Miami Beach to Hold Town Hall on Urban Beach Week

Memorial Day weekend event has some residents calling for city sanctions

Miami Beach officials and residents are expected to hash out the future of Urban Beach Week at a town hall meeting about special events Wednesday.

The town hall, called by City Commissioner Jerry Libbin, will also talk about city preparations for big events like the Super Bowl and Spring Break, but Urban Beach Week will likely be a hot button issue.

The annual Memorial Day weekend event, which is a loose collection of club and concert promotions, is not sponsored by the city. That makes it difficult to regulate, city officials have said.

Some residents have been angered by the number of arrests, and by the trash visitors leave behind. The tipping point was in May, when two shootings occurred within minutes of each other, leaving several people wounded and one man killed.

A week after the shooting, angry residents held a protest at City Hall calling for officials to ban the event.

Libbin has suggested the city should institute a curfew during Memorial Day weekend and force bars to stop serving alcohol or to close earlier.

The town hall meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, located at 1601 Collins Ave. It is open to the public.

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