Power Kite Forum

Miami kite monopolies on public land

elnica - 21-5-2016 at 07:30 PM

I went to Crandon Park today on Key Biscayne. Miami Kiteboarding has monopoly on allowing access to kiters and charges a $200 annual membership fee on top of having to be IKO3 certified AND take another test with one of their instructors. No daily/weekly/monthly passes. So basically us taxpayers are funding a public park that decided to sublease kiting access to the water to a private company that offers zero added value to the taxpayers and single-handedly decide how much they will charge kiters and who they will let use the park. I understand there needs to be a separate area for kiters but that should not give way to a monopoly of public lands.

Any lawyers out there have ideas? Wife is an urban planner and she thought there is probably something illegal for the state park to be subleasing the access to the water and limiting the taxpayers ability to use the land.

elnica - 21-5-2016 at 07:56 PM

What they are doing is illegal since it has not been approved by a majority vote before being put in place.

Restrictions and Exceptions, of Article 7 of the Miami Dade County Home Rule Charter PARKS, AQUATIC PRESERVES, AND PRESERVATION LANDS, states: In furtherance of this policy parks shall be used for public park purposes only, and subject to the limited exceptions set forth in this Article, there shall be no permanent structures or private commercial advertising erected in a public park or private commercial use of a public park or renewals, expansions, or extensions of existing leases, licenses, or concessions to private parties of public park property, unless each such structure, lease, license, renewal, expansion, extension, concession or use shall be approved by a majority vote of the voters in a county-wide referendum.

windrider1 - 22-5-2016 at 12:31 AM

I think its not a bad idea maybe it keeps the kite kooks of the beach. Therefore reducing the changes that they injure themself or someone else and gets it banned. Any Park can resrtict acees to part for special use purposes i knw we have an area here for land kiting and its a federal park. They also have other areas for r/c plane flying,, archery and so on U need to purchase a yearly permit also. i think its fair and keeps things organised and people more responsible . Just the other day a newbie got knocked unconscious from a lofting at my local kite spot. Im not for alot of rules and stuff but honestly kiteboarding can be very dangerous and it dosent hurt to have some sort of accountability .

abkayak - 22-5-2016 at 05:07 AM

I use to live down there, know this spot well from before I kited...seems wrong to take the best piece of real estate you could imagine for kiting and hand over complete control to one for profit institution...did they do that to jet skis too?

PHREERIDER - 22-5-2016 at 06:38 AM

Referendum added it as a control to a problem . There are certainly other spots to ride . I ridden there , don't remember any fees . I knew most of the instructors there a few years back . Lotta traffic and beach activity there definitely need control and policing, without it a ban was eminent

Bladerunner - 22-5-2016 at 09:26 AM

Just curious. Do they require you gain IKO 3 BEFORE they allow you there or do they ( charge to ) take you to level 3 on site?

I can see both sides of this problem. It is a pity we must be policed but unfortunately this sport attracts a few folks who don't have a lot of common sense. Like Phree' points out some locations need to be controlled or we would lose them completely. I am not saying that the way it was handled is 100% correct but suspect something was needed to save the location.

We are facing similar issues with spots here. Both on water and land. At least at Squamish you get jet ski rescue service and can pay a day or annual rate.

PHREERIDER - 22-5-2016 at 06:40 PM

student+instructor or IKO level 3 card carrying , to ride crando best i remember. its the only certifcation dependent ride spot i know of.

here we go with details...the web site

http://www.miamikiteboarding.com

now that i looked through the photos.. first 4 pics i have kited with those guys since 2008, before and after seemingly our entire crew went to miami to get instructor cert. just spoke with glen at starbucks last week ...i think i actually kited there christmas eve 2012 i think. place was empty. for the crando situation , it needs the tight control

elnica - 25-5-2016 at 07:43 AM

IKO3 is required everywhere is South Florida. At Crandon the park handed over control to Miami Kiteboarding who also requires you to take a test with them (besides having IKO3) and pay a $200 annual membership fee. There is no daily pass, monthly, etc.

I am fine with IKO3 regulations, they are in place everywhere around here, but the park cannot legally hand over rights to a third party that charges a membership fee for use. That would be using the park for non-public purposes without a referendum.

PHREERIDER - 25-5-2016 at 01:55 PM

not sure they have handed over the rights, the beach is still public, the activity is regulated.

i believe they(miamiKB) are essentially acting as a hired beach patrol , with cost of operations(and this may included ins.) and profit from sales, instructor-ship or rentals which have nothing to do with access. they still have to call police or sheriff to enforce. kinda the way it is here.

having iko regulations is meaningless without a party there monitor and somehow enforce.

i would bet its cheaper than more police officers/deputies and how its set up makes it participant supported basically ...if we want an assured place to ride in/or near metro areas that have high potential for "out of control use by public" thats what it looks like.

i don't know what is done with the funds or how its handled or dispersed with city /county ordinances in place. i know you are not the first to question the set up.

like a toll road thats built PRIOR to county/state funding, the area needs it despite bonds for it are 20 years out, supported by user...but my county taxes are supposed to pay for that! i feel you man.

i will ask those at the spot , and in the know.





elnica - 28-5-2016 at 06:37 AM

Miami Kiteboarding doesn't only enforce iko3 regulations, they limit who can kite there by forcing them to pay $200 annually. That amount does not go to the park. Since it is a membership to a PRIVATE water access club, the park conceded the rights to a private party, which is illegal. This is not regulation it is privatization of kite access on public lands. There have already been lawsuits about using Crandon Park for private purposes, more specifically there is one for tennis tournaments since it limits public access, and in order to do so they had to get a 2/3 majority vote in a county wide referendum, which they did.

elnica - 28-5-2016 at 06:48 AM

Toll road is a good example, but like if all of a sudden a lane on i95 is leased to a company that now requires a toll for it. I am not even sure if that would be illegal. On the other hand, doing this with Miami Dade public parks is in direct violation of the rules of public use for the county.

elnica - 28-5-2016 at 07:02 AM

An even better example:

I am a swimmer, in order to get in the water at Crandon Park I need to have a card that says I can swim. Recently the company enforcing the card added a $200 membership fee to swim at Crandon Park.

This is privatizing the park, plain and simple.

skimtwashington - 28-5-2016 at 03:20 PM

That's terrible.

You mean if you just sunbathe or run on the beach it's free..... but if you Kitesurf or simply swim, it's $200 ?

What about lower income families that want to swim there? They cannot easily afford that. Is it $200 each then?... or how much for a whole family? Kids priced same...? In this light it almost seems exclusionary(to poor folks)..... and like privitization.

What about kite buggying there? Allowed by park(and if terrain allows also)? If allowed, is there any fee/cert?

What do they do w/ the money?

Remind the Park authorities they had best provide a super CLEAN and safe beach park(using $ taken in). You don't want to sue them if you cut your foot on broken glass they didn't get around to... and the fee charged only adds weight to ' expectations of safe conditions' of the public in your lawsuit.:moon:

PHREERIDER - 28-5-2016 at 06:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by elnica  
An even better example:

I am a swimmer, in order to get in the water at Crandon Park I need to have a card that says I can swim. Recently the company enforcing the card added a $200 membership fee to swim at Crandon Park.

This is privatizing the park, plain and simple.


wow never heard that ! thats crazy!

elnica - 28-5-2016 at 06:36 PM

Haha! I was just giving an example. It's only a true example if you replace the word "swimming" with "kiting". Sorry if it sounded like a real example.

It does prove how ridiculous and elitist this membership thing is, and how it violates the public use policy of the park.

Miami Kiteboarding does have a family pass for kiting, $450 annual. LOFL.

elnica - 28-5-2016 at 07:09 PM

PHREE - And to prove another point and answer your question about paying for the costs of enforcing regulations:

Let's assume you are in a world where no one knows how to swim and don't really understand what swimming is. You go to the beach, no one is swimming of course but you see someone half drowning taking "swimming" lessons. Would you be interested in taking a "swimming" lesson? Would this "swimming" thing look like fun to you?

When I went to Crandon it was a Saturday and there was one person doing a lesson, 15+ knots and ZERO kiters. Obviously Miami Kiteboarding is also suffering from this $200 fee. Kiters are free marketing for the school. They attract beachgoers and bring friends interested in lessons. From what I understood they implemented the $200 because the park asked them to keep the number of kiters low, and it seemed like that is the best they could come up with to appease the park.

elnica - 21-12-2017 at 10:23 PM

Matheson Hammock (Adventure Sports) now charges a membership fee too. There is nowhere to kite in Miami anymore, public access disappeared.

Miami Beach is under seige with one tiny spot where kitesurfing isn't banned.

If you are thinking of coming to Miami to kite, look elsewhere. No wind and all public access is now privatized.

elnica - 21-12-2017 at 10:26 PM

Cabrinha and NP USA instituted this illegal privatization of public parks. Boycott cabrinha and NP.

kitejumping - 15-3-2018 at 12:46 PM

I rode there for the first time this year, usually would ride further north at the free beaches. They have day passes for sale on weekdays and will test you and give you the IKO 3 cert assuming you know what you're doing (weekends it's members only due to the size of the beach and number of people there). The only thing I didn't like about that place is how everyone insists on leaving their LEI's pumped and laying out on the beach, even when they are not around, clogging up all the launch areas. I guess if I lived and used to ride there pre-regulation I could see how it would be pretty annoying.