Miami Beach voters said “Yes” to a 2 a.m. booze ban on Tuesday, approving a non-binding referendum that served as a flash point in a debate over whether the city has outgrown its world-famous entertainment district.
A majority of voters supported the ballot question, which asked whether the city should roll back its 5 a.m. last call for alcohol.
City commissioners, who temporarily restricted early-morning alcohol sales in South Beach last summer before a judge blocked the new law, put the referendum on the ballot to gauge resident support for a 2 a.m. rollback. The successful referendum passed just four years after voters in 2017 rejected a similar proposal to ban alcohol sales at 2 a.m. on Ocean Drive.
Mayor Dan Gelber, who ran parallel campaigns for reelection and to pass the 2 a.m. referendum, declared victory in both efforts just before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“This is what our residents want,” Gelber told reporters while surrounded by supporters and his family at a campaign watch party at The Carlyle hotel.