Miami Beach Voters Approve Earlier Closing Time for Bars

Sparked by the reaction to unruly spring break crowds from earlier this year, as well as a continued pattern of violence, voters in Miami Beach said ‘yes’ to a referendum Tuesday that will force bars along famous South Beach to shut down at 2 a.m.

The new time is three hours earlier than the usual 5 a.m. last call.

In a story from the Associated Press, residents of the area had grown increasingly frustrated with the late-night crowds spilling over to Ocean Drive and surrounding neighborhoods, citing violence and public drinking as the main issues.

And that was even after the spring break debacle earlier this year when more than 1,000 revelers were arrested.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, who also won reelection on Tuesday, gave the 2 a.m. closing time his full backing.

“This is what our residents want,” Gelber told the AP. He told the news outlet that cutting three hours off the curfew would help reposition South Beach’s entertainment district as a “live, work, play” area.

City commissioners must now incorporate the results of the referendum into the charter, although opposition still remains. Miami Beach, particularly the South Beach strip, is a huge tourist attraction and closing down bars at 2 a.m. could be disruptive.

“Today’s non-binding straw poll was an attempt at misdirection by leaders who have failed to stem the growing problems of crime on Miami Beach,” said a statement from Citizens for a Safe Miami Beach, which plans to “oppose solutions that do nothing to solve crime, but will cost 4,100 local workers their jobs, increase property taxes, and cut tens of millions of dollars from city revenues.”