact on the city;
• the number of bicycles, in an organized event, triggers a Special Event permit;
• the State of Colorado and large cities such as Boulder, Los Angeles and San Francisco consider 50+ bicycles as an activation point for a permit;
• filing for the Special Event permit usually starts at 60 days before the event, but in Boulder filing must start as early as 120 days before the event;
• road closures and collaboration with local departments of transportation and police are essential permitting partners. Some jurisdictions look at general road closures, while the State of Colorado will weight ‘complete closures’ versus ‘moving or rolling closures’; and
• date and time of the event is a major factor; the State of Colorado allows only day light events.

As part of further research on a thoughtful response to bike permitting, staff also held internal discussions with the Miami Beach Police Department, Miami Beach Transportation Department, and the Florida State Department of Transportation, to gather general views and recommendations for bike permitting. The general consensus concluded that collaborative City agency engagement is key. Accordingly, the following suggestions are offered by the Administration for consideration to provide more structure and permitting restrictions on organized bicycle/cycling special events:

1. Require all bike events with 25+ riders to apply for a special event permit.
o Though cities such as San Francisco and the State of Colorado require that events with 50+ riders apply for a permit, those cities however, have fewer road constraints than Miami Beach and more law enforcement on hand to monitor and mitigate the impact on communities. It is recommended that we start permitting at 25 riders to mitigate impact on Miami Beach residences and roads.
2. Require a minimum 60-day notice to present any new bicycle events on major roadways and thoroughfares before the City Commission, inclusive of the event routes, hours of impact, and MOT illustration.
o Though some jurisdictions, including Boulder and the State of Colorado required more than 60-day notice, given the number of bicycle/cycling events we have had to date, staff believes 60 days is adequate notice to present to the City Commission.
3. Create designated pre-approved time-frames that are consistent with existing City Transportation Traffic Flow Mitigation Plans - “no closure, lane reduction or traffic holds permitted during Rush Hour Traffic Monday – Friday from 7am to 10:00am and 3:30pm to 7pm.”
4. Work with the City’s Transportation Department to designate pre-approved routes on major roadways to swiftly flush approved bicycle/ cycling events in and out of the City with minimal impacts possible.
5. Create a policy where Off-Duty Police may not staff the event unless a Special Events permit has been filed with the City’s Special Events office.
6. Create a policy that prohibits bicycle/cycling events occurring during major event periods, such as:
• October - Halloween, Auto Show, Seafood Festival
• November - White Party Week
• December - Art Basel, New Year’s Eve
• January - NCAA Bowl Games, Art Deco Weekend, NATPE
• February - Food & Wine Festival, and Super Bowl
• March - Winter Music Conference, Winter Party, Spring Break
• April - Miami Beach Gay Pride, South Beach Triathlon
• May - Memorial Day Weekend
• July - July 4th, Swimwear Fashion Week
• September - Labor Day Weekend

CONCLUSION:
Based on the research conducted and internal consideration, the Administration is seeking further direction from the Committee on the recommendations put forward for permitting for bike rides withinin Miami Beach for inclusion in the upcoming revisions to the Special Event Guidelines & Requirements.