Residents and voters in Miami Beach have rejected a proposal to ban alcohol sales on some Ocean Drive establishments after 2 a.m.
The proposal would have prevented alcohol sales three hours earlier than the current 5 a.m. cutoff on a 10-block stretch of Ocean Drive.
Residents voted 65 percent "NO" over 35 percent "YES."
Miami Beach Ricky Arriola was in favor of stopping alcohol sales to lower the crime rate.
Outgoing Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine issued a statement after the rejection.
“Tonight, the residents have spoken, and while the measure didn’t pass, they were given an opportunity to be active in the decision-making process," Levine wrote. My commitment from day one was focused on giving residents a voice and through this referendum, we did just that.”
"This shows that the voting residents in this city value tourism, value ocean drive and saw that this was a very poor referendum and that's why it failed so miserably," Josh Wallack of Mangos said, according to a report by NBC 6.
"Thank God Miami Beach and the voters of Miami Beach saw through the smoke-screen of what was really going on here because improving Ocean Drive is what we’re about."