Clevelander sues Miami Beach over 2 a.m. alcohol-sales rollback, Ocean Drive closure

The Clevelander, one of South Beach’s best-known hotels, sued the city of Miami Beach Monday over what its attorneys called a “series of regulatory attacks” that will soon force the popular entertainment venue — and others — to turn down the music and end alcohol sales hours earlier.

The historic Ocean Drive hangout is challenging the restrictions on alcohol sales and loud music, along with the city’s closure of Ocean Drive to vehicles and the practice of issuing code warnings that cannot be appealed.

The Clevelander filed the lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. It seeks a temporary and permanent injunction on all counts, along with declaratory relief in excess of $30,000. In a statement Monday, the Clevelander argued that in its “misguided obsession” to reimagine the South Beach party scene — a priority for Mayor Dan Gelber as he runs for reelection — the city has repeatedly broken the law and jeopardized thousands of hospitality jobs.

“The city has declared war on South Beach’s famed Entertainment District,” the legal complaint reads.

The lawsuit comes just days after the Miami Beach City Commission voted last Wednesday to roll back the 5 a.m. last call for businesses in the South Beach entertainment district, located on Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue from Fifth to 16th streets.

The commission also ended a noise exemption on Ocean Drive from Ninth to 11th streets that has allowed bars like the Clevelander, the Palace and Mango’s Tropical Cafe to play live or amplified music as loud as they want in the direction of Ocean Drive. The commission in January placed a 2 a.m. cutoff for loud music in the area, but voted Wednesday to remove the exemption completely.

Gelber, who proposed the restrictions as a way to curb hard partying in South Beach, defended the earlier last call in a statement Monday.

“This area has been a magnet for much of the disorder that has degraded our quality of life,” he said. “It seems absurd that a city cannot place reasonable limits on liquor sales especially considering most places don’t even serve alcohol after 2 a.m.”

He criticized the Clevelander for hanging up a poster that read “Misbehavior Encouraged” during spring break — a marathon party scene that the city eventually shut down by closing causeways and implementing an 8 p.m. curfew.

“It’s not surprising at all that they sued,” Gelber said. “In the midst of an incredibly difficult spring break where much of the chaos was coming from this area, the Clevelander decided to display a huge sign urging bad behavior.”

The new ordinances are set to take effect on Saturday. The 2 a.m. last call will last at least through December.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for the Clevelander argued that the restrictions violate “legally protected property rights” the club obtained from the city in its long-standing permit for outdoor entertainment. The permit, which the Clevelander says it has possessed for more than 25 years, allows the business to sell alcohol until 5 a.m. and play amplified or live music.

But in a memo ahead of Wednesday’s vote on the alcohol restriction, City Manager Alina T. Hudak wrote that the city’s “legal position is that there are no ‘vested rights’ with regard to an operator’s entitlement to hours of sale for alcoholic beverages.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the 4-3 vote to rollback the hours of alcohol sales was improper because amendments to the city’s zoning code require five ‘yes’ votes.

As for the closure of Ocean Drive, the city blocked traffic from entering the popular tourist drag about a year ago as an emergency pandemic measure, but has kept it closed in the days since Gov. Ron DeSantis revoked local emergency COVID-19 orders. The lawsuit alleges that the city no longer has a legal right to keep the street closed without county approval. Attorneys for the Clevelander argue that reopening the street would restore vehicular access to guests at its hotel and prevent party crowds from congregating there, as they did during spring break.

“In the City’s zeal to shut down the City’s entertainment district, it has and continues to repeatedly ignore legal requirements,” the Clevelander wrote in its statement. “For the City, its approach is simply that ‘the ends justify the means.’ As long as businesses are shut down, it is irrelevant to the City how many laws it must break to accomplish that goal.”