Dispatch from The Bayfront Park Management Trust
Our Parks Deserve Respect
Downtown News Staff
In a 4–1 vote, the Bayfront Park Management Trust, a quasi-governmental agency responsible for operating Bayfront Park and Maurice A. Ferre Park, tightened the rules for events at the two downtown parks.
“Over the last few weeks, the Downtown Neighbors Alliance has been working with the Trust’s management to draft a compromise that provides protection to residents, while allowing Bayfront Park to continue hosting events with some adjustments,” said Itai Benosh, Treasurer of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, addressing the park’s Board. And he added: “Today you have the opportunity to right a wrong that was inflicted upon your neighbors for far too long, and start a new page”.
Policy Changes
- All events will end one hour earlier — 10 pm on weekdays and 11 pm on weekends and holidays — New Year’s Eve is exempted.
- Stricter noise limits will apply, lowering amplified sound levels from the current 110 decibels to 75–100 decibels.
- Producers will have to maintain a distance of at least 60 yards between stages and the parks’ perimeter.
- All noise-producing construction work will be prohibited at nights, and any event-specific waiver will have to be approved by a 4/5th super-majority vote.
These changes follow a November ordinance by the City of Miami, limiting events at Bayfront Park and reserving 85% of the days in each year for free public access.
Amal Solh Kabbani, DNA President, observed: “For urban residents, nature equates parks. Urban residents have a right to have green spaces but also a duty… President Theodore Roosevelt said it best: “The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired.”
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