Ultra Music Festival under threat from Miami residents lawsuit
The lawsuit is from the Downtown Neighbors Alliance
The City of Miami has been presented with a new lawsuit, putting Ultra Miami under threat.
Filed by Miami's Downtown Neighbor's Alliance, the lawsuit accuses the city of Miami of violating its own charter, permitting an illegal nuisance, and flouting its town public bidding laws.
The news comes ahead of the festival which is set to take place in later this year, with the three-day session returning to Miami's Bayfront Park on the 20th, 21st and 22nd March.
Part of the lawsuit reads: "Between 2012 and 2018, the City allowed Ultra to conduct music festivals in Bayfront Park, and blast catastrophic volumes of noise into Plaintiffs' and other Downtown Miami residents' homes depriving them of the quiet enjoyment of their homes, and also depriving Plaintiffs and other Downtown residents access to Bayfront Park for several months each year.
All Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action. All Plaintiffs are residents of the City and have standing to challenge the City's Charter and Code violations under Section of the City of Miami Charter, Citizens Bill of Rights. In addition, all Plaintiffs reside in buildings."
After months of uncertainty in 2019, Miami City Commisioners voted to allow the festival to return to Bayfront Park, after decreasing the amount of votes needed in order to secure the location. Ultra Miami was hosted at Virginia Key last year with the new location causing the festival transportation and organisational issues.
Ultra Miami, today (16th January 2020), issued a response, stating: "Ultra Music Festival and the City of Miami have enjoyed a long-standing partnership that will continue with our 22nd edition on March 20-22, 2020 at Bayfront Park.
We are aware of reports that a group of neighbors once again filed suit against the City of Miami. The lawsuit filed raises almost identical issues to the lawsuits filed last year and, just like with those lawsuits, we fully expect the city to quickly prevail like it has in the past.
We are grateful to continue partnering with the City of Miami, and we look forward to bringing a world-renowned event back to our home at Bayfront Park this March.”
Read the full complaint here.
The first acts for Ultra Miami 2020 were announced in November last year.
