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MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami Beach will be closing and prohibiting short-term rentals which, city leaders said, have been a major source of the spread of COVID-19 and should help curb crime and control large crowds.
Vacation rentals will be prohibited in the city starting on Thursday, according to an emergency order signed Tuesday.
“We gotta tamp it down,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. “We’re not allowing alcohol, obviously, after 8 p.m. There’s a massive increase in law enforcement now that there might not have been a few days ago, so that’s happening immediately.”
In a plan drafted and sent out by City Manager Jimmy Morales, Miami Beach Police’s command staff will be working into the midnight shift on a nightly basis. There will also be enhanced staffing in the entertainment district “for this weekend.”
The staffing changes are set to take effect on Monday, 7News has learned.
“We think the Airbnbs and the short-term rentals are part of the problem,” Gelber said. “There’s just a lot of folks coming in to party.”
The wild street parties, out-of-control crowds and the multiple recent disturbances between Fifth and 15th streets during the pandemic led to officials pushing through the emergency order.
Gelber said the changes are necessary because, he said, most visitors come to the city for the culture, beach and art.
“Some come to behave in a way they wouldn’t behave in their hometown, which is very unfortunate,” Gelber said.
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