This item was referred to the Public Safety and Neighborhoods Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC) at the July 20, 2022 City Commission meeting and is sponsored by Commissioner Alex Fernandez.

The item was heard at the PSNQLC on October 19, 2022 where the following direction was given:

1.    Come back to the full Commission and provide recommendations for a four-month pilot program for street performers at Soundscape Park with the following parameters.

•  No solicitationNo amplification;
•  Once a week, on Sundays, from 5pm to 8PM; and

2.    Tourism and Culture, Parks and Recreation, Finance and Code Compliance departments to work on identifying feasible locations and streamlining the permitting process.

In most of the City of Miami Beach, playing live music in public can occur freely without a permit.  To address public safety concerns from the proliferation of performers and frequent complaints regarding gridlock on sidewalks and other city right of ways in South Beach, the City established a Street Performer’s Program in 2007 via Section 18 Article XV of the City Code.

The Street Performer’s Program established 16 designated street performer zones in the heart of South Beach.  These 16 locations are located on Lincoln Road, Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive, where the City experiences the largest footfall of local and tourist traffic.  The City currently hosts four quarterly lotteries for street performers wishing to participate in the program for the 16 locations.

Since the October 19, 2022 PSNQLC meeting, representatives from the Finance Department, Tourism and Culture, Parks and Recreation, and Code Compliance have convened for four team meetings, including a final meeting with musician and street performer advocate Michael Cantalupo to:  establish the proposed framework for the Pilot Program and to streamline the permitting process.

Site visits, by staff, were conducted to the two and half acre Soundscape Park municipal park to identify viable locations for performance.  Input was obtained from New World Symphony, the park’s neighbor, to obtain black-out dates in which the park would be utilized by the symphony.

The proposed pilot program would add four locations at Soundscape Park (see attached map), to the current 16 locations available for street performance in South Beach, for a total of 20 dedicated locations for street performance.  The proposed framework would permit any current participant in the City’s Street Performer Lottery Program to occupy one of four locations at Soundscape Park, on a first-come and first-serve basis, Sundays between the hours of 5pm to 8pm.

Performers would not be allowed to solicit the public or amplify their music. The program would be streamlined with one application and annual street performer permit versus the current four applications and four permits.  Applications for participation will be available online or in person at the Customer Service Center.

The proposed Pilot Program is summarized below:

The City recognizes the constitutional rights of street performance artists, and the proposed resolution adds four locations, via a four-month pilot program, to the already permitted 16 locations in the regulated areas of South Beach.    The Administration recommends approving the four-month pilot program at Soundscape Park and revisiting the program at its July 2023 PSNQLC meeting.