“Nuisance” Retailers Face Ban In Miami Beach’s North Beach

Stores selling tobacco, vape products, souvenirs, t-shirts, vitamins and pawned goods could become a thing of the past in a large swath of Miami Beach.     

Miami Beach officials are considering expanding a ban on retail shops that sell such products in the city’s North Beach neighborhood. They are also seeking to cap the number of tattoo studios and check cashing, convenience and liquor stores in North Beach.

But mom-and-pop bodegas are safe from the chopping block. 

On Wednesday, the Miami Beach City Commission approved legislation on first reading that seeks to curtail “nuisance” retail uses in North Beach. The intent is to foster a “diversity of retail uses” and create a “quality retail experience,” said the measure’s sponsor, commissioner Alex Fernandez. 

Tobacco and vape retailers, souvenir and t-shirt stores and pawn shops are already prohibited along 71st Street, Normandy Drive, the North Beach Town Center and Ocean Terrace. 

Fernandez’s proposed ordinance would extend the ban from 65th Street to 88th Street between Collins Avenue and Indian Creek Drive, according to a city memo. 

The proposed measure would also only allow the existing six liquor stores and nine tattoo parlors to continue operations. No new shops that sell booze and body art would be able to open in North Beach. It would also cap the number of convenience stores to 25 and check cashing stores to four. 

Currently, North Beach has two check cashing stores and between 16 to 19 convenience stores, the memo states. 

North Beach is going through a major development wave. 

Partners Alex Blavatnik and Sandor Scher are building a mixed-use project on Ocean Terrace and Collins Avenue between 74th Street and 75th Street. The development includes a 110-key hotel, a 58-unit luxury residential building, a 200-car parking garage and 18,000 square feet of retail. Shells of 12 renovated historic buildings also make up part of the development.

A joint venture between Constellation Group, Boschetti Group and Vietmar is planning Ella Miami Beach, a 10-story condominium with 95 units at 6950 Abbot Avenue. Another partnership involving the Galbut family and Matis Cohen is proposing a 22-story mixed-use building at 125-7145 Carlyle Avenue, 7100-7144 Byron Avenue, and 527 71st Street.

In December, the Galbuts and Cohen scored a $97.5 million construction loan for the project, which includes 270 apartments and roughly 12,500 square feet of retail.