a lot of ballyhoo over floating ads

After lively discussion in the Clean Up Miami Beach Facebook group, Commissioner Michael Grieco offered up an ordinance to ban advertising on vessels travelling the City’s waterways. Exempt, however, are the boats that have generated the most complaints, the ones running on the Atlantic … so, sorry, you’ll still see ads from your beach chair. The ordinance passed unanimously on first reading and will be up for its second reading and public hearing on February 8^th. 
 
Alex Perez, representing Ballyhoo Media, objected to the ordinance and asked for a legal review prior to the February meeting. Perez described the company as a local small business using the Ballyhoo, a 58-foot vessel with large display screens on its port and starboard sides, to provide “local and interstate businesses with a revolutionary platform to advertise to the beach-going public.” Perez said, “This is no different from airplanes that fly across the Beach that you sometimes see except that Ballyhoo is much quieter and much more environmentally friendly.” He raised jurisdictional challenges to the ordinance saying Florida law prohibits municipalities from regulating vessels on the intercoastal waterway. He also raised a concern about “whether there is a legitimate police power based on aesthetics to regulate economic and speech activity on navigable waters.” The City Attorney did not respond to Perez’ comments on this reading.
 
Under the ordinance, a vessel will be determined to be used for general advertising if at least one of the following applies: 1) it contains advertising for one or more different business entities, 2) it contains advertising for a business entity which is not the owner of the vessel, 3) the vessel is operated continuously without stopping while displaying some form of general advertisement, 4) the vessel is driven in a repetitive pattern, 5) the vessel is capable of automatically changing the general advertisements displayed without stopping, or 6) the vessel lacks the ability to serve any purpose other than advertising. 

Also exempt would be boats that display an advertisement or business notice of its owner as long as the vessel is engaged “in the usual business or regular work of the owner, and not used merely, mainly or primarily to display advertisements.” This covers businesses such as SeaTow which has its primary business function on the water and whose boats are clearly marked with its logo. 

 Image: Clean Up Miami Beach Faceook Page