City of Miami Beach Updates State of Emergency Relating to the High Impact Period

(Miami Beach, FL) Mar 31, 2021 -

Today, the Miami Beach Interim City Manager has updated the City’s State of Emergency relating to the High Impact Period. With this update, restaurants and businesses along the Española Way corridor between Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Avenue are now excluded from the Emergency Order and are permitted to operate until the citywide 12 a.m. curfew along with all other restaurants and businesses outside of the High Impact Zone.

The following emergency measures will be in effect on the evenings of April 1 through April 4, until the following day at 6 a.m.:

• On both the MacArthur Causeway and the Julia Tuttle Causeway, the Miami Beach Police Department will deploy a license plate reader (LPR) detail on eastbound lanes in lieu of a checkpoint starting at 10 p.m. each evening through 6 a.m. the following day. On the Julia Tuttle Causeway, traffic will be directed into the left lane (to 41 Street) and right lane (to Alton Road) with the center lane closed to all traffic. This should be faster than residency checks. Motorists will not have to come to a complete stop. There won’t typically be any interaction with officers except in the case of vehicles that are the subject of an LPR alert.
• On the Venetian Causeway, eastbound lanes on the Venetian Causeway will be closed to traffic from 10 p.m. through 6 a.m. the following day, except in the case of City residents, guests of hotels/short-term rentals in the City, employees of City businesses, and individuals making deliveries from restaurants.

  Miami Beach residents must show a valid Florida identification card, driver’s license or utility bill indicating a Miami Beach address. Hotel and vacation rental guests must show their lodging confirmation or hotel key card that indicates where they are staying. Employees of Miami Beach businesses can show their employee identification cards. Visitors with restaurant reservations booked after 10 p.m., should show a confirmation of the reservation.

Effective from 8 p.m. through 6 a.m. each day, a curfew will be imposed ONLY in the area bounded by 5 Street on the south, 16 Street on the north, Pennsylvania Avenue on the west, and Ocean Drive on the east (the “High Impact Zone”), except for the Española Way corridor between Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Avenue. Restaurants within the High Impact Zone shall be permitted to continue to operate for delivery services only.  Pursuant to Section 26-33(a)(1) of the City Code, the curfew shall not apply to the provision of designated essential services, such as fire, police and hospital services, including the transportation of patients thereto, utility emergency repairs, construction activities, emergency calls by physicians, and individuals making deliveries from restaurants.

From 8 p.m. through 6 a.m. each day, Ocean Drive will be CLOSED to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, except to City residents requiring access to or from their homes, guests of hotels and vacation rental properties, requiring access to or from their hotels/vacation rentals, and employees of business establishments. Other public roads within the High Impact Zone may be closed as deemed necessary by the Interim City Manager or Chief of Police.

From 7 p.m. through 6 a.m., all sidewalk café operations, including expanded outdoor restaurant seating, will be SUSPENDED in the High Impact Zone, pursuant to the City’s High Impact Ordinance and City Commission Resolution No. 2021-31599, except for restaurants along the Española Way corridor between Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Avenue, which are permitted to operate their sidewalk cafes until the citywide 12 a.m. curfew. All other sidewalk café operators in the High Impact Zone are directed to stack or remove tables and chairs no later than 8 p.m. each night.

Any violation of these emergency measures shall subject the individual, operator, business entity, or organization to arrest and criminal prosecution pursuant to Section 26-36 and Section 1-14 of the City Code.

The City strongly urges all businesses in the High Impact Zone to close voluntarily during the State of Emergency. This Declaration of a State of Emergency and the measures set forth are separate from and in addition to the emergency measures currently in effect related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All other areas in Miami Beach are open for residents and visitors to patronize after the 8 p.m. curfew in the High Impact Zone, such as Lincoln Road, South of Fifth, Sunset Harbour, Collins Park, 41 Street, North Beach and more.