Miami Beach House Parties Now Face Steep Fines

The Miami Beach Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved strict new rules outlawing commercial parties in single-family homes throughout the city.

Want to sell top-of-the-line products at a swanky Palm Island mansion, or throw a lavish party at a Star Island home with a $100 cover charge? Think again.

You'll be slapped with a $2,500 fine that won't be reduced or dismissed, and Miami Beach code enforcement officials will shut down your event.''What we're doing is sending a message to homeowners: If you're seeking compensation for the use of your home, don't do it. You're likely to get busted,'' Commissioner Saul Gross said.

What won't be affected: weddings, barbecues, birthday parties, real estate open houses, charity and political fundraisers and home-based businesses.

The ordinance explicitly prohibits owners, lessees and residents of single-family homes from accepting goods and services or cash of $100 or more per event or party in exchange for using the home for commercial events. Nor can people sell goods and services during parties or events. The first offense is $2,500, but it goes up to $20,000 by the fourth violation.

The long-anticipated decision was hailed by residents seeking a reprieve from noisy parties, and grudgingly accepted by event promoters and their lawyers. The promoters were still pushing city leaders to modify the measure despite 13 months of negotiations.

Bill Roy, president of the Sunset Island I and II Homeowners Association, and his neighbors lobbied commissioners to pass the ordinance without any new changes. ''We're tired of the special interests lobbying to soften the rules,'' he told them.

After the meeting, Roy said that one resident in the neighborhood has held six parties in the past eight months. The events have prevented other residents from driving back to their homes because the streets were clogged with cars.

But other residents were not as receptive, fearing the measure might go too far. ''Is this the start of a slippery slope?'' asked Aaron Resnick, the leader of Miami Beach Residents to Protect Homeowners Rights, a group opposed to greater government regulation of homes.


Vanessa Arellano Doctor