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Greenacres council pulls restaurant dance-floor ordinance, directs staff to hold workshop
Summary
Deputy Mayor Diaz successfully moved to remove Ordinance 2025-4 from tonight’s agenda for revision. Council voted unanimously to pull the item so staff can rewrite definitions and hold a stakeholder workshop; public commenters urged preserving cultural dancing in restaurants.
The Greenacres City Council on April 21 unanimously removed Ordinance 2025-4 from the meeting agenda and directed staff to rework language and host a workshop for affected businesses.
Deputy Mayor Diaz moved to approve the agenda “with the removal of item 9,” referring to Ordinance 2025-4; the motion was seconded by Council Member Dugo and carried unanimously with Council Member Busquay absent. Diaz told the council, “This ordinance passed in 2022,” and said the current language aimed to establish definitions that staff will now revise.
The council’s action followed concerns raised by Diaz and several business owners that the ordinance’s wording risked treating restaurants that include cultural dancing as nightclubs. Diaz said staff will “rework the definitions, understanding the cultural nuances that exist,” and asked staff to “please host a workshop where they can bring down all of the businesses that are that have those concerns so that everyone can be in the same space to work through what issues might exist.” She said the ordinance will not return to the council before May 19, the earliest date it could be reheard.
During the public-comment period, several residents and restaurant-affiliated speakers urged the council to preserve venues where patrons can dance after meals. Alon Casarubias said converting restaurants into clubs under the ordinance “would absolutely devastate a restaurant,” and speakers including Jordania Arias and Catherine Mendez described dancing as a cultural practice tied to family celebrations and local small businesses.
City staff and the city manager later told the council that the workshop should clarify permit requirements and ensure that any changes do not alter building approvals, kitchen sizes, or other permit conditions that distinguish restaurants from nightclubs. The city also said it will use the workshop to reconcile the council’s safety concerns with restaurants’ cultural practices.
The council’s vote to remove the item was procedural; no substantive changes to code or enforcement were adopted tonight. The council asked staff to return with revised language and a proposed workshop plan; a date of May 19 was cited by Deputy Mayor Diaz as the earliest possible return but staff did not give a firm deadline.
Council members emphasized the distinction between regulated restaurant operations and nightclubs and said they intend the workshop to produce clear, enforceable standards.
The removal of Ordinance 2025-4 will be reflected in the city’s agenda posting and staff files; the council offered no additional amendments this evening.
