South Of Fifth Restaurants Might Have To Scale Back
The Miami Beach planning board has moved to close a loophole in the restaurant and bar restrictions in the South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach, according to the Miami SunPost. The proposed move would limit bar and restaurant seats to one per hotel room in the area. Currently, bars and restaurants are allowed to be half as large as the hotels they're in. According to the SunPost:
“This is an issue about noise,” testified Carter McDowell, an attorney representing such developers as Zedek Associates, whose proposed Bijou Hotel was recently approved by the historic preservation board, a ruling being challenged by activist Frank Del Vecchio. “I don’t think further regulation is needed.”But board members disagreed and, instead, backed member Richard Kuper after he suggested the one-seat-to-one-room ratio.
The area that would be affected if the revised ordinance becomes law is a nine-square- block historic district along Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive below Fourth Street. Restaurants in hotels in this area are only supposed to serve hotel guests. But some area residents argue that a loophole in the code permits accessory use restaurants to be as large as 49 percent of the floor area ratio of the hotel, which threatens to destroy the tranquility of the neighborhood.
The board will vote on the ordinance in November. If accepted, it'll be voted on by the Miami Beach City Commission. Two restaurants who've taken advantage of this loophole? Prime One 12 and DeVito's. Now the question is whether or not they'll be able to stay if the code changes.
Miami Beach planning board moves to shut down bar and restaurant loophole [Miami SunPost]
Prime One Twelve [MenuPages]
DeVito South Beach [MenuPages]
