Pointing to Underline, Miami-Dade may lift rules on alcohol sales below Metrorail

It would be easier to sell alcohol on land under Metrorail if Miami-Dade commissioners approve lifting restrictions hampering the new 10-mile Underline park’s plans to deploy drink carts in some of the busier areas of the pathway.

For county-owned land under the 25-mile Metrorail system, the proposed rewrite of Miami-Dade zoning rules would lift bans on alcohol sales within 2,500 feet of a church or schools. The changes wouldn’t automatically apply to all land under the Metrorail, but the law allows the county administrator overseeing zoning to decide where the looser rules would apply.

While the looser rules govern the entire Metrorail corridor, Miami-Dade’s Transportation Department says the legislation is needed only for the 10-mile Underline project. The nonprofit behind the project wants to use temporary kiosks to sell food and drink, including alcohol, during special events in commercial areas. The Underline’s agreement with Miami-Dade bars alcohol sales next to single-family homes, and that rule would continue after the law change.

“If we have a concert at 8 p.m., we’d like to have the option of serving alcoholic beverages to adults who attend,” said Meg Daly, president of the Underline Management Organization, the nonprofit that would administer the Underline through a contract with Miami-Dade.

The changes passed easily during Wednesday’s meeting of the County Commission, despite the proposal facing pushback from commissioners and public speakers at the board’s Feb. 4 meeting.

Ken Kilpatrick, president of the Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association, said his group supported allowing food and drink sales under Metrorail as long as no alcohol was served. Kilpatrick said the Brownsville neighborhood, which isn’t part of the Underline project, did not want to be “subjected” to alcohol sales near churches or schools

Commissioner Xavier Suarez, whose district includes part of the Underline, said with the broad change proposed “I can’t vote for this.”

Sponsor Eileen Higgins, whose district also includes parts of the Underline, urged commissioners not to overreact to concerns about alcohol sales from a well-regarded project that stemmed from a proposal by Daly and a related nonprofit, Friends of the Underline. She said it’s clear the Underline planners don’t want to turn the path under Metrorail into “some raucous area run by irresponsible folks. ... We’re looking at creating a world-class amenity.”

What is the latest with the Underline in Miami?

Construction crews are working on the first half-mile portion of the Underline near Brickell Avenue. The first portion of that is called the “Brickell Backyard,” and runs from the Miami River to Coral Way. The rest of the project is expected to open in subsequent phases.

Daly noted the group’s existing contract with Miami-Dade contains stricter alcohol rules that would survive the law change, including a ban on permanent structures along the Underline that would prevent creating a bar or restaurant.

The prohibition on selling alcohol next to single-family homes, combined with other restrictions in the agreement, would ban alcohol sales on about 80 percent of the pathway, Daly said in a Feb. 10 email to Commissioner Dennis Moss urging support of the law change.

“Where it is allowed,” Daly wrote, alcohol “service would be permitted for special events like an evening music performance or a fundraiser.”

“We want to do good,” Daly said in an interview. “This is all about activation, and making a lively experience for all ages.”