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Miami Beach is heading into spring break season with a lighter touch—and a very visible police presence. After two relatively calm years, city officials say they’re easing some of the most aggressive restrictions introduced after the chaotic spring break of 2021, while keeping every enforcement tool close at hand.
The big headline: beaches will not close at 6pm and there’s no blanket midnight curfew. Parking garages in the entertainment district, shuttered entirely last year, will reopen—though at eye-watering prices. And the barricades that made Ocean Drive look like a disaster zone? Many of them are going away.
“We’re not getting back with spring break,” Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez told CBS News Miami. Instead, the city says it’s courting a different kind of visitor. “We just found a new match—more mature, healthier, focused on wellness and enjoying Miami Beach,” Fernandez said, pointing to a slate of fitness events scheduled for March, including the Life Time 305 Half Marathon and Wodapalooza.
Still, no one is pretending the city is throwing the doors wide open. The entire month of March has been designated a high-impact period, with the strictest measures kicking in during the busiest weekends: March 12–15 and March 19–22.
Parking will show no mercy. From Thursday through Sunday each week, garages in the Art Deco District will charge flat rates ranging from $40 to $100. Street parking and surface lots will cost $4 to $15 per hour, while registered residents will keep their $1-per-hour rate. Non-residents whose cars get towed will face a $548 towing fee, which is double the usual rate.
Traffic enforcement will also ramp up. License plate readers will be deployed on the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways on peak weekends starting at 10 pm and along the Fifth Street corridor earlier in the month. DUI checkpoints are scheduled for March 13–14 and March 20–21 and open-container laws will be strictly enforced.
Ocean Drive will feel different, too. During peak weekends, vehicles will only be allowed in from the northernmost available street, with a single exit at Fifth Street. Beach entrances along Ocean Drive will be limited to select streets and staffed with security checkpoints. Coolers, glass containers, tents, inflatable devices and amplified music without a permit are out; alcohol and smoking remain banned on city beaches year-round.
Businesses renting Slingshots, golf carts, mopeds and other low-speed or motorized vehicles will be shut down during peak weekends, and package liquor stores in the Art Deco District must stick to their regular 8 pm closing time.
Local business owners say the balance mostly works. “Some of the restrictions have been helpful to make sure things stay within the boundaries of what they should be,” Jonathan Feuerman of Caffe Milano told CBS News. Others hope for tweaks. “It looked like people were restricted from coming in,” said Havana 1957 manager Pavel Rodon of last year’s barricades.
Fernandez says the city is listening. “The barricades that made it look like a crime scene—those are going away,” he said. Just don’t mistake that for leniency. “If necessary, our police chief retains full authority to take all these enforcement actions to assure the safety of our city.”
In other words, spring break is welcome back to Miami Beach... on the city’s terms.