The City of Miami Beach hosts various special events that enrich the community for visitors and residents. To mitigate the ever-increasing demands made on City resources and infrastructure, special event permit applicants must present proposed special event activities to potentially impacted neighborhood associations and appropriate City departments. 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 health, safety, and welfare of the community.
Special Event Guidelines and Community Outreach
All proposed events with projected attendance of more than 150 persons on public or private property, where such event would not be incidental generally or without restriction throughout a particular zoning district, will be reviewed, internally, by the City’s relevant departments. Representatives from City departments, including, but not limited to, Police, Fire, Tourism and Culture, Public Works, Parking, Planning, Code Compliance, Environment and Sustainability and Parks and Recreation take part in a monthly Special Events Internal Review meeting. The various departments review and provide feedback on the proposed site, run of show, security, parking, transportation, and all other necessary plans for the proposed event. Based on feedback received from City departments, Tourism and Culture Department (TCD) staff advise the special event applicants of specific requirements they will need to satisfy and the timeframe for completing these requirements. Each City Department will take note of announced events and potential events of significance and initiate customized action plans to address the requisite levels of service and outline their efforts and responsibilities associated with any upcoming major event planned within the City. All comments received during the internal review process are incorporated with feedback received through the subsequent community review process.
Special events in the City of Miami Beach are also 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, TCD hosts the virtual Special Events Community Review meeting on the third Thursday of every month. The invitation for the monthly meeting is sent to City personnel, event producers and community stakeholders. Although the Guidelines currently only state events in public property, TCD includes all events, whether on public or private property, in the monthly Community Review Meetings. Additionally, TCD staff publicly notices the monthly meeting through the City Clerk’s Office, as seen in Exhibit A.
Part of the external review procedure includes notification to affected neighborhoods and associations, such as the Art Deco Neighborhood Association, Ocean Drive Association, and Collins Park Neighborhood Association, for example. TCD routinely connects event producers with affected neighborhoods to allow for event proposals, including a site plan and run of show, to be shared and discussed. This allows for dialogue between the parties, and questions and concerns are shared directly with the producers. In addition, TCD has coordinated meetings between producers and community stakeholders when more discussion is deemed necessary.
On July 26, 2023, the City Commission approved Resolution No. 2023-32701, authorizing a revision to the Special Event Guidelines, which included the following language in reference to the enhanced mail notice for a trial period of six (6) months:
In addition, for large events with an attendance exceeding 1,000 applicants shall provide:
• mail notice to any registered neighborhood association where the proposed event will
be located;
• mail notice to all property owners within a 500-foot radius if the special event is being
activated west of the dunes;
• mail notice to all properties within 1000-foot radius if the special event is activating
beachfront, east of the dunes; and
• with the mail notice to specify the date and time that the proposed event will be
considered at a scheduled Special Events Community Review meeting, and include
the Tourism and Culture Department on copy, for verification purposes.
On September 13, 2023, the City Commission voted to reconsider the July 26, 2023 Resolution authorizing a revision to the Special Event Guidelines, and remove the above-referenced enhanced mail notice from the guidelines. The Administration was asked to provide an update at a PSNQLC meeting on efforts to provide other forms of enhanced notice to residents for applications being reviewed at monthly Special Event Community Review meetings.
TCD staff has continued to take various steps to enhance notifications to City residents and neighborhood associations of upcoming special event application reviews by implementing the following:
• Monthly Special Event Community Review virtual meetings publicly noticed through the City Clerk’s office, providing residents with dates, time, and meeting login information in advance.
• An electronic email blast was restarted in November 2023 with more than 2,000 subscribers. An email is sent with the agenda of the upcoming Community Review meeting, making residents aware of events proposed in their area, as seen in Exhibit B.
• The Administration has worked with the Information Technology Department to create a link to subscribe to the “Special Event” newsletter, as seen in Exhibit C.
• For events that are 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 D.
Since the additional notification strategies were implemented, TCD staff has witnessed increased participation of residents at monthly meetings. Through participation, residents have been able to share concerns, ask, and at times, receive feedback and real-time solutions to address concerns. All comments received during the external review process are incorporated with feedback received through the internal review process.
List of City-Sponsored Events for 2024
Sponsorship Budget for Fiscal Year 2024
Internal Criteria to Review Special Event Application
The City has the authority to approve, approve with conditions, deny or revoke a Special Event Application, and the review includes, but is not limited to, the items listed below.
• Type of Event: The review of the special event permit application includes a review of the type of event, and the possible demands on City services Community profile, estimated attendance, reoccurrence, and nature of the venue.
• Resident Benefit: All special events on public property will require a resident benefit, defined as a quantitative, tangible benefit to the residents and local community.
• Economic Impact to the City: The City will consider the event’s long-term, short-term, and indirect effects on profit/costs to local economic industries, including but not limited to hotels, restaurants, entertainment establishments, retail, and the City. The City will also consider events undertaken by not-for-profit organizations that demonstrate direct assistance to a charitable cause. An Economic Impact Survey is required for large-scale events to determine if an event has a positive economic impact to the City.
• Frequency Chart: To ensure that the City’s beaches, parks, and public right-of-ways are protected and conserved, the City limits the number and scope of the events held in these areas. The City has in place a Frequency Chart, which outlines the maximum number of days in a fiscal year that can be used within the designated area listed. Once a designated area reaches its maximum allowance, no other event can take place. This allows for the natural restoration and maintenance of our beaches, parks, and public right-of-ways.
• Infrastructure and Service Demands (Quality of Life): The City will consider whether the event is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods and complements the ambience and aesthetics of the area in which it is presented.
• Issuance of Special Event Permits during High Impact Periods: During periods of enhanced or unavailable staffing of City resources (Police, Fire, Code, Sanitation, etc.), the City does not accept applications for new events on public property. Such periods include the month of March and first two weeks of the month of April, which coincides with college and high school spring break and existing events.
The value of ancillary events and conferences that may surround the event is also reviewed. These may or may not be ancillary events directly managed, or a part of, the event under review. The venues for these other ancillary shows could be local hotels, arenas and parks, in support of the large event. Ancillary events of this type may be considered a positive, from the additional economic impact they may provide, or they may be considered a detriment, depending on the nature and history of these side events including their direct and indirect impacts.