The Downtown Community’s Position on a 10-Year Ultra Contract Renewal

[Editorial based on letter by Downtown Neighbors Alliance President, Cristina Palomo, to Mayor Francis Suarez, City of Miami Commissioners and City Manager. It recapitulates the Downtown Community’s position on issues concerning the volume of private, mass events at Bayfront Park that pose a significant negative impact.]

Bayfront Park between Mega Events

Bayfront Park. Rock Garden and Fish Pond, which dates back to 1927. Niels Johansen for Downtown NEWS.

Bayfront Park. Sculpture of Julia Tuttle, “the Mother of Miami,” with playground in the background. Niels Johansen.

Bayfront Park between mega events, an increasingly rare view for downtown residents. Photo by Niels Johansen.

ULTRA

Between 2006–2009, almost 3,000 residential units were built and sold adjacent to Bayfront Park. During those years, Ultra took place at Bicentennial Park and Bayfront Park was open to the public over 11 months a year, and no private mass events were allowed to use the park. Regrettably, Ultra Music Festival was allowed to return to Bayfront Park only in 2012, years after the area around Bayfront Park became a residential community.

In 2017, Downtown Miami residents presented a petition supported by over 1,300 signors calling for an end to private mega events at Bayfront Park. In November 2017 the DNA provided the BPMT and Ultra representatives with a position paper addressing these issues and providing a proposal for limits and protections that would allow such events and downtown residents to co-exist. Unfortunately, no response or counter-proposal was ever received.

In March 2018, one of our member associations, 50 Biscayne, conducted an acoustical engineering study during Ultra Music Festival that measured noise levels exceeding numerous standards on Association and private property. These noise levels are broadly considered dangerous to residents’ health, and were cited by the study as likely to cause property damage.

Noise Level. Chart courtesy of Save Bayfront Park.

Photographs that have been shared with city officials and entered into public record demonstrate that Ultra Music Festival resulted in prolonged park closures, over three months in 2017 from date of Ultra’s load-in to the date that the extensive damage to Bayfront Park was fully remediated.

Bayfront after mega events. Photo by Save Bayfront Park.

The Ultra contract that reportedly will be brought for a City Commission vote on July 26 lacks the limits and protections sought by downtown residents, including much shorter park closure and remediation periods, an earlier nightly cut-off time, minimum distance requirements between sound stages and residential communities, and other limits and protections detailed in the 2017 DNA position paper.

Finally, in June 2018 Commissioner Russell stated in a Downtown News op-ed that “our parks are not profit centers — they are amenities for our residents to enjoy”, and Commissioner and BPMT Chairman Joe Carollo stated that he has plans for alternative revenue sources that will replace or exceed the revenue generated by Ultra without causing any of the noise, disruption or park closure associated with Ultra Music Festival.

Poster by Save Bayfront Park, urging residents to attend the City Commission on July 26 to oppose the signing of a 10-year Ultra contract.

In view of all the above, we respectfully request that you vote to decline renewal of the Ultra contract as presented. If the rights of residents and taxpayers cannot be addressed properly by this contract, an event of this scale and impact should be directed to a more appropriate venue which is not located within a high density residential area.

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