MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (NewsNation) — Miami Beach officials opted out of imposing a second curfew for spring breakers next weekend, saying it isn’t fair to law-abiding citizens.
However, a state of emergency order continues as violence and street chaos continue at night.
The city previously imposed an overnight curfew that ended Monday morning, but decided at a recent City Commission meeting not to enact a second curfew next weekend, when the Ultra Music Festival will draw thousands of people to South Beach. The commissioners’ vote was 4-3 rejecting the curfew.
It’s the third weekend of spring break when the worst chaos occurs, Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said.
“Ultra weekend is not the problem,” she said.
Commissioner Ricky Arriola agreed, saying there may need to be metal detectors, security fences or other measures installed next year in certain sections of Miami Beach. He noted that dozens of businesses and their workers depend on the crowds the Ultra event brings in.
“A curfew is not a long-term solution,” he said. “We’re taking it out on law-abiding businesses.”
As it did last year, though, the panel still decided to force liquor stores in the South Beach area to close early at 6 p.m. next weekend. Officials did point out that the city manager has emergency authority to order a 72-hour curfew despite the commission’s reluctance.
But Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber wants the violence and disorder to stop.
“The volume of people in our city, the unruly nature of too many and the presence of guns have created a peril that cannot go unchecked,” Gelber said in a video statement issued Sunday. “It is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring.”
Miami Beach police reported at least 322 arrests on a variety of charges between Feb. 27 and Sunday. Gelber said more than 70 firearms were confiscated in that time. This has been happening despite police officers working up to 14-hour shifts six days a week, according to a city emergency declaration.
Speaking to “Morning in America” Tuesday, Gelber said he doesn’t want spring break in Miami Beach.
Even though there’s an “enormous” amount of police officers stationed around the area, Gelber says that’s not enough to stop the unrest.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this,” Gelber said. “We have to just stop spring breakers from coming here, because it doesn’t make sense for our city.”
The initial temporary curfew was implemented in response to two deadly shootings over the weekend, one Friday night and the other early Sunday morning. Police arrested two suspects in connection to both fatal incidents.
“It’s not really safe. It’s really, really dangerous,” Jose Angel Nerr, who works in South Beach, said.
The Friday shooting took place in one of the city’s busiest areas, crowded with spring break travelers. One of the victims died and the suspect was detained at the scene.
In addition to the shootings, the city mentioned large and unruly crowds as contributing to the decision to implement limitations.
“I was here for the last couple of nights with seven human stampedes just last night, three or four of them the night before, and then a major shooting down the block with a murder. It’s over the top. I’m done,” owner of Mango’s Tropical Café David Wallack said.
But still, some business owners, including Wallack, say they aren’t convinced that extending the curfew would have made a difference.
“Our business is probably one of the peak businesses. We’re down 40% with us, it chases all of our customers away. It doesn’t bring us anything but misery,” Wallack said.
Alexander Ringleb, the owner of Burgermeister in South Beach, explained that spring break is good in one sense, but not good in another.
“We are a very locally oriented business. So we have a lot of families coming,” Ringleb said. “When it gets rowdy, we don’t see those families, which I usually see.”
The manager of Havana 1957, Luis Jimenez, said business is down. They have had to close early and cancel the live music that they regularly have. He also told NewsNation that the hotel next to their restaurant has had cancellations.
Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency over spring break violence in previous years as well, and earlier this week, a judge approved a change to the city’s alcohol rules, moving last call from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Art, music, yoga and volleyball tournaments were added this year to give people something to do, at least during the day.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
