Da Leo's umbrellas have commissioners troubled.

Storefront Storage

Miami Beach Commission Considers Forcing Some Restaurants to Stow their Stuff

By Angie Hargot

At the June 3 commission meeting, the City of Miami Beach moved one step closer to passing an ordinance that would prohibit some restaurants from leaving their sidewalk tables, chairs and umbrellas out on Lincoln Road when not open for business.

Mayor Matti Bower sponsored the item which would set up ‘No Table Zones’ in an effort to keep Lincoln Road from looking like what she called a “storage” area for furniture.

However, Bower encountered some friction from business owners who say they just don’t have the space to bring the items in at closing time.

“I am against having chairs left over and having Lincoln road look like a food court,” Bower said.

Bower was concerned that the practice may set a precedent — in a faltering economy, more and more restaurants might close for lunch and leave their furniture outside.

Under the current Sidewalk Café Ordinance, if businesses are not open before 11 a.m., they have to clear their tables, chairs and umbrellas off of Lincoln Road.

Several are in violation, however.

Supporters of the measure that would quash a possible trend, were not unsympathetic to the struggles of small businesses: Bower sought to ‘grandfather’ in the handful of restaurants that currently struggle with a lack of space.

City Attorney Jose Smith, however, said that option would not be legally sound. 

“You cannot favor two restaurants and not the others,” Smith said.

Deputy City Attorney Raul Aguila agreed with Smith, adding that the city found four additional restaurants that would also be affected by the proposed ordinance. Aguila suggested crafting a more unilateral code.

One restaurant under scrutiny is Da Leo Trattoria, located at 819 Lincoln Road, which received a code compliance citation on May 27, building department records show.

“Not many restaurants are the size of Da Leo,” said attorney Michael Larkin, who represents the café and has been actively advocating city officials to come up with a policy that would solve the problem without inhibiting his Da Leo’s business. The cafe spans just 16 feet of ‘frontage,’ or actual store front space, along the busy thoroughfare.

Larkin also asserted the problem was unlikely to rage out of control — although Da Leo chooses to keep a focus on its dinner service, other establishments don’t follow the business model and so won’t likely close for lunch. Da Leo, he said, was not large enough to store their outdoor furniture inside during non-operating hours.

“Most of the restaurants on Lincoln Road need to open for lunch to survive,” Larkin said. “With their rents skyrocketing, they’re looking for any way to increase their revenue…the market will dictate that those restaurants that are open for lunch now are going to remain open.”

Commissioner Victor Diaz acknowledged that some businesses, while paying less in square footage for rent “circumvent the rules by having a tiny slice of a commercial space and take an enormous amount of space on Lincoln road.”

Focusing on the struggles of small businesses, Commissioner Jonah Wolfson also took issue with Bower’s characterization of Lincoln Road as a “food court,” a portrayal she later agreed was unfair. Wolfson warned against “too many restrictions in these economic times,” he said. “Things are tough out there. The concern is that we’re going to over-legislate.”

Diaz, however, disagreed with Wolfson’s assertions that the proposed code could exacerbate the economic trials of local businesses, maintaining that the measure wasn’t “anti-business,” but a “long-term overall sustainable economic development vision,” Diaz said.

Commissioner Deede Weithorn offered the suggestion to impose a percentage to keep Lincoln from becoming “a wasteland of tables and chairs.” For example, 75 percent of restaurants closed for lunch could keep their furniture on Lincoln while it was closed, with permission given out on a first-come first-serve basis.

Commissioner Saul Gross asserted that enforcement would become a problem.

“Keep government out of where it doesn’t have to be,” Gross said.

The commission voted 4-3 to forward the item on to the Neighborhood / Community Affairs Committee for further input. The second reading and public hearing before the commission is scheduled for July 15. In the meantime the city will not cite businesses for violations.

“I really have a problem when the outside [area] of Lincoln Road looks like a storage area,” Bower said. “When the restaurants are closed that becomes a public space.”

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Connected  
What Ever Happened to Free Citywide Wi-Fi?

By Lee Molloy

After three years, Webheads who can’t bear to be internet-less for a single moment are surfing still closer to the anticipated free citywide Wi-Fi access courtesy of the City of Miami Beach. So no more wandering aimlessly from coffee shop to rest stop looking for that elusive Wi-Fi Hot Spot sign, only to find the place filled with ‘novelists.’

Updating the commission on the progress of the project on June 3 was Wi-Fi expert Jim Geier, the founder of the two decades-old Wireless-Nets, Ltd, the company recruited roughly three years ago to help implement the system.

Geier explained that he worked with IBM and the city to begin a test plan in April. We have to “make sure the system is going to support typical users,” Geier said. “It needs to work for not only people, but the city itself, like the police.”

Tests were carried out all over the city via on foot and vehicle. A 95 percent ground floor outdoor coverage is considered success; Miami Beach is now at 86 percent. Currently the city has 359 ‘nodes’ deployed to transmit the signal, and Geier believes that only 15 to 20 more are needed to achieve the contracted 95 percent coverage.

The indoor tests also achieved good scores. Seventy percent coverage is required to pass muster — Miami Beach received a score of 78 percent. Once the reliability testing phase is complete, internet users should soon be able to enjoy a proud moment for Miami Beach as the city may become the first major municipality to have free Wi-Fi for all of its residents.