The days of enjoying a piña colada beneath an umbrella on the shores of Miami Beach may be over.

The city’s attorney has advised officials that beachfront hotels are not allowed to sell or serve alcoholic drinks to customers on the beach.

Although hotels regularly peddle tropical drinks through oceanfront concession stands and waiters ferrying libations to sunbathers on lounge chairs, City Attorney Jose Smith says that’s against the law.

“Why they haven’t been cited, I don’t know,” Smith said.

David Kelsey, president of the South Beach Hotel and Restaurant Association, said just about every oceanfront hotel from the Loews on north serves alcohol to customers on the beach. He said the city’s timing — right before Urban Beach Week, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors over Memorial Day weekend — is unfortunate.

have complained that the Gansevoort’s rooftop parties are noisy and disruptive.

The city’s laws grant alcohol sales on public land only if the city manager or city commission have given a vendor permission. Smith said he was not aware of any such exception.

As for beachside concession agreements, Smith said most do not address beverage sales. One references “beach drinks” and another references “food and beverage” but none specifically allows alcohol sales, he said.

It’s unclear what kind of enforcement the city would enact based on Smith’s legal analysis. Punishment for violating the city code prohibitting liquor sales on public land range from fines to jail time.

(Source: Miami Herald)