HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRA-R-10-0019 Cover Memo 3-15-2010SEOPW Board of Commissioners Meeting
March 15, 2010
SOUTHEAST OVERTOWNIPARK WEST
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
To: Board Chair Richard P. Dunn II
and Members of the CRA Board
From: James H. Villacort
Executive Director
Date: March 5, 2010 File: 10-00309
Subject: Resolution Urging the Miami City Commission
to Enact an Ordinance Amending Chapter
4/Article 1 of the Code of the City Of Miami,
Florida, as Amended, Entitled "Alcoholic
Beverages/In General."
References:
Enclosures: Supporting Documentation; Legislation
BACKGROUND:
It is recommended that the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community
Redevelopment Agency ("CRA") approve and adopt the attached Resolution urging the Miami City Commission
to enact an ordinance amending Chapter 4/Article 1 of the Code of the City Of Miami, Florida, as amended,
entitled "Alcoholic Beverages/In General."' More particularly, by amending Section 4-2 to create new definitions
and amending Section 4-3 to limit the retail sale of alcoholic beverages from convenience stores located in the
Southeast Overtown/ Park West Community Redevelopment Area.
Convenience stores may currently make sales of beer and wine in sealed containers for consumption off the
premises during such hours as their stores legally remain open for the sale of other goods within the Southeast
Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Area ("Redevelopment Area"). Most of the convenience
stores located in the Redevelopment Area are open twenty-four (24) hours a day and seven (7) days a week,
meaning that alcoholic beverages are offered for sale at all hours of the day and night, which has caused an
increase in illicit activity originating from the convenient stores (i.e. drug sales, the sale of individual cigarettes,
etc).
The CRA has met with City of Miami police officers that patrol the Redevelopment Area on various occasions,
and they have expressed that under the current ordinance, they are limited in the investigative measures they
can use in order to effectively address the criminal activity that is originating from the convenient stores
throughout the night.
The purpose of the proposed amendment to curtail the hours of sales of alcoholic beverages from convenience
stores in the Redevelopment Area is:
1. to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the Redevelopment Area and its
inhabitants, visitors, property owners, and workers;
2. to establish, maintain, and preserve property values and preserve and foster the development
of attractive neighborhood and business environments;
3. reduce crime rates and the opportunities for the commission of crime; and
4. to provide improvements in neighborhoods so they are defensible against crime.
The proposed hours of operation for convenient stores within the Redevelopment Area are as follows:
• 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight each day, except that the convenient store may continue to be open
through Saturday night to 1:00 a.m. on Sunday; and
• No alcoholic beverages may be sold or dispensed between the hours of:
0 12:00 midnight and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays; and
a 1:00 a.m. Sunday and 7:00 a.m. on Monday.
JUSTIFICATION:
Section 2, Goal No. 6 at page 11 of the 2009 Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Plan lists "improving
the quality of life for residents of the Redevelopment Area" as a redevelopment objective.