If you attend tonight’s Council meeting in North Miami Beach, you definitely won’t find the World’s Most Interesting Man there, but you’ll see an interesting item listed on the Agenda.
The newest strip club known as Black Diamonds is coming before the Council to request extended business hours from 4:00 to 6:00 AM. Posted on Page 50 of the Agenda is the Business Tax Application and Police Background Check for a “New Business” known as SMG Entertainment, Inc., er, I mean Black Diamonds, located at 17450 Biscayne Boulevard, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160. This New Business applied for a Business Tax Receipt (BTR) on August 16, 2013. No, wait, scratch that! It applied November 12, 2013, and was scheduled to open on October 1, 2013. Um, no, make that November 20, 2013.
According to the BTR Application (WHICH IS STILL PENDING APPROVAL), “Black Diamonds” is the “Trade/DBA Name” of the corporation known as SMG Entertainment, Inc. Sunbiz.org, confirms that on August 29, 2013, SMG did file to use the fictitious name (or DBA) of “Black Diamonds” with the Florida Secretary of State. Interesting.
Here’s the thing.
The club known as Black Diamonds is a brand new business. The fact that SMG Entertainment, Inc., which is the tenant (or LESSEE) of the building in which the club is located, claims it is now Doing Business As (a/k/a DBA, a/k/a Fictitious Name) “Black Diamonds,” does not take away from the fact that this is a brand new business.
The REAL owner (or SUBLESSEE) of the business known as “Black Diamonds” is not SMG Entertainment, Inc., but a company called Queen of Dyamonds, Inc., which according to Sunbiz.org is located at 17450 Biscayne Boulevard, Aventura (WTF?), Florida 33160, and was filed with the Secretary of State on August 23, 2013, six days before SMG filed its Fictitious Name of “Black Diamonds” with the state.
(OMIGOD! Don’t you just love how the club claims to be located in AVENTURA? Um, for the record, Queen of Dyamonds, you’re in North Miami Beach, NOT in Aventura. GET OVER YOURSELF!)
When the club located at 17450 Biscayne Boulevard was operating as Swinging Richards, SMG Entertainment, Inc. also filed a Fictitious Name with the Secretary of State, claiming it was Doing Business As “Swinging Richards.” As we all know (because I reported it on August 16, 2013), Swinging Richards packed up and left North Miami Beach and relocated to Pompano Beach on August 22, 2013. To my knowledge, Swinging Richards didn’t take SMG Entertainment with them. Too bad, huh?
Conveniently, SMG Entertainment found another entity to start a brand new adult entertainment establishment to take the place of Swinging Richards, and all of a sudden SMG claims to be doing business as “Black Diamonds.”
Obviously, this move was for the sole purpose of attempting to maintain the status of an existing business in order to obtain a continued Business Tax Receipt license at the same location as the previous business. That’s pretty sneaky.
Unfortunately, thanks to a freaking loophole in the city’s BTR qualification requirements, it’s also perfectly legal in North Miami Beach.
What is totally bogus, however, is that SMG Entertainment would have us believe that this new business should be grandfathered in with, and enjoy the same privileges that the other two adult entertainment establishments located in North Miami Beach enjoy.
(Um … HELL NO!)
And here’s the other thing.
While this extended hours license has YET to be approved by the City Council, Black Diamonds obviously figures this approval is in the bag, because…
Black Diamonds has already started advertising its hours on its website that the business hours are from “6:00 pm – 6:00 am!” Talk about CHUTZPAH!
And if that’s not arrogant enough, Black Diamonds has opened a Facebook Page with photos claiming that it’s “NOW OPEN ‘TIL 6 AM.”
Oh, REALLY?
Who could have possibly assured Black Diamonds that the Council vote is a given? If I were on that Council, that audacity alone would piss me off enough to vote it down!
The Council should keep in mind that regardless of the fact that adult entertainment establishments are businesses which are legally allowed to operate in our city, most residents of North Miami Beach would like them to disappear altogether. While the Council cannot legally force them out of NMB, they should demand that all NMB businesses strictly adhere to our ordinances.
They should also take into consideration the unmitigated CHUTZPAH that has already been displayed by Black Diamonds’ blatant false advertising. And on FACEBOOK NO LESS!
For the record, I hadn’t even considered publishing this blog until the Black Diamonds Facebook page got IN MY FACE!
Bad move, schmucks!
To paraphrase Big Al from Crespogram Report, IT’S NORTH MIAMI BEACH, BITCHES!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
“Who could have possibly assured Black Diamonds that the Council vote is a given? If I were on that Council, that audacity alone would piss me off enough to vote it down!”
Any number of council members could have individually assured the business a positive vote. Residents and business owners (and others) contact individual council members on a regular basis. Based on the fact that this business has decided to advertise its new hours in advance, I would bet my retired thongs and pasties that that is exactly what occurred.
Wow! They be all like … you need pants to fly.
Oh, never mind.
Little by little, chip by chip, variance by variance we allow our community to slip away from us. The erosion of a city doesn’t happen because of one catastrophic event, but because of a series of insignificant, seemingly unrelated missteps like looking the other way when code are violated, granting licenses to four massage parlours in as many blocks, refusing to step up when city officials use city workers as their private drones, or placing an ad on bus benches and then claiming it is not an ad.. I could go on but I think everyone here knows what I’m talking about. On a positive note, I believe our current council is the most ethical we have had in years, otherwise I wouldn’t bother to speak up and say, “No, I do not want our city council to allow this strip club to stay open until 6 AM”. Lets face it, extending club hours increases the all around ”sleeze” factor. Secondly, these partiers will now be competing with Miami Dade County School busses for lane space and finally, our police department needs to be watching out for our kids in the morning, not assisting Mr Vanderbilt the voyeur when he gets his gold chains snatched in the parking lot by opportunistic teens on their way to the bus stop. I realize this kind of after- hours business may revitalize some parts… but I don’t think we need here in “Aventura” south.
How bout this, the mayor and spiegel are on the pension board that are going to sue the city when they illegally make these changes and the mayor and spiegel are part of the city thats going to sue the pension board when they vote to make these changes. Conflict?!?!?! Ya Think!!!!!