Doral mayor proposes tougher restrictions on nightlife venues following mass shooting
A Doral city council workshop to foster ideas on bolstering safety at entertainment spots after a shootout that killed two and injured seven at a popular Doral bar last weekend fell short of its goal — as key elected officials never showed up.
Doral Mayor Christi Fraga convened the Wednesday workshop to discuss the issues with her four fellow city council members. They were to analyze and possibly amend the city’s decade-old policies regarding alcohol sales and closing times of bars and clubs.
Apart from Fraga, the only council member who showed up was Rafael Pineyro. City Council members Maureen Porras, Digna Cabral and Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve were absent.
Fraga attributed the no-show to political maneuvering in the wake of the tragedy.
“They didn’t come because I was the one who proposed the meeting for this sensitive topic,” she said.
A few hours before the workshop, Cabral proposed a motion to discuss the shooting during the morning council meeting. Porras and Puig-Corve supported it, but the proposal failed as four votes were required. Fraga and Pineyro opposed the measure.
Fraga called the workshop after a shootout happened around 3:30 a.m. Saturday at Martini Bar Doral, a popular spot in CityPlace Doral, a busy shopping area with restaurants, bars, shops, and residential buildings. The shootings left a security guard and the suspected gunman dead, and seven people injured, six from the bar and a police officer, who with another officer was working off duty and ran to the sound of the gunfire.
READ MORE: Three family members were wounded in the mass shooting at a Doral bar. One is in ICU
Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez said at the workshop he could not say definitively what led to the initial argument.
“Our witnesses are the people in the hospital, some said the argument was about a pillow, someone said it was about something else, somebody said the original perpetrator was arguing with a female, someone said it was with a male,” Lopez said. “We heard different accounts.”
How would Doral bars be impacted?
Despite the no-shows, Fraga outlined restrictions she said she will propose at an April 24 council meeting. She wants to mandate mobile metal detectors for entry at nightclubs and bars within the city.
She also proposes requiring the bars and clubs to close at 2 a.m, instead of 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., the current closing times, and wants last call for alcohol sales to be 1:30 a.m. Under current city code, last call is 3:50 a.m. when a bar or club closes at 4 a.m.
If approved, businesses in violation could face fines starting at $500 for the first offense, then escalating to the city possibly revoking an establishment’s license.
Restaurants are allowed to stay open until 1 a.m., and there are no proposed changes that will affect that.
Seven Doral businesses, some located in CityPlace, would be impacted by the code changes, Fraga said. Those include:
▪ Baru Group LLC, owner of La Terrazza de Bolivar
▪ MB Doral, LLC., owner of Martini Bar Doral
▪ Altech America LLC, owner of El Mani Restaurant
▪ Doral 7 Corp Inc., owner of Pink Pony
▪ Why I Am LLC, owner of Improv Comedy Club and Copper Blues Rock Pubs & Kitchen
▪ Champion’s Florida LLC, owner of Champions Sports Bar & Restaurant
▪ Trump Endeavor 12 LLC., parent company of Trump National Doral Miami
Porras emphasized moving slowly in imposing restrictions, citing legal challenges the city of Miami Beach faced following its enforcement of curfews and other measures related to Spring Break.
“We have to ensure that law enforcement can effectively uphold regulations,” Porras said.
The councilwoman also underscored the city’s existing ordinance governing alcohol sales until 2 a.m., hinting at potential enforcement gaps. She claimed that establishments like the Martini Bar might be operating beyond its licensed hours.
Porras alleged that the previous city manager, Barbara “Barbie” Hernandez, who was recently fired after complaints of conflicts of interest against her, may have prevented the code inspector from verifying businesses’ compliance.
Fraga told the Herald that Martini Bar was open during its approved operating hours when the gunfire erupted around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. “They have a license to operate until 3:50 a.m.”
To which Porras said: “Let her prove it.”
READ MORE: Who blasted the bullets that hit 6 bystanders in mass shooting at a trendy Doral bar?
During the early hours Saturday, James Wayne Wood, 37, shot to death security guard George Alejandro Castellanos, 23, after he tried to intervene in an argument between Wood and another patron at Martini Bar. Two off-duty Doral officers shot and killed Wood.
Fraga’s proposed ordinance is expected to meet opposition within the council, as her political sway has been questioned following the dismissal of the city manager and the subsequent appointment of a successor.
“We will never legislate human behavior. However, if we could put in measures that prevent these types of incidents...that’s what we are going to do,” Fraga said. “There are more appropriate places throughout Miami-Dade that don’t impact residents. Doral is not that place. Doral is more family-oriented.”
