Miami-Dade County (Fla.) commissioners voted Thursday to loosen rules on which businesses can operate in the area outside Miami International Airport that David Beckham envisions for an entertainment complex and soccer stadium.
As reported by the Miami Herald, county zoning rules around MIA presented a problem for the Miami Freedom Park project because Miami-Dade rules establish an “outer safety zone” extending about 5,000 feet from runways that prohibits buildings hosting large crowds below flight paths. While the planned 25,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium sits outside the zone, entertainment space slated for Miami’s 131-acre Melreese Golf Course does not, and restaurants and nightclubs would be barred under existing MIA rules, according to Douglas Hanks of the Herald.
With the new legislation, Miami-Dade dropped the broad restriction on any building where 50 or more people would gather — language that included restaurants and clubs. The rewrite, sponsored by commissioner Keon Hardemon, retains specific building uses that remain banned in the outer safety zone, such as schools and residential buildings. It also adds two new categories to the list — auditoriums and theaters — while removing the language that covered restaurants and nightclubs.
Before the Beckham group began pursuing the Melreese site for a stadium, Miami-Dade’s safety zone rules only barred buildings where 1,000 people would gather. That was slashed to 50 people in 2019, according to a memo by mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“It should be noted that under the proposed ordinance, nightclubs, restaurants, and amusement parks are allowed in the OSZ,” Levine Cava wrote.
MIA had been a hurdle for the Freedom Park project, citing design plans that conflicted with aviation rules beyond the outer safety zone, such as building heights conflicting with Federal Aviation Administration restrictions and potential pilot hazards from stadium lights, Hanks reported. In 2020, months before Levine Cava took office, the Aviation Department produced a report saying it opposed putting the stadium at the Melreese site. Beckham lawyers have said they will comply with all aviation rules, and Ralph Cutié, the county’s aviation director, said his staff continues to monitor development plans for safety issues.
The revised safety zone rules passed with little discussion, other than one question regarding the potential influence on commissioners of soccer star Lionel Messi signing a contract to play for Beckham's Inter Miami team. Juan Carlos Bermudez, who represents the Doral area near MIA, asked. “I know that everybody is excited about Lionel Messi. Does this in any way, shape or form impact your ability [to] protect the landing areas near the stadium?”
Cutié said the county rule isn’t required by the FAA's safety protocols and that the ordinance “clarifies certain inconsistencies” in the county’s rules. “This ordinance does not impact the operations of the airport,” Cutié said.
