Deferred in January amid neighborhood opposition, the citywide proposal would allow event venues in designated historic buildings and could help formalize operations at the controversial waterfront venue on Coconut Grove’s Dinner Key.
A City of Miami ordinance that could provide a permanent zoning pathway for special events at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour is returning to the City Commission this week, six months after commissioners deferred a vote amid opposition from Coconut Grove residents.
The measure, scheduled for the first of two required readings Thursday, would amend the city’s historic preservation code to allow designated historic buildings to operate as event venues through an exception approved by the Historic and Environmental Preservation (HEP) Board.
Although the ordinance would apply citywide, The Hangar remains its most visible potential beneficiary. The city-owned building, part of the Regatta Harbour complex along Coconut Grove’s waterfront, has operated for several years as a large-scale commercial event venue despite questions about whether that use is authorized under its lease, zoning approvals or certificate of use.
The proposal was scheduled for a commission vote in January but was indefinitely deferred after residents raised concerns about noise, traffic and the further commercialization of public waterfront land.
It now returns substantially unchanged.
The ordinance would define an event venue as a building or space, including adjacent outdoor areas, used for weddings, conferences, galas and similar gatherings. Such venues could be approved in individually designated historic structures, contributing buildings within historic districts and certain other designated historic resources.
Under the proposal, owners of eligible historic properties would apply to the HEP Board for an event-venue exception. If approved, the designation would allow the property to operate as an event venue on an ongoing basis.
Event venues would remain prohibited in single-family and lower-density residential areas.
City officials have framed the legislation as an adaptive-reuse measure intended to help preserve historic buildings by allowing them to generate revenue through new uses.
In practice, the change could also help resolve a longstanding permitting problem at The Hangar.
A Spotlight investigation last year found that the venue did not appear to have a certificate of use specifically authorizing it to operate as an event space, even as city officials repeatedly issued special event permits for concerts, art fairs, corporate activations and private functions.
Read more: The Hangar at Regatta Harbour: From Bait to Birkin Bags
If approved, the ordinance would create the historic preservation exception that could provide the zoning authorization needed to support a certificate of use for The Hangar as an event venue.
The move follows another significant accommodation approved by commissioners in April, when they again waived the city’s annual 10-event limit for The Hangar through the end of 2026.
It was the second consecutive year commissioners suspended the cap — at the request of Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo — for the privately operated venue.
Read more: Commission to Consider New Waiver for Events at The Hangar
The Hangar is operated by Grove Bay Investment Group under an 80-year lease covering the seven-acre Regatta Harbour property. Lease documents and the proposal approved by voters described the historic hangar primarily in terms of marine retail and services, not as a commercial event venue.
The legislation does not address those lease questions or specify how event revenue should be treated for rent-calculation purposes, given that the existing lease contains no provisions governing such revenue.
It also contains an important drafting wrinkle.
When the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board unanimously recommended approval in December, city records show, it did so on the condition that applicants seeking historic event venue designation submit operational and parking plans demonstrating that events would have minimal impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.
It also recommended noise and lighting plans, including mitigation measures, for venues within 500 feet of single family and low-density neighborhoods.
But those protections appear only in the ordinance’s introductory language – its legislative preamble — not in the actual code provisions commissioners would adopt, casting doubt on whether the safeguards would be mandatory and enforceable.
Residents living near South Bayshore Drive have repeatedly complained that large-scale events at The Hangar — including the Montreux Jazz Festival Miami, the Pinta Miami art fair and a motor racing event linked to the Miami Grand Prix — bring heavy traffic, amplified music and late-night disruption.
If approved on first reading Thursday, the ordinance would return to the commission for a second and final vote at a future meeting.
